FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2016
Introducing Human Nagware
Because sometimes email is not enough
London — Convincing people to complete their compliance training has always been a challenge. Work deadlines, client pressures and other high priority tasks all contribute to employees neglecting their online courses. However, training on topics such as money laundering, bribery and diversity is mandatory and important.
Due to compliance requirements, firms require that staff complete training, and expensive administrative resources are spent chasing non-compliant individuals. Moreover, low completion rates expose firms to regulatory sanctions.
How Nagware changed compliance
In 2011 VinciWorks improved the state of compliance training forever when it introduced its revolutionary Nagware. With Nagware firms could auto-remind employees to complete training with gently escalating reminder emails.
“Nagware was a game changer”, Howard Finger, VinciWorks’ CEO commented. “Overnight, course completions tripled. Firms were asking us to incorporate Nagware into other processes in order to increase compliance rates. To fulfil that request we developed Policy Tracker for tracking policy compliance and we integrated Nagware into the Risk Management System for control procedures. We are now looking at Nagware for the Breaches Register and the Annual PI Questionnaire.”
Nagware did not go far enough
However, Nagware did not go far enough. In a pilot programme with Local Law LLP to test the efficacy of different Nag regimens, the compliance rate never rose above 75%. Nigel Plaskitt of Local Law summed up the experiment: “We threatened, we cajoled, we sent ominous emails from the managing partner. Nothing seemed to work. There were always 15-20 people who did not complete the mandatory courses.”
The only solution was a human touch
Adam Sinclair, VinciWorks’ Director of Product was tasked with finding a solution. “We hired UX experts, social scientists, you name it; we threw every resource we had at the product. We tried iPhone apps, robo-calling and text-messaging. The best we could achieve was 85% compliance.”
“Ultimately we discovered that the only solution was human interaction. The idea came to me when our Director of Marketing kept knocking on my door reminding me to finish working on our continuing competence module. Him knocking on my door got me to prioritise his project.”
Introducing Human Nagware
After months of research, VinciWorks, the leading provider of online compliance training, today announces the latest addition to its compliance platform — ‘Human Nagware’. Beginning today, law firms in the London area will be able to benefit from this feature.
A knock on the door
Once Human Nagware is implemented, a compliance officer will be able to log into the LMS and set up a Human Nag. Based on predetermined criteria, an actual person will knock on a user’s door and remind them to complete their compliance training.
Only the best naggers
The service has been designed to be as unobtrusive as possible. VinciWorks only hires people with forgettable faces to ensure that they do not disrupt other work at the firm. All human naggers go through a rigorous screening and training process as well as information security training.
The timing doomed the project
Human Nagware has its critics. Josh Goodhardt, VinciWorks COO, plans to shut down the entire project later today. He said: “Human Nagware is probably still a few years away. Were it not 1st April, I would have never approved this email.”
That said, Nagware does really work. A leading global law firm with dismal course completion rates of 13.6% was able to triple those rates in only 3 months after implementing Nagware. The case study speaks for itself.
About Nagware
Nagware is one of the advanced features in the VinciWorks Learning Management System. It enables firms to automate the tedious task of chasing employees to complete their compliance training and acknowledge policies. A typical nagware setup would be:
- 7 days after enrolment – please complete the training in the next 7 days
- 14 days after enrolment – the training deadline has passed, please complete the training ASAP
- 21 days after enrolment – if you do not complete the training today you will be reported to the managing partner
28 days after enrolment – personal email from the managing partner asking why training has not been completed
The content, sender and schedule of the nags is fully customisable by the firm. If you would like to schedule a 15 minute demo of Nagware email us at [email protected]
About VinciWorks
Founded in 2004, VinciWorks is the world’s leading provider of online compliance and risk management solutions for the legal and financial markets. VinciWorks designs its products in collaboration with leading firms to ensure that its clients benefit from better, more customised products, that establish best practice and reduce risks and costs.
Behind VinciWorks’ products lie core strengths in customer service, content development, instructional design, online heuristics and enterprise-strength database and web programming. VinciWorks’ vision is to create a safer, fairer and more honest world by facilitating the world’s leading regulated professional firms in the collaborative development of innovative risk and compliance solutions.
