Last updated: March 29, 2026
Reading time: 24 min read
Looking for ethics and compliance training for your team? Explore our courses — covering code of conduct, anti-corruption, AML, whistleblower protection, and more. Or contact us to discuss custom programme development.
Why Ethics & Code of Conduct Training Matters in 2026
Corporate ethics training is no longer a "nice to have" or a checkbox for the legal department. It has become a business-critical function that directly affects regulatory risk, employee retention, organisational reputation, and financial performance. Three converging forces are making ethics training more important in 2026 than at any previous point.
The Regulatory Imperative
In the United States, the Department of Justice updated its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in 2024 (DOJ Guidance, September 2024), providing prosecutors with explicit criteria for assessing whether a company's compliance programme is "effective." Among the core requirements: the programme must include "effective training and communications" that are "risk-based and tailored to the audience", with training for high-risk employees that goes beyond generic awareness. DOJ prosecutors now routinely ask: Can you demonstrate that your training programme was designed to address the specific risks your company faces?
In Europe, the regulatory landscape shifted significantly in 2024 with the adoption of the EU Anti-Corruption Directive, which harmonises anti-corruption rules across member states, introduces new corporate liability provisions, and creates obligations for organisations to implement preventive measures — including training. This sits alongside the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive (Directive 2019/1937), which requires organisations with 50+ employees to establish internal reporting channels and protect whistleblowers from retaliation. Effective ethics training must now cover whistleblower rights and reporting mechanisms as a compliance obligation, not an optional extra.
The UK Bribery Act continues to impose strict liability for failure to prevent bribery, with "adequate procedures" (including training) as the only defence. The Serious Fraud Office has consistently emphasised training as a critical element of adequate procedures.
The Cultural Imperative
Beyond regulatory compliance, the business case for ethics training is compelling. The Ethics & Compliance Initiative's Global Business Ethics Survey (GBES) 2024 (ECI GBES 2024) — the most comprehensive study of workplace ethics, surveying over 14,000 employees across 10 countries — found that:
- Organisations with strong ethical cultures experience 40% less misconduct than those without
- 86% of employees in strong-culture organisations said they would report misconduct, compared to only 32% in weak-culture organisations
- Pressure to compromise standards was reported by 30% of employees globally — up from 22% pre-pandemic
- Organisations with effective ethics training programmes saw 49% higher employee trust in management
"The data is unequivocal: organisations that invest in building ethical culture — not just compliance programmes — see measurably better outcomes. Training is the primary vehicle through which culture is built, reinforced, and sustained. But the training must be authentic, relevant, and ongoing. A one-time, check-the-box video does more harm than good because it signals that the organisation does not take ethics seriously."
— Patricia Harned, CEO of the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI), presenting the Global Business Ethics Survey findings at the 2024 ECI Annual Conference
The Financial Imperative
The financial consequences of ethics failures continue to escalate. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) generated over $1.5 billion in corporate penalties in 2024 (DOJ FCPA Enforcement Actions, 2024). The UK Serious Fraud Office secured penalties exceeding £300 million in bribery and corruption cases in 2024. And these figures reflect only regulatory penalties — they do not include the cost of internal investigations, legal fees, reputational damage, lost business, and the executive time consumed by enforcement proceedings.
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) estimates that organisations lose 5% of revenue annually to fraud and misconduct (ACFE Report to the Nations, 2024). For a $100 million company, that is $5 million per year — dwarfing the cost of even the most comprehensive ethics training programme.
When you combine regulatory mandate, cultural benefit, and financial impact, the case for investing in quality ethics training is overwhelming. The question is not whether to train, but how to train effectively.
How We Evaluated These Platforms
We assessed each platform across six criteria most relevant to ethics and code of conduct training:
| Criterion | What We Looked For |
|---|---|
| Code of Conduct | Does the platform offer comprehensive code of conduct training covering conflicts of interest, gifts and entertainment, respectful workplace, data protection, and corporate values? |
| Anti-Corruption | Does it cover FCPA, UK Bribery Act, EU Anti-Corruption Directive, and practical anti-bribery scenarios? |
| Whistleblower | Does it address whistleblower protection, reporting mechanisms, and non-retaliation policies — including EU Whistleblower Directive requirements? |
| Custom Content | Can organisations commission bespoke content aligned to their code of conduct, values, and specific risk areas? |
| Language Support | How many languages are available for multilingual deployments? |
| Approach to Ethics | Does the training treat ethics as a culture-building exercise or a legal checkbox? Is it scenario-based? Does it apply behavioural science? |
A note on objectivity: CompliQuest is our own platform. We include it in this comparison because we believe transparent, honest evaluation serves our readers. We apply the same criteria to ourselves and are candid about where competitors outperform us.
