Beyond Ticking Boxes: Inside Ishida’s Compliance Training Strategy with Nick Taylor

Compliance training has long been seen as a box-ticking exercise: frustrating for learners, time-consuming for L&D teams, and rarely linked to real performance. But it doesn’t have to be. 

In a recent podcast episode, I spoke with Nick Taylor, Head of Learning at Ishida Europe.  We explored how his team has transformed compliance from a painful necessity into a meaningful driver of business outcomes.

Nick shares how he reshaped training to serve both regulatory requirements and employee development. He explains how Ishida weaves compliance into role-based learning, aligns multiple stakeholders, and applies collaborative learning to reduce risk in the flow of work.

Nick also reveals the practical steps he used to lessen the operational toll, leveraging automation and shifting the culture around what compliance means. For L&D professionals looking to reclaim time and impact, this conversation is a guide to making compliance more effective, engaging, and sustainable.

Keep reading for five key takeaways from our conversation, or listen to the episode in full. 

Timing is critical in compliance training

Compliance courses and certifications are sometimes seen as bitter medicine: best taken all in one go. But for Nick, timing is everything. “We start by mapping out clearly, by job role, which compliance requirements are relevant to which people. Then we go further, and ask at what time during their journey these compliance courses should take place.

“You can fall into the trap of pushing out as many courses as possible all at once, ticking them off the list. But we’ve focused on the structure that sits behind this. When, where, and why somebody should have it.”

By spreading training across the flow of work, employees retain more and the business maintains momentum without unnecessary downtime. And perhaps most importantly, safety training takes place right when it’s needed most. 

Emphasize real-world needs in compulsory training

Even seemingly pragmatic safety and compliance training loses relevance. Nick’s team works closely with health and safety experts, production managers, and frontline trainers to adapt learning to the real challenges employees face. “You need a high degree of understanding of what end users are feeling and experiencing. We can then develop training solutions that meet those needs, but also tie back to our compliance obligations.”

One key example: the L&D team overhauled an electrical safety course that was both time and resource intensive. “We had a lengthy training that went into protons and neutrons, and all sorts of complex things. Nobody really wants to sit through 45 minutes of theory about electricity. They want to know how to avoid electrocuting themselves.

“The actual crux of the matter was that you just needed to check [the machine] with a multimeter. So we reduced the training way down to a practical “Toolbox Talk,” which we run once a month. Then we put a resource next to all the multimeters that show you how to check for safety, and QR codes if they need more examples.”

The result: simple training that saves time while addressing the actual risks employees encounter. This takes the pain out of learning, rather than merely displacing the pain.

Make compliance engaging and contextual

Nick’s team avoids dull, off-the-shelf modules, with content that reflects employees’ actual work environments. For example, they developed short, impactful videos with live actors simulating accidents in a factory setting, making risks visible and relevant.

“We wanted them to see people on screen that look like them in their uniform, doing the types of work that they do, and looking at the risks that they may overlook on a daily basis.”

And there are simple, practical benefits to applying training in context, as Nick discovered. 

“We developed an excellent training around torque wrenches, only to discover that there weren’t enough torque wrenches for everyone to use. We can produce a wonderful piece of training. But if we don’t have enough torque wrenches on the work stations, it’s very unlikely that anyone will actually follow it.” 

Such a basic oversight proves that training courses and materials don’t solve anything on their own. They need to be useful, engaging, and delivered in the flow of work.

Position L&D as a performance driver

Moving from order-taker to performance catalyst is a key goal for many L&D teams. And Ishida is no different. 

“If you’ve got a learning and development function that’s not performance-oriented, compliance is just always going to be this massive tick-box burden,” says Nick. “If you can deliver compliance that is structured, painless, and transparent, that’s where you start to get credibility as an L&D function. Then you can take that credibility and push into performance consulting.

“We’ve taken the role from being essentially an administrator of compliance, to being a consultant who can sit with the business and say, let’s look at what’s driving performance here.”

Compliance training is mandatory for manufacturing businesses, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be impactful. In fact, turning compulsory training into a value-adding asset helps L&D teams prove their worth in large organizations.

Automate training to free L&D for higher impact

Finally, Nick highlighted how automation has transformed compliance from an administrative burden into a scalable process. With 360Learning, his team built automated learning pathways, streamlined reporting, and shifted accountability across the organization.

“It’s well over a hundred hours we’ve saved in L&D time per month. The administrator role no longer really exists, and that role has been reshaped to be an L&D specialist.”

By reducing manual tasks, L&D can focus on performance consulting, skill development, and building a data-driven culture.