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Effective compliance training isn't just about checking a regulatory box—it’s a foundational tool for building a successful, ethical business.
When companies invest in educating employees on policies, legal expectations, and ethical decision-making, they’re not only reducing risk—they’re sending a clear message about what kind of behavior is expected and valued. Done right, compliance training signals that integrity matters, builds employee confidence in the company’s leadership, and reinforces a culture where doing the right thing isn’t optional—it’s part of how the business wins.
But too many companies get this wrong.
We spoke to Andrew Greenfeld, Sr. Paralegal & Program Manager at Zoom, on how to build training that meets high-stakes requirements without losing the interest or trust of the people it's designed for. Here are 7 moves companies like Zoom are making to deliver just that.
1. Ground it in company reality
Training content lands best when it's drawn from the world your employees actually work in. That means ditching vague hypotheticals and leaning into specific, relevant examples from your own operations.
At Zoom, the team built scenario-based content from real Slack threads, anonymized case studies, and decision points their employees had faced. The result was content that felt immediately familiar, not theoretical.
"The most effective training I’ve seen is when you take something that really happened here, and give learners the tools to respond to it."
Andrew Greenfeld
Sr. Paralegal and Program Manager
Zoom
Pro tip: Ask HRBPs or compliance partners to flag real scenarios each quarter. These can become the foundation for future modules.
2. Put your execs in the training — yes, really
Having executives kick off compliance training with a short video isn’t just a nice touch—it’s a strategic move. When leaders visibly endorse the training, it instantly elevates its importance and shows that ethics and accountability are business priorities, not just HR's job. A 60-second message from the CEO or other execs can powerfully reinforce company values, personalize the learning experience, and signal to employees that leadership is not only watching but walking the talk. It’s a small action that drives big alignment.
3. Cut the runtime, keep the impact
If people tune out halfway through, it doesn't matter how complete the module is.
Long, lecture-style training modules are a fast track to disengagement. To actually drive behavior change, compliance training needs to be short, interactive, and to the point. Bite-sized content respects employees’ time while keeping their attention—and when people are actively engaging with scenarios, not just passively clicking through slides, they’re far more likely to retain and apply what they’ve learned. High-impact learning doesn’t have to be long-winded. It just has to be designed with the learner in mind.
Zoom moved from longform, passive content to tighter, interactive training that asks employees to think, respond, and apply knowledge throughout. This approach encouraged learners to stay present and made the content more memorable.
If you want to create training that’s both rigorous and intentional, try these steps:
- Break content into 5–7 minute segments
- Use branching scenarios and quizzes to check understanding
- Focus on the decisions made, not just legal definitions
4. Balancing speed with specificity: off-the-shelf vs. custom compliance training
Off-the-shelf compliance training offers speed, scalability, and the reassurance of expert-developed content. It’s a great way to cover the essentials quickly and consistently across the organization—especially when time or resources are tight.
That said, layering in customized training brings a whole new level of impact. Tailoring scenarios to reflect your company’s unique culture, challenges, or industry nuance makes the learning more relevant—and relevance drives retention. Custom content also gives companies the chance to reinforce internal values, policies, and tone in a way no generic course can. The best strategies often blend both approaches: start with a strong foundation, then personalize where it matters most.
At Zoom, the team tailored the training experience to reflect their brand voice, design language, and internal examples. That branding wasn't cosmetic: it signaled ownership and helped employees see training as part of their actual job, not a third-party obligation.
"You can't expect Michelin-star quality outcomes with off-the-shelf inputs."
Andrew Greenfeld
Sr. Paralegal and Program Manager
Zoom
5. Right-size training by risk and role
Not all roles carry the same risks—so training shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all. Right-sizing compliance training based on role and risk level ensures that employees get the depth they need without the bloat they don’t. For example, sales teams might need deeper dives into anti-bribery and corruption, while lower-risk roles benefit from concise, focused modules. It’s a smarter, more efficient way to manage both learning and risk.
Here’s how you can tune your content for your org:
- Define tiers (e.g., high-risk, moderate, general awareness)
- Assign roles to tiers based on exposure to compliance, legal, or operational risk
- Design different versions of the training to match each tier
Pro tip: Partner with your legal and risk teams to validate thresholds for content depth.
6. Use AI and templates to stay agile
AI is opening up a new frontier in compliance training—one that’s faster, smarter, and more personalized. With tools like Ethena’s AI Policy Bot, employees can get real-time answers to policy questions, reducing confusion and reinforcing learning beyond the training itself. And with our AI course builder, turning dry PDFs into engaging, interactive modules is as easy as a prompt. It creates relevant scenarios and knowledge checks tailored to your needs, saving L&D teams time while boosting training effectiveness. It’s compliance training, leveled up.
Other ways to leverage AI for better compliance training:
- Use AI to draft content
- Leverage tools like Ethena’s AI-powered translations feature to translate training content across regions
- Summarize dense legal language into plain English
7. Build feedback loops into every launch
Training is only effective if it's landing. To improve over time, you need to know where it's working and where it's missing the mark.
To close this loop, Zoom leveraged simple but consistent feedback mechanisms. These data points helped them refine content, validate their strategy, and demonstrate impact to business stakeholders.
Use these techniques to hone your training content:
- Monitor drop-off rates and module completion times
- Embed pulse check questions within the training to assess clarity and usefulness
- Review qualitative feedback from learners and managers
Pro tip: Share the feedback you receive. Highlight wins and opportunities in team meetings or leadership reviews.
The Bottom Line
Required training reflects how seriously your company takes its obligations and its people. If it feels lazy or disconnected, it sends a message. So does doing it well.
People leaders have a chance to raise the bar by making training faster, smarter, and built for the world their teams actually work in. That’s how you turn a compliance requirement into a business advantage.