Comparison Table: All 7 Platforms at a Glance
| Provider | Code of Conduct | Anti-Corruption | Whistleblower | Custom Content | Languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CompliQuest | Comprehensive — values, conflicts, workplace conduct, data ethics | Deep — FCPA, UK Bribery Act, EU Anti-Corruption Directive, AML | Yes — EU Whistleblower Directive, reporting channels, non-retaliation | Fully custom course development by compliance experts | 10+ (EN, DE, HR, FR, IT, ES, PT, NL, PL, SL) |
| Traliant | Comprehensive — modular code of conduct suite | Yes — anti-bribery and FCPA modules | Yes — whistleblower and retaliation prevention | Yes — customisation with company branding, policies, scenarios | 100+ |
| EasyLlama | Yes — code of conduct and workplace ethics | Basic — anti-corruption awareness | Limited — general ethics reporting | Limited — company logo/branding only | 5 (EN, ES, FR, DE, PT) |
| SAI360 | Comprehensive — extensive ethics library | Deep — FCPA, Bribery Act, third-party risk | Yes — comprehensive whistleblower and speak-up content | Yes — bespoke development available | 40+ |
| Navex | Comprehensive — market-leading ethics library | Deep — integrated with third-party risk management | Yes — integrated with EthicsPoint hotline platform | Yes — content customisation and co-development | 70+ |
| LRN | Comprehensive — behavioural science-driven | Yes — scenario-based anti-corruption | Yes — ethics reporting and speak-up culture | Yes — fully custom programme development | 50+ |
| Emtrain | Yes — workplace culture and conduct focus | Basic — corruption awareness | Yes — reporting and speak-up culture | Limited — some customisation available | EN primary (some multilingual) |
1. CompliQuest
Best for: Organisations that need ethics training combined with deep regulatory depth — FCPA, anti-corruption, AML, and global compliance frameworks — delivered by expert-built, custom content.
CompliQuest is a compliance training platform built by European regulatory experts. While many ethics training providers focus primarily on workplace culture and code of conduct basics, CompliQuest combines these fundamentals with deep regulatory training covering the FCPA, the UK Bribery Act, the EU Anti-Corruption Directive, anti-money laundering (AML), and broader financial crime compliance.
What Makes CompliQuest Different
Most ethics training platforms do one thing well: they teach employees about the organisation's code of conduct — conflicts of interest, gifts and entertainment, respectful workplace behaviour, reporting obligations. CompliQuest covers all of this, but goes further by providing substantive regulatory depth that connects ethical behaviour to the specific legal frameworks governing it.
This means CompliQuest's training does not just tell employees "do not bribe foreign officials." It explains why — through the lens of both US DOJ enforcement priorities and EU anti-corruption frameworks — and provides scenario-based training on recognising and responding to corruption risks in different business contexts: sales negotiations in high-risk jurisdictions, third-party agent relationships, facilitation payments, gifts and hospitality grey areas, and political contributions.
The platform also covers anti-money laundering (AML) training, which most ethics-focused competitors treat as a separate topic or do not cover at all. For organisations in financial services, professional services, or any industry with regulatory exposure to financial crime, this integration is valuable.
CompliQuest's training is custom-built by compliance experts: organisations can commission bespoke courses that incorporate their specific code of conduct, values, risk profile, and regulatory environment. This is particularly important for ethics training, where generic content can feel disconnected from the organisation's actual culture and commitments.
Pros
- Regulatory depth beyond ethics basics: Combines code of conduct training with substantive FCPA, UK Bribery Act, EU Anti-Corruption Directive, and AML content
- Dual US/EU regulatory perspective: Training covers both US DOJ expectations and EU anti-corruption frameworks — essential for multinational organisations
- Custom course development: Fully bespoke training built by compliance experts who understand both the regulatory landscape and adult learning design
- AML integration: Anti-money laundering training sits alongside ethics and anti-corruption, creating a comprehensive financial crime compliance programme
- Multilingual: Available in 10+ European languages for consistent deployment across jurisdictions
- Scenario-based learning: Real-world situations employees encounter, not abstract legal concepts
- Completion tracking and audit evidence: Dashboards and reporting for compliance managers
Cons
- Not the largest ethics training library: Navex and SAI360 offer broader libraries of pre-built ethics modules
- Less behavioural science focus: LRN's training is more deeply rooted in academic behavioural ethics research
- Not an integrated compliance platform: Navex and SAI360 combine training with policy management, incident reporting, and third-party risk tools — CompliQuest focuses on training
- Premium positioning: Custom development and expert-built content is priced above generic off-the-shelf alternatives
Pricing
CompliQuest uses a per-seat enterprise pricing model with volume discounts. Custom course development is quoted per project. Contact CompliQuest for pricing tailored to your organisation.
Best For
Organisations that need ethics and code of conduct training with genuine regulatory depth — covering not just "be ethical" but the specific legal frameworks (FCPA, UK Bribery Act, EU Anti-Corruption Directive, AML) that govern ethical behaviour in a global business context. Particularly strong for multinational organisations operating across both US and EU jurisdictions that need custom-built training aligned to their specific risk profile.
