As a parent of a teenager, I spend a lot of time in the stands at high school sporting events. Recently at a football game, I found myself in the middle of a conversation that started, of all things, with compliance training.
The group of parents around me shared the same gripes I’ve heard a hundred times:
- “The videos drag on and on.”
- “I start it at home and let it play in the background while I fold laundry.”
- “It takes so much time away from my actual job.”
At one point, someone turned to me and remembered what I do for a living. “No offense,” they added quickly.
None taken.
I get it, because most compliance training really is built that way. And it is exactly why I chose to work at Ethiciti. We do it differently.
“The videos drag on and on.”
Traditional compliance training measures its worth in minutes, not impact. The longer the video, the better it looks on paper. But in reality, attention drops after the first 8 to 10 minutes.
How Ethiciti is different: We design training around how people actually learn, not how long a course can run. Neuroscience shows that shorter, focused bursts of content keep attention and improve retention. That is why our Decision Shorts are 1 to 2 minute modules that cut to the heart of everyday workplace choices. Instead of endless slides or a talking head, learners step into short, realistic workplace situations — like a coworker making an offhand comment or a customer pressuring someone to bend the rules. The production feels sharp, with motion graphics and professional voiceover, so it holds attention from start to finish. The result is training that sticks, not training that drags.
“I just let it play while I do other chores.”
That is not willful neglect. It is a sign the training was not engaging in the first place. If people feel they can “check the box” without missing anything, the training has failed.
How Ethiciti is different: Our courses are built to pull people in. Instead of a long video that can run in the background, employees encounter short, relatable workplace scenarios — like a manager overhearing an inappropriate joke in a team meeting or an employee noticing a safety shortcut on the factory floor. The situations unfold as stories, putting learners in the shoes of someone making a decision under pressure. Combined with motion graphics, professional voiceover, and interactive knowledge checks, the experience feels modern and polished, more like a short scene from a workplace drama than a stale training tape. When the material feels real and well-produced, people do not walk away to fold laundry. They lean in.
“It takes so much time away from my actual job.”
This one is real. Some harassment prevention courses do have legally required time lengths in states like California and New York, and there is no way around those requirements. But the majority of compliance training is not bound by law to be a certain length.
How Ethiciti is different: We use neuroscience-backed design to cut unnecessary time while improving retention. The AGES model of learning (Attention, Generation, Emotion, Spacing) guides how we build every course. On average, our approach cuts training time in half compared to traditional formats. That means a 60-minute harassment training in California is still 60 minutes, but most other compliance topics can be delivered in 20 minutes instead of 40, or through a few quick touchpoints instead of one long block. By focusing on what matters most, employees spend less time away from their jobs while walking away with stronger knowledge and habits.
Why I Did Not Take Offense
I did not flinch when that parent said, “no offense.” The truth is, I agree with them. Bad compliance training is boring, box-checking, and wasteful.
But I also know it does not have to be.
Ethiciti has built a platform where compliance training respects employees’ time, attention, and intelligence. Training that people do not just “get through,” but remember and apply the next day.
The reality is that without genuine employee engagement, compliance training does not protect your organization. It only checks a box, while behaviors remain the same. That makes training costly in every sense. Ethiciti’s approach changes the equation by cutting training time in half, saving money, and improving retention — turning compliance from a mandatory expense into a real investment in culture and risk reduction.
So the next time I am sitting in the stands, I will probably still hear someone say, “I hate compliance training.”
And I will still smile, because I know there is a better way.
Want to see how Ethiciti makes compliance training something people do not hate? Let’s talk.
