/24-7PressRelease/ - Norwich, CT, August 03, 2008 - William was a stellar employee. He completed tasks ahead of time and with a zeal not exhibited by his peers. William was on the fast track to climb the career ladder and receive ever increasing responsibilities. William was a shining example that leaders of other departments coached to. His performance was going to be replicated and spread across the company.
It was with great regret that Chief Compliance Officer of the company had come to a fateful decision. She weighed carefully the success that William's performance brought to the company's bottom line with the penalties that could be levied against it from compliance violations. Federal, state, and municipal fines at minimum could mire the organization into financial and legal penalties. The brand image and reputation for quality, fairness, and stellar products could be devastatingly damaged. William's failure to comply with the company's compliance procedures - while seemingly successful - were going to result in his termination.
It is more often than not, that employees make decisions, while trivial and not malicious, lead to their termination. Many times those decisions could have been avoided if the employee fully comprehended the policy they violated. With changes to sections, constant legal updates, and not to mention the overall size of some policies it can be easy to see why employees do not take the time to comprehend what is required of them. Yet, as the old saying goes, ignorance is no defense in the face of violating a law.
The FDA requires that employees of any medical device or pharmaceutical company have to be trained on the regulations and compliance standards that are pertinent to their jobs. Sale representatives of pharmaceutical companies have to be trained on how to communicate their products benefits and features while remaining "on label", for example. A representative that fails to follow that compliance standard can bring legal and financial penalties to themselves and the company.
Many companies understand the need to have corporate documents that speak to the policy and procedures that will keep them in compliance. Those same companies have invested money into electronic systems to control that documentation through a document management/control software system. Having all the documentation stored in a controlled repository is one step in the compliance process. All the well written policies, procedures, and work instructions do not mean anything unless an employee who executes them can comprehend them. Comprehension completes the compliance cycle.
When looking for a system to conduct the comprehension training a number of factors should be considered:
1. How easy is to manage?
a. Does it require a full time administrator?
b. Does it require intensive effort for upkeep?
2. How is the training tracked?
3. How is comprehension tested?
There are more, but the three above are paramount in any decision, especially if the choice is a software system.
When making a selection for software to deliver the employee training take into consideration the labor involved to manage the actual system. If a training software system is labor intensive on the back end, it is also most likely labor intensive on the end user. If a training software system cannot seamlessly track back to your documents, then you could be finding yourself on a path of complexity.
All the training that is being tracked should be quickly obtained when needed by the company. A record tied to the employee as they progress in their careers is important for them and for the company when compliance is concerned. If that same record can track back to the actual document in the same repository the better.
Understanding how your employees' comprehension is tested is important. Being able to track an monitor the success/failures of questions asked during testing can be correlated to the failure of compliance. The ability to configure any comprehension testing as needed when conditions change is financially better for a company and allows for agility over stock or custom methods. Any solution that is chosen should allow the company to quickly measure the success of the testing method.
Comprehension is keystone to compliance. Without it a company places itself at risk.
About Mystic Management Systems, Inc.
Mystic Management Systems, Inc. is a twenty-five year old leading global provider of quality software solutions, including document control software, product lifecycle management, packaging/specification management and corrective and preventative action. Using applications from Mystic Management Systems, companies throughout the world have been improving profits, reducing costs, and producing better quality products since 1983.
Worldwide: (01) 860-887-2900
http://www.mysticmsi.com
info@mysticmsi.com
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