2. Traliant
Best for: US mid-market companies that want modern, customisable ethics training with the broadest language support in the market.
Traliant is a US-based compliance training provider known for its modern, video-driven learning experience and extensive customisation options. Their ethics and code of conduct library covers conflicts of interest, anti-harassment, anti-bribery, data privacy, and workplace conduct, all delivered through a modular format that allows organisations to build a training programme tailored to their needs.
What Makes Traliant Different
Traliant's standout features are customisation and language support. The platform allows organisations to inject their own branding, policies, leadership messages, and company-specific scenarios into the training, transforming off-the-shelf content into something that feels genuinely tailored. Combined with support for 100+ languages, Traliant is one of the few platforms that can serve truly global deployments without requiring separate vendor relationships for different regions.
Their training uses a modern, video-first approach with diverse, realistic scenarios that employees find more engaging than traditional e-learning. The content is produced to a high standard — closer to a professional documentary than a typical compliance training video.
Traliant has also invested heavily in manager-specific training tracks that address the unique ethical challenges people managers face: handling reports of misconduct, avoiding retaliation, having difficult conversations about ethical boundaries, and modelling ethical behaviour.
Pros
- 100+ languages: The broadest language support of any ethics training platform, enabling consistent global deployment
- Strong customisation: Can incorporate company branding, policies, specific scenarios, and leadership messages into the training
- Modern, engaging production: Video-first approach with diverse, realistic scenarios
- Modular format: Organisations can select and combine modules to build a programme that matches their risk profile
- Manager-specific tracks: Dedicated content for people managers on ethical leadership and handling misconduct reports
- Responsive to regulatory changes: Content is updated to reflect new legislation and enforcement trends
- Competitive pricing: Positioned in the mid-market, accessible to organisations that cannot afford enterprise-tier platforms
Cons
- US-centric default perspective: While content covers global anti-corruption laws, the default orientation is US compliance (DOJ, SEC, FCPA). European regulatory frameworks receive less depth
- Less regulatory depth than specialist providers: Anti-corruption and AML content is competent but not as deeply developed as CompliQuest, SAI360, or Navex
- Not an integrated compliance platform: Training-focused — does not include policy management, incident reporting, or third-party risk tools
- Video-first format can feel long: Some employees prefer shorter, interactive formats over extended video scenarios
- Limited data analytics: Reporting is functional but less sophisticated than enterprise platforms like Navex or SAI360
Pricing
Traliant uses a per-employee annual subscription model. Pricing varies based on modules selected, headcount, and customisation requirements. Mid-market positioning makes it accessible to organisations from approximately 50 to 10,000+ employees.
Best For
US mid-market companies (50–10,000 employees) that want modern, customisable ethics training with global language support. Particularly strong for organisations that value high production values and want training that feels professional rather than bureaucratic.
3. EasyLlama
Best for: Small to mid-size US companies that need quick-deploy ethics training alongside broader HR compliance content at an affordable price.
EasyLlama is a US-based compliance training platform focused on making compliance training simple, modern, and affordable. Their ethics and code of conduct module sits within a broader library covering harassment prevention, diversity and inclusion, workplace safety, and data privacy.
What Makes EasyLlama Different
EasyLlama's core value proposition is simplicity and speed. The platform is designed to be deployed in hours, not weeks. There is no complex configuration, no lengthy implementation project, and no need for a dedicated administrator. For small businesses and mid-size companies that need compliant training without the overhead of enterprise solutions, this simplicity is genuinely valuable.
Their ethics training covers code of conduct fundamentals: conflicts of interest, gifts and entertainment, workplace respect, reporting obligations, and basic anti-corruption awareness. The content is modern, interactive, and presented in short, digestible modules that respect employees' time.
Pros
- Fast deployment: Operational within hours, not weeks
- Affordable: Competitive per-seat pricing from approximately $12–$25/employee/year for the full library
- Modern UX: Clean interface with interactive elements that reduce learner fatigue
- Broad compliance library: Ethics sits alongside harassment, DEI, safety, and privacy training
- Auto-assignment and tracking: Simple tools for assigning courses and monitoring completion
- State-specific compliance: Covers US state-specific requirements (e.g., California, New York, Illinois harassment training mandates)
Cons
- Limited ethics depth: Code of conduct and ethics coverage is introductory. Anti-corruption is at an awareness level only — not sufficient for organisations with significant corruption risk
- No substantive anti-corruption training: FCPA, UK Bribery Act, and EU anti-corruption content is either absent or surface-level
- Limited whistleblower content: General ethics reporting guidance but does not cover EU Whistleblower Directive specifics
- Minimal customisation: Can add company logo and branding but cannot modify scenarios, policies, or substantive content
- US-centric: Does not address European regulatory frameworks in meaningful depth
- Only 5 languages: Limits usability for organisations with global operations beyond core western European markets
- Not suitable for high-risk industries: Financial services, government contractors, and other industries with elevated corruption risk need more depth
Pricing
$12–$25 per employee per year for access to the full course library. Volume discounts available. One of the most affordable options on the market.
