Compliance That Clicks: How to Make Engagement Stick
Too often, compliance training lands with a thud; completed but not absorbed, required but rarely remembered. In our recent EQS webinar, Compliance That Clicks: Rethinking Employee Engagement, we asked a simple question: What if compliance could actually connect?
Moderated by Lauren Seiss, Director of Sales at EQS Group, and joined by two powerhouse leaders in the Ethics and Compliance space Asha Palmer, SVP of Compliance Solutions at Skillsoft, and Evie Wentink, Principal at Ethics Edge Experts, we unpacked how real organizations are reimagining employee engagement within Ethics & Compliance programs.
Here are the top takeaways:
Start with the Who: Know Your People Before You Build the Plan
“Compliance officers often start with what they want to say,” Asha noted. “But the real question is, who are your employees?”
That simple shift in perspective reframes everything. Effective planning starts by triangulating three core inputs:
- Who is your organization (structure, goals, historical risks)?
- Who are your employees (roles, regions, learning styles)?
- What do you want to achieve (behavior change, awareness, culture)?
Evie shared how her Ambassador Program brought that strategy to life. By crowdsourcing ideas from across departments and geographies, she designed compliance month activities that worked for deskless teams, office staff, and everyone in between.
“When compliance is built with, not just for, your workforce, engagement becomes a shared goal.”
Execute with Empathy and Relevance
With planning in place, the conversation turned to activation.
“You’ve got three seconds,” Evie warned. “If your training doesn’t grab attention, it’s gone.”
Execution needs to be:
- Risk-based: Don’t train everyone the same.
- Designed for adults: Short-form, mobile-friendly, and contextual.
- Empowered by leaders: “If your managers can’t lead with integrity, why are they leading?” Asha challenged.
Both Asha and Evie emphasized the role of internal marketing; pre-launch teasers, manager-led intros, even word games in newsletters, to keep messages fresh and culturally resonant.
Evie’s team once invited employees to submit their own 30-second compliance videos. The winners were showcased company-wide, and engagement soared. “When employees create the content, they internalize the message.”
Measure Beyond Completion—and Act on What You Find
If your only metric is a completion rate, you’re missing the full picture.
“98% completion doesn’t mean engagement,” said Asha. “It might just mean you chased people down.”
Instead, measure both mandatory and voluntary signals:
- Who’s showing up without being told?
- What trends do you see by region, team, or job level?
- Are low-participation areas aligned with hotline activity or survey flags?
Evie underscored the importance of human connection in this stage. “Some of our best insights came from post-training Q&A; what people asked when they felt safe to speak up.”
Most importantly, use that insight to adjust your strategy. If your data isn’t shaping decisions, it’s just noise.
Final Thought: Compliance Is a Culture, Not a Checkbox
Asha left us with this reflection:
“Risk in an organization comes from people, places, and activities. If you don’t understand all three, your compliance program is incomplete.”
It’s not just about getting people to click through training. It’s about creating a culture where ethics, integrity, and trust are practiced daily—and reinforced by programs that evolve with your workforce.
If you’re ready to move from check-the-box to click-worthy, explore how EQS’s Employee Engagement Tools can help you build programs that resonate and drive change.
Want to hear the full conversation?
Watch the full webinar recording here.
Stay tuned for the next session in the EQS Summer Series: Beyond the Binder: Modern ABAC in Motion
