While most LMS systems collect plenty of data about users’ interactions with courses, much of it is irrelevant for auditors. Measuring completion rates and gathering evidence of compliance is key.
Separate Started from Completed
For compliance reporting purposes, a ‘started’ status in the LMS does not constitute a completion. Reports should therefore be filtered to include only records where the learner has reached the end of the module and completed any required assessment(s). Partially completed records will otherwise skew the figures and create an inaccurate audit trail.
Set a Target Rate and a Firm Deadline
Set a target rate for the completion of your compliance eLearning and a firm completion date for the course to be completed by. The majority of organisations look to complete compliance training within a 90% rate of all eligible staff by a specific in date course launch. This should be set up within your course launch plan and reported upon within a fixed time frame to be able to evidence completion of the training.
Use Automated Reminders Before the Deadline
For most LMS systems it is possible to schedule reminders to send out a week before the course is due to close and again 2 days later. This allows for last minute completion of training but also means that managers are not left with a massive amount of follow up work to complete. A useful reference for Elearning Compliance Training is adempi.co.uk/compliance-training/elearning-courses.
Escalate Persistent Non-Completions
For learners that miss a completion date for a particular course, a notification should be sent to the line manager of that learner. This notification should be documented and evidence of follow up action by the manager retained.
Review Data by Team After Each Cycle
It’s also important to review completion data by department or team after each delivery of a course. The reasons for low completion rates in a particular team can be quite different to other parts of the organisation (e.g. are they too busy, is there some barrier to access, or simply a lack of understanding of what is expected). Addressing these issues prior to the next round of eLearning can make a huge difference and are issues that are faced by NHS organisations delivering cervical screening programs, as described in this example of cervical sample taker training guidance.
Completion data only has value when you take action based on the results.