Best For
Small to mid-size US companies (10–500 employees) that need ethics training as part of a broader HR compliance programme and value simplicity and affordability over depth. Not recommended for organisations with significant anti-corruption exposure or global regulatory obligations.
4. SAI360
Best for: Large enterprises with complex global operations that need a comprehensive ethics and compliance platform integrating training, risk management, and policy management.
SAI360 (formerly SAI Global) is an enterprise-grade ethics and compliance platform serving Fortune 500 companies and large global organisations. Their training library is one of the most extensive in the market, covering ethics, code of conduct, anti-corruption, information security, financial crime, workplace conduct, and dozens of additional compliance topics.
What Makes SAI360 Different
SAI360's differentiator is breadth and integration. The platform does not just provide training — it provides a comprehensive ethics and compliance ecosystem that includes training, policy and procedure management, risk assessment tools, incident management, and third-party due diligence. This integration means that training can be directly linked to risk assessments: if a risk assessment identifies corruption as a high-priority risk for a specific business unit, the platform can automatically assign anti-corruption training to relevant employees.
Their training content is produced to a high standard, using real-world scenarios that are regularly refreshed based on enforcement trends and emerging risk areas. The ethics library includes over 200 courses covering topics from code of conduct basics to specialised modules on export controls, insider trading, antitrust, and data protection.
SAI360 also provides robust analytics that go beyond simple completion tracking. The platform can identify patterns in assessment scores, track risk-correlated training gaps, and generate reports that demonstrate programme effectiveness to regulators and the board.
Pros
- Comprehensive ethics library: 200+ courses covering virtually every ethics and compliance topic
- Deep anti-corruption content: Substantive FCPA, UK Bribery Act, and global anti-corruption training with scenario-based learning
- Integrated compliance platform: Training linked with risk management, policy management, and incident reporting
- 40+ languages: Strong multilingual capability for global deployments
- Advanced analytics: Sophisticated reporting that connects training data to risk indicators
- Regular content updates: Courses refreshed based on enforcement trends and regulatory changes
- Enterprise-grade: Built for complex, global organisations with thousands of employees
Cons
- Enterprise pricing: SAI360 is a premium platform priced for large organisations — not accessible to SMBs
- Complex implementation: Deploying the full platform requires a significant implementation project, typically measured in months
- Feature overload for training-only needs: If you only need training (not risk management, policy management, etc.), you are paying for capabilities you may not use
- Less innovative learning design: Training quality is consistently high but tends toward traditional e-learning rather than the behavioural science approaches of LRN or the production values of Traliant
- Long sales cycle: Enterprise procurement process can be lengthy
Pricing
SAI360 uses enterprise licensing with pricing based on headcount, modules deployed, and platform features used. Pricing is not publicly available and typically requires a formal sales engagement. Expect investment in the $50,000–$500,000+ annual range depending on organisational size and scope.
Best For
Fortune 500 and large global enterprises that need a comprehensive ethics and compliance platform (not just training) integrating training, risk management, policy management, and incident reporting. Particularly strong for organisations with complex global operations, multiple regulated entities, and board-level compliance reporting requirements.
5. Navex
Best for: Large enterprises that want the market leader in integrated ethics and compliance management, with training embedded within a comprehensive governance, risk, and compliance platform.
Navex (formerly Navex Global) is widely recognised as the market leader in ethics and compliance management. Their platform includes training, policy and procedure management, the industry-leading EthicsPoint hotline for incident reporting, third-party risk management, disclosure management, and compliance programme benchmarking.
What Makes Navex Different
Navex's differentiation lies in market leadership and integration depth. With over 13,000 customers globally, Navex has the largest installed base in ethics and compliance technology. This scale provides advantages: their content team is large and specialised, their benchmarking data is unmatched, and their platform benefits from continuous investment.
The integration between Navex's training and their EthicsPoint hotline is particularly powerful. Training can directly reference the organisation's reporting mechanisms, and hotline data can inform training content — if hotline reports indicate rising conflicts-of-interest issues in a specific region, targeted training can be deployed in response.
Navex's training library covers the full spectrum of ethics and compliance topics, with particular strength in code of conduct, anti-corruption, third-party risk, conflicts of interest, and speak-up culture. Their content is regularly refreshed based on enforcement trends and is available in 70+ languages.
