i-Comply at Sprint

By Margery Weinstein

Sprint Corp. found its employees’ usual reaction to legal, ethics, governance, and compliance training to be a resounding groan. It is traditionally dry and full of legalese, the company knew, and compliance administration is often manual and costly. For those reasons, the company decided to design i-Comply, a training compliance practice that educates employees on ethics, compliance, governance, and Sprint policies. i-Comply represents a best practice use of knowledge management tools and multimedia that keeps the learner engaged, provides knowledge certification, and enables just-in-time access to information. Here is how the company developed and rolled out the program, and the success it has enjoyed:

• n partnership with Sprint IT, Sprint University (SU) developed a knowledge management portal on the corporate intranet that consolidated the content of 15 training courses, 10 Websites, and two manuals. Employees access policies, resources, compliance education, and annual certification by simply typing “icomply” into their intranet browser.
•  i-Comply is designed to be a one-stop shop and educates employees about company policies in the environment where the policies are housed versus discussing the policies in separate documents or courses. The platform allows employees to access resources when the need arises, versus previous compliance training, which used multiple, unrelated, unconnected Websites, manuals, and courses. i-Comply implies ownership, setting an expectation for employees to be active consumers of training.
• Through the use of multimedia components and content, i-Comply is intended to be smartly human and infused with creativity and humor to engage employees. Content is straightforward and actionable to help employees recognize the dos and don’ts and how to apply policies on the job through practice exercises.
• Learning components have included interactive puzzles, a graphic novel, a comic strip, a game show, a scenario-based video, a news show, a virtual superhero, a soap opera, a digital short, and podcasts employees can download to mobile devices. Sprint says its employees find the content engaging, sometimes “laugh-out-loud” funny, dynamic, easy to understand, and treats employees with respect. i-Comply learning is sometimes viral as employees talk and share e-mails about their favorite components.
• By making this information more accessible and digestible, employees are more aware of company expectations and better equipped to avoid or respond to possible violations. Thus, the company is more protected from potential scandals and losses. With the resources in one place, employees have only one compliance requirement annually.
• The result is employees spend less time in compliance education and are more likely to engage and participate, resulting in increased productivity, a more educated workforce and higher compliance rates. The certification window is open for 90 days, but the i-Comply Website is updated and available all year, keeping employees informed and up to date on the topics.
• Since implementing i-Comply in 2008, compliance has increased from approximately 70 percent to 100 percent, while the time employees spend in compliance training has decreased by 60 percent—a cost savings of $6.3 million. Calls to the Ethics Helpline continue to vary within the industry norm with higher than external benchmark performance on substantiated reports, indicating that i-Comply effectively educates employees about ethics and compliance. Recent Sprint Employee Survey results indicate ethics training from i-Comply resonates with both front-line employees and management.

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