I had lunch yesterday with a friend, Steve Wiesner, who is the CEO of pelotonRPM, a unique company that provides online role play simulations for corporate training. We had worked in the financial services industry selling virtual data rooms, which are an online secure document repository used for M&A transactions.
Seemingly out of thin air, the discussion turned to the shortfalls of online training. Although you can get people to take their necessary ethics and compliance or sexual harassment courses, there is evidence to suggest that some managers have administrators complete the work. Add to that people who don’t engage with the content but who take the quizzes to suggest they’re learning. The boxes are checked, the company completed the training, but did any learning or behavioral change occur?
This is a poor experience and use of resources for companies who are trying to implement training in an effort to teach a workforce to live their core values and maintain compliance.
We began to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different types of computer-based training. Whether it was live action, animated or gamification, they all seemed to come up short and lack the immediacy of having personal interaction and accountability. Steve described a new online training platform that can offer one-on-one tailored role play simulations. Not only would it be hard for an exec to slough this off to their admin, but I am told that from the moment it starts, you are locked in; the experience is quite intense and very real.
It is commonplace for sports teams to have walk-throughs before facing an opponent. Or a C-suite executive would expect to rehearse before delivering an earnings call or giving a speech or a presentation, so why wouldn’t it make sense for your mid-tier management to practice before having a difficult harassment or HR conversations with an employee?
Delivering live, online role play simulations with real people can help prepare your employees for critical conversations. Your people can use live video role play simulations to help them prepare for important moments before they happen. Just imagine how engrossing and transformative this experience could be.
Suddenly we were no longer two colleagues catching up, but were transformed into two ethics and compliance nerds, geeking out about the potential benefits of new training technology.
Suddenly we were no longer two colleagues catching up, but were transformed into two ethics and compliance nerds, geeking out about the potential benefits of a new training technology. The discussion freely associated from the scandal du jour: Hollywood stars bribing their kids’ way into Ivy League and Southern California schools to updated FCPA enforcement polices and recent companies who have had more than their share of headline-grabbling shortcomings (especially on the #metoo front).
Normally I am working away in my little piece of paradise here in Ventura County. Most of my interaction is by phone, LinkedIn and email, but this was an unexpected joy, not only to reconnect with somebody I haven’t seen in the past few years, but also to speak about one of my favorite topics – corporate culture. Who knew that Ventura County on a Wednesday was gonna be such a hotbed of ethics and compliance!