Pros
- Market leader: The largest and most established ethics and compliance platform, with 13,000+ customers
- Deep integration: Training connected to EthicsPoint hotline, policy management, third-party risk, and disclosure management
- Comprehensive training library: Extensive course catalogue covering all major ethics and compliance topics
- 70+ languages: Broad multilingual support for global deployments
- Benchmarking: Navex's scale allows organisations to benchmark their programme against industry peers
- Strong anti-corruption content: Substantive FCPA, UK Bribery Act, and global anti-bribery training
- Speak-up culture focus: Training specifically designed to encourage reporting and build a culture where employees feel safe raising concerns
- Regular content updates: Dedicated content team ensures training reflects current enforcement priorities
Cons
- Premium pricing: Navex's market leadership comes with market-leader pricing — this is an enterprise investment
- Platform complexity: The full Navex ecosystem is feature-rich and can be complex to implement and administer
- US-centric default: While Navex operates globally, its roots and primary market are US-based. European regulatory nuances (EU Anti-Corruption Directive, EU Whistleblower Directive) may receive less emphasis than US DOJ/SEC frameworks
- Training can feel institutional: The content is professional and comprehensive but can sometimes feel corporate rather than engaging — less innovative in learning design than LRN or Traliant
- Bundled platform: Navex's strength is its integrated platform, but organisations that only need training may find it difficult to purchase training modules independently at a reasonable price
- Long implementation timelines: Full platform deployment is a significant project
Pricing
Enterprise licensing with pricing based on modules, headcount, and deployment scope. Not publicly available. Expect significant investment — Navex is positioned as a premium, enterprise-grade platform. Annual costs for mid-to-large enterprises typically range from $75,000 to $1,000,000+ depending on the scope of deployment.
Best For
Large enterprises (1,000+ employees) that want a comprehensive ethics and compliance platform from the recognised market leader. Navex is the strongest choice for organisations that need training, hotline, policy management, and third-party risk management in a single integrated ecosystem. Less suitable for organisations that need only training, or for SMBs.
6. LRN
Best for: Organisations that want ethics training grounded in behavioural science and designed to genuinely change behaviour, not just transfer knowledge.
LRN is an ethics and compliance training company that has built its reputation on a behavioural science-driven approach to compliance education. Founded in 1994, LRN works with many of the world's largest companies to create ethics programmes that go beyond knowledge transfer to focus on judgement, decision-making, and ethical reasoning.
What Makes LRN Different
LRN's differentiation is intellectual and methodological. While most compliance training providers focus on what employees should know (rules, regulations, policies), LRN focuses on how employees should think when confronted with ethical dilemmas. Their training is designed around research in behavioural ethics, moral psychology, and decision science — the academic disciplines that study how people actually make ethical (and unethical) choices.
This translates into training that presents employees with genuinely ambiguous scenarios — situations where the right answer is not obvious, where competing values come into tension, and where employees must exercise judgement. This is fundamentally different from traditional compliance training, which typically presents scenarios with a clear "right answer" and tests whether the learner can identify it.
LRN's research arm, the LRN Benchmark of Ethical Culture, provides proprietary data on what drives ethical behaviour in organisations. This data informs their training design and allows them to help clients measure the cultural impact of their ethics programmes over time.
Pros
- Behavioural science foundation: Training designed around academic research on moral psychology and ethical decision-making
- Genuine ethical dilemmas: Scenarios that challenge employees to exercise judgement, not just recall rules
- Culture measurement tools: Proprietary instruments for measuring ethical culture and tracking change over time
- High-quality creative content: Production values are strong, with cinematic storytelling approaches that engage learners
- Fully custom programme development: LRN's advisory team works with organisations to design bespoke ethics programmes from the ground up
- 50+ languages: Strong multilingual capability
- Thought leadership: LRN regularly publishes research on ethical culture and compliance effectiveness
Cons
- Premium positioning: LRN's behavioural science approach and custom development come at a premium price
- Less regulatory depth: LRN excels at the "ethics" side of ethics and compliance but provides less depth on specific regulatory frameworks (FCPA compliance procedures, AML transaction monitoring, etc.) than providers like CompliQuest, SAI360, or Navex
- Advisory-dependent: Getting the most from LRN requires engaging their advisory team — the self-service training library is less extensive than SAI360 or Navex
- Academic orientation: The behavioural science approach, while intellectually rigorous, can occasionally feel abstract to employees who prefer practical, action-oriented training
- Smaller platform: LRN is a training company, not a full compliance platform — it does not include policy management, incident reporting, or third-party risk tools
- Implementation complexity: Custom programmes require significant lead time and stakeholder engagement
Pricing
LRN uses enterprise pricing with a consultative sales process. Custom programme development requires significant investment. Pricing is not publicly available but is positioned at the premium end of the market, comparable to Navex and SAI360.
Best For
Organisations that are serious about building ethical culture — not just checking a compliance box — and want training grounded in behavioural science. Particularly effective for companies that have experienced ethical failures and need to rebuild trust, or for organisations where generic compliance training has failed to move the needle on misconduct rates. Less suited for organisations that need deep, regulation-specific training on FCPA procedures, AML compliance, or specific anti-corruption frameworks.
