New Acronym – PBCT – Performance Based Compliance Training – What?

When you think about compliance training, do you think it’s about knowing something or doing something? In previous opportunities to speak on the subject of taking compliance beyond read and agree, I introduced the concept of Performance Based Compliance Training or PBCT. This concept is about expecting the learner to go beyond just knowing something. It’s about expecting them to actually do something.

The concept of PBCT always brings a lot of questions, not so much about what it is, but more about how do you do it. How do you create training that actually results in improved performance? The challenge is to do the following:

Let’s consider an example: Say you need to train someone on the topic of how to interact with vendors. You have specific policies and guidelines on this subject, but there can be many gray areas, so it’s just not good enough to tell them that whenever they have contact with a vendor who is related to them, they must report it. They may actually need to be placed in the situation so that they can make the best decisions.

Notice how I use the term "best" decision. Not all decisions are completely right or completely wrong, but some are better than others. In the end (note: "terminal objective") you want the learner to use her best judgment to comply with the policy, and that means you have to enable her (note: "enabling objective") to make that decision in a safe, virtual environment rather than when they are put on the spot in real life.

We can all benefit from sharing how we would turn a compliance training need into a performance improvement opportunity. Please feel free to post your responses and ideas here.