Way back in the pre-pandemic era, I proposed a solution to fix our senseless compliance training – or to be more accurate, its management – yet it remains broken.
The central premise of my argument was that it’s inefficient to repeat the same mandatory training when you change jobs within the same regulatory framework, so a centralised system to recognise your prior learning could save your new employer and the broader economy some serious coin.
My proposed solution was based on open badges, and these days I’d imagine that blockchain could power it.
At the time, I pitched my solution to a number of Australia’s financial regulators… but in vain. Either I received no reply, or they countered by saying that it’s not the role of the regulator to train a company’s employees.
Sigh. I had taken pains to clarify that that’s not the idea. Instead, the regulator would accredit the training to authorise the issuing of their badge.
Nevermind. Perhaps the private sector can fill the void of governmental inaction. From the get-go I should have ignored the regulatory route in favour of a corporate alliance model along the lines of Oneworld in the airline industry.
Under this paradigm, I see an opportunity for a group of like-minded companies – such as banks – to formally agree among themselves to recognise each other’s training on particular topics. If an employee completes such training at Alliance Member A, it will be recognised by Alliance Member B; thus he or she won’t need to repeat it under the employ of Alliance Member B until the usual expiration date.
Of course there will be peculiarities relating to Alliance Member B that the new recruit will need to be made aware of, but the point is the bulk of the content has already been covered.
I also see an opportunity for a trusted third party – perhaps a top-tier consulting firm, university or professional association – to independently accredit the training and manage the digital infrastructure on behalf of the alliance members.
And finally, while compliance sparked my initial idea, it needn’t be restricted to mandatory training. Any universal subject matter could be included in the agreement.
E-Learning Provocateur 