7. Emtrain
Best for: Organisations that want to use ethics and conduct training as a tool for measuring and improving workplace culture, with a focus on data-driven insights.
Emtrain is a workplace culture platform that combines compliance training with proprietary analytics to help organisations understand and improve their ethical culture. Founded by employment attorney Janine Yancey, Emtrain approaches ethics training through the lens of workplace dynamics — power dynamics, social intelligence, and organisational behaviour.
What Makes Emtrain Different
Emtrain's unique value proposition is its Workplace Culture Platform, which integrates training with culture analytics. As employees complete training, they respond to workplace scenarios. Emtrain aggregates these responses — anonymised — to create a Workplace Culture Diagnostic that reveals how employees perceive their organisation's culture around ethics, inclusion, power dynamics, and speak-up norms.
This diagnostic data is genuinely distinctive. It allows compliance leaders to identify cultural risk areas before they become incidents — for example, revealing that a particular department scores low on psychological safety, suggesting that employees in that department may be reluctant to report misconduct.
Emtrain's training content focuses on workplace dynamics: how power imbalances create ethical risk, how social pressure influences behaviour, and how organisational norms either encourage or suppress ethical conduct. This human-centred approach resonates with employees who may disengage from traditional rules-based compliance training.
Pros
- Culture analytics: Proprietary Workplace Culture Diagnostic identifies ethical risk areas and tracks culture over time
- Human-centred approach: Training focuses on workplace dynamics, power, and social behaviour rather than abstract rules
- Data-driven insights: Anonymous learner responses generate actionable data for compliance and HR leaders
- Strong speak-up culture content: Particular depth on psychological safety, reporting, and non-retaliation
- Expert-led content: Training designed by employment law and organisational behaviour experts
- Engaging format: Interactive scenarios that feel relevant to everyday workplace experiences
- Integration-friendly: Emtrain integrates with major HRIS and LMS platforms
Cons
- Limited regulatory depth: Ethics and culture focus means less coverage of specific regulatory frameworks (FCPA, UK Bribery Act, AML)
- Primarily English: Multilingual support is limited compared to global platforms like Traliant, Navex, or SAI360
- US-centric: Designed primarily for US workplace culture and legal requirements. European regulatory context receives less attention
- Narrower content scope: Emtrain's library is focused on culture and conduct — it does not cover the full spectrum of compliance topics that broader platforms offer
- Less suitable for heavily regulated industries: Financial services, pharma, and government contractors typically need more regulatory specificity than Emtrain provides
- Limited customisation: Some adaptation is available, but bespoke content development is less extensive than LRN or CompliQuest
Pricing
Emtrain uses a per-employee annual subscription model. Pricing is not publicly listed but is positioned in the mid-to-upper market, reflecting the value of the culture analytics component. The Workplace Culture Diagnostic may be available as a standalone or bundled with training.
Best For
Organisations that want to understand and improve their workplace culture using data, not just deliver compliance training. Emtrain is particularly valuable for HR and compliance leaders who need to measure the impact of their ethics programme and identify cultural risk areas proactively. Less suited for organisations that need deep regulatory training or multilingual global deployment.
Which Platform Is Right for You?
The best ethics and code of conduct training platform depends on your organisation's specific needs. Here is a decision framework:
You Need Ethics + Deep Regulatory Training
Choose CompliQuest. If your ethics training needs go beyond code of conduct basics to include substantive FCPA/anti-corruption, AML, and both US DOJ and EU regulatory frameworks, CompliQuest provides the strongest combination of ethical foundations and regulatory depth, plus custom course development.
You Need a Comprehensive Compliance Platform
Choose Navex or SAI360. If you need training integrated with policy management, incident reporting, hotline services, and third-party risk management, these enterprise platforms provide the most complete compliance ecosystem. Navex is the market leader; SAI360 offers comparable depth with slightly different strengths.
You Want to Build Genuine Ethical Culture
Choose LRN. If your priority is changing how employees think about ethical dilemmas — not just teaching them the rules — LRN's behavioural science-driven approach is unmatched. Particularly valuable for organisations recovering from ethical failures.
You Need Global, Customisable Training
Choose Traliant. With 100+ languages and strong customisation options, Traliant is the best choice for mid-market companies that need consistent ethics training across a global workforce.
You Want Culture Analytics
Choose Emtrain. If measuring workplace culture and identifying ethical risk areas proactively is a priority, Emtrain's Workplace Culture Diagnostic is a unique capability.
You Need Affordable, Simple Training
Choose EasyLlama. For small to mid-size companies that need ethics awareness as part of a broader HR compliance programme at an affordable price point, EasyLlama delivers simplicity and value.
