Why Regulatory Refresher Training Needs a Makeover

A few years ago, I stood at the front of a meeting room, clicking through the same PowerPoint slides I’d used the year before. Same format, same examples, same polite nods from the team. I walked away thinking, “Well, that’s done” - but not for a moment believing anyone had genuinely learned anything new. 

Recognise this? If your regulatory training looks like this - blank faces, phones out, the same old slides year after year - then it’s not a refresher, it’s a rerun. The real question is: are we wasting time ticking boxes, or are we actually helping people learn?

Since then, I’ve started to look at refresher training differently. If our aim is to genuinely refresh understanding, challenge assumptions, and support people to do their jobs better, we have to stop treating training as a yearly chore and start treating it like the opportunity it actually is.

Let’s be honest, if your annual training looks exactly like the one before, you’re not refreshing. You’re recycling.

And recycled training doesn’t just bore people. It wastes everyone’s time, gives a false sense of security, and worst of all, completely misses the point. If no one learns anything new, what are we actually refreshing? Apart from everyone’s ability to fake engagement while replying to emails under the desk.

When Training Becomes Background Noise

There’s nothing wrong with regulatory training itself. But when it becomes something we do to keep regulators or clients satisfied, it totally loses its value.

I’ve seen sessions where people are half-listening while checking emails or sipping coffee. The box gets ticked, but the learning doesn’t stick. 

Training is meant to mean something. It should feel relevant to the work people actually do, spark conversations, challenge how we think, and give people confidence that they know what they’re doing and why. If everyone leaves with the same questions they came in with, we’ve completely missed the mark.

What Good Refresher Training Actually Looks Like

When done well, refresher training feels like time well spent. It reminds people what matters, why it matters, and how to apply it in the real world. Here’s what makes it work:

1. Start with a clean slate: If your examples still feature floppy disks or “lessons learned” from 1970, it’s probably time to refresh more than just the slide template. Training isn’t a history lesson. It should speak to what people are facing now, the current challenges and risks.

2. Get people talking: No one remembers bullet point #12 on slide 42. But they will remember the discussion that led to an actual change in their day-to-day work. Replace scripted slide shows with genuine problem-solving, case studies, or even a bit of healthy debate.

3. Focus on critical thinking: We’ve all seen someone follow a process so precisely they miss what’s right in front of them. Good training helps people pause and ask, “Does this actually make sense?” rather than scrambling to tick off the next step on a checklist that no longer fits the situation.

4. Make it specific to your team: Forget generic industry examples if they don’t apply. I once sat through half an hour of someone explaining how to report protocol deviations in zebrafish studies. Fascinating—maybe—if you work with zebrafish. For us though, this example was completely irrelevant.

Talk about your processes, your systems, your weak spots. When training feels personalised and reflects real, day-to-day work, people are much more likely to listen.

What You Risk by Keeping it Comfortable

Recycled training isn’t just uninspiring. It’s a quiet risk. It creates the illusion that everyone is trained, while in reality, little has changed. 

Even worse, it sends a message: training is just another task to get through. And when that mindset sets in, quality culture takes the hit. People start relying on others to flag issues. Assumptions creep in and important things get missed.

What You Gain by Mixing It Up

Fresh, focused, and thought-provoking training is a different experience altogether. It raises awareness. It sparks better questions. People take more ownership and stop relying on QA to be the only line of defence.

And yes, they might even enjoy it!

This is what training can and should feel like - relevant, energised, and meaningful. When people are involved, discussing real challenges, and leaving the session with ideas they can actually use, that’s when training becomes a tool for growth - not just a box-ticking exercise.

A Quick Test for Your Next Session

Ask yourself:

• Have we asked people what they want to learn more about?

• Is this genuinely different from what we did last year?

• Does it reflect recent challenges we’ve seen recently?

• Will it hold attention, or will people be checking emails under the table?

• Are we encouraging thought and discussion - or just rereading PowerPoint slides?

At Headway Quality Evolution, we believe regulatory training should be something people look forward to. We don’t use generic templates or one-size-fits-all slides. Instead, we work with you to understand what your team needs and create tailored sessions that are relevant, reflective, and genuinely useful.

If you’re ready to rethink what refresher training could be, I’d love to have a conversation. No obligations - just a chance to explore what might work better for your team.