What to Look for in an Ethics Training Platform
Beyond the seven platforms reviewed above, here are the key criteria to evaluate any ethics and code of conduct training provider:
1. Alignment with Your Code of Conduct
Your ethics training must be directly connected to your organisation's code of conduct. Generic, off-the-shelf training that does not reference your company's specific values, policies, and expectations will feel disconnected and inauthentic. The most effective programmes weave the organisation's code of conduct into every scenario and assessment.
The DOJ's Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (DOJ Guidance, 2024) specifically asks: "Is the training provided in a form and language that is appropriate for the target audience?" and "Has the company assessed whether its training is effective?" Platforms that offer customisation — allowing you to incorporate your code, your language, your examples — will better satisfy these requirements.
2. Scenario-Based Learning Over Knowledge Transfer
The behavioural ethics research is clear: people do not become more ethical by memorising rules. Ethical behaviour improves when people practise making ethical judgements in realistic situations. Look for platforms that present genuinely ambiguous scenarios — situations where the right course of action requires judgement, not just rule-recall.
Research published in the Journal of Business Ethics found that scenario-based ethics training improved ethical decision-making by 67% compared to lecture-format training, and the effect persisted for 12 months after training completion (Sekerka & Bagozzi, 2007).
3. Anti-Corruption Depth
If your organisation operates internationally, has government customers, uses third-party agents, or operates in high-risk jurisdictions, your ethics training must include substantive anti-corruption content. This means going beyond "do not bribe" to cover practical topics: recognising red flags in third-party relationships, handling facilitation payment requests, navigating gifts and hospitality in different cultural contexts, and understanding the difference between FCPA, UK Bribery Act, and EU Anti-Corruption Directive requirements.
4. Whistleblower Protection
The EU Whistleblower Protection Directive (Directive 2019/1937) requires organisations with 50+ employees to establish internal reporting channels and protect whistleblowers. Your ethics training must cover reporting mechanisms, non-retaliation protections, and how to raise concerns — both to comply with the Directive and because a workforce that does not feel safe reporting misconduct is a workforce where misconduct goes unaddressed.
The ECI's Global Business Ethics Survey found that 86% of employees in organisations with strong ethical cultures said they would report misconduct, compared to only 32% in weak-culture organisations (ECI GBES 2024). Training that explicitly encourages and normalises reporting is essential.
5. Measurement and Effectiveness
The DOJ asks: "Has the company measured the effectiveness of its compliance training?" The answer should not be "people completed it." Effective measurement includes pre- and post-training knowledge assessments, behavioural observation (are trained employees handling situations differently?), hotline and incident data (are report rates healthy?), and ideally culture measurement (are employee perceptions of ethical culture improving over time?).
Look for platforms that provide analytics beyond completion rates — assessment scores, engagement metrics, culture diagnostics, or integration with incident reporting data.
6. Regular Updates
The ethics and compliance landscape evolves continuously. New enforcement actions create new precedents. New legislation creates new obligations. New scandals create new case studies. Your training platform should be regularly updated to reflect current realities. Ask providers: when was the content last updated? How quickly do they incorporate new regulatory developments?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ethics training?
Ethics training is the process of educating employees about the organisation's ethical standards, values, and expectations for conduct — and, crucially, helping them develop the judgement to apply those standards in ambiguous real-world situations. It goes beyond legal compliance (though compliance is a component) to address the broader question of how the organisation and its people should behave.
Effective ethics training typically covers: the organisation's code of conduct and values, conflicts of interest, gifts and entertainment, anti-corruption and anti-bribery, reporting mechanisms and whistleblower protection, data ethics, respectful workplace behaviour, and the ethical dimensions of business decisions.
According to the Ethics & Compliance Initiative, ethics training is one of three pillars of an effective ethics programme — alongside leadership commitment and accountability mechanisms (ECI GBES 2024). Training alone is insufficient; it must be reinforced by leadership behaviour and consequences for violations.
Is ethics training legally required?
Yes, in many jurisdictions and for many types of organisations. The specific requirements depend on where your organisation operates and what it does:
United States: The DOJ's Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (2024 revision) explicitly lists "effective training and communications" as a core component of an adequate compliance programme. While there is no single US law that mandates "ethics training" for all businesses, failure to provide adequate training can result in enhanced penalties during enforcement proceedings, and the presence of an effective programme (including training) can qualify for penalty mitigation under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
For specific industries: SEC-regulated firms, government contractors (under the Federal Acquisition Regulation), healthcare organisations (under OIG compliance guidance), and financial institutions (under BSA/AML requirements) all face explicit or de facto training mandates.
European Union: The EU Anti-Corruption Directive (2024) creates obligations for organisations to implement preventive measures, including training. The EU Whistleblower Protection Directive requires training on reporting mechanisms. Sector-specific regulations (MiFID II, AML Directives) impose additional training requirements on regulated entities.
United Kingdom: The Bribery Act 2010's "adequate procedures" defence requires organisations to demonstrate preventive measures, which courts and the SFO have consistently interpreted as including training.
In practice, ethics training is a de facto requirement for any organisation that wants to manage its legal risk, even where it is not explicitly mandated by a single statute.
What should ethics and code of conduct training cover?
Comprehensive ethics training should cover the following topics, with depth calibrated to each employee's role and risk exposure:
For all employees:
- The organisation's code of conduct and values
- Conflicts of interest (personal, financial, relational)
- Gifts, entertainment, and hospitality (what is acceptable, what requires approval, what is prohibited)
- Anti-corruption basics (recognising bribery, understanding why it matters)
- Reporting obligations and mechanisms (how to report concerns, whistleblower protections, non-retaliation)
- Respectful workplace behaviour (harassment, discrimination, bullying)
- Data ethics and privacy
- Social media and public communications
For managers and leaders:
- All of the above, plus: modelling ethical behaviour, responding to ethics reports, preventing retaliation, creating psychologically safe teams, recognising signs of misconduct
For high-risk roles (sales in emerging markets, procurement, government relations, third-party management):
- Substantive anti-corruption training (FCPA, UK Bribery Act, EU Anti-Corruption Directive)
- Third-party due diligence and red flag recognition
- Facilitation payments and navigating grey areas
- Anti-money laundering and financial crime awareness
- Antitrust and competition law basics
For compliance professionals:
- Programme design and effectiveness measurement
- Regulatory landscape and enforcement trends
- Investigation techniques and case management
- Board reporting and governance
How do you measure the effectiveness of ethics training?
Measuring ethics training effectiveness requires going beyond completion rates to assess actual behavioural and cultural impact. The DOJ's Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs specifically asks whether companies have measured the effectiveness of their training — "completion" is not "effectiveness."
Best practices for measurement, drawing on the ECI's Programme Assessment methodology and the DOJ's evaluation criteria, include:
Knowledge assessments: Pre- and post-training quizzes to measure whether employees understand the organisation's expectations and policies. Useful but limited — knowledge does not guarantee behaviour.
Scenario-based assessments: Presenting employees with ethical dilemmas and evaluating their reasoning. More predictive of actual behaviour than knowledge recall.
Culture surveys: Measuring employee perceptions of ethical culture over time — do employees feel safe reporting? Do they believe leadership takes ethics seriously? Do they perceive consequences for violations? The ECI's GBES and Emtrain's Workplace Culture Diagnostic are examples.
Incident and hotline data: Tracking reporting rates (healthy reporting is a positive indicator), misconduct incident trends, and types of concerns reported. A spike in reporting after training often indicates increased awareness and confidence to report — a positive outcome.
Behavioural observation: Monitoring whether trained employees handle situations differently — for example, whether procurement teams conduct more thorough third-party due diligence after anti-corruption training.
Regulatory outcomes: Tracking enforcement actions, audit findings, and regulatory interactions for evidence that the programme is working.
What is the difference between ethics training and compliance training?
Ethics training and compliance training are related but distinct — and the most effective programmes integrate both.
Compliance training focuses on rules: What does the law require? What does the regulation prohibit? What are the company's policies? The goal is to ensure employees know the rules and can follow them. Compliance training is typically legalistic, prescriptive, and focused on avoiding violations. Examples: "Do not accept gifts over $100." "Report all suspected bribery within 24 hours." "Classify data according to the retention schedule."
Ethics training focuses on values and judgement: What is the right thing to do? How do you make a good decision when the answer is not clear? How do your actions affect others? Ethics training addresses the grey areas that rules cannot fully cover. It builds the moral reasoning capacity that employees need when they face situations not explicitly addressed by any policy. Examples: "A supplier offers to host your team at a sporting event. How do you evaluate whether this is appropriate?" "You discover a colleague's data handling practice is technically legal but feels wrong. What do you do?"
The most effective organisations combine both approaches. As Patricia Harned of the ECI has noted, rules without values produce a culture of minimum compliance — employees do the least they must. Values without rules produce inconsistency — employees make well-intentioned decisions that contradict each other. Integrated programmes produce organisations where employees want to do the right thing (ethics) and know specifically what is expected of them (compliance) (ECI GBES 2024).
How often should ethics training be refreshed?
Best practice is to provide ethics and code of conduct training at onboarding and refresh it at least annually. However, a single annual training event is the minimum, not the aspiration. The most effective programmes use a continuous reinforcement model:
- Annual comprehensive training: A structured programme (30–90 minutes depending on role) that covers the full code of conduct and key risk areas
- Quarterly micro-learning: Short, focused modules (5–15 minutes) on specific topics — an enforcement case study, a timely ethical dilemma, a new policy
- Event-triggered training: Deployed in response to specific events — a new regulation, an industry scandal, an internal incident, or a change in company operations
- Manager touchpoints: Regular ethics discussions in team meetings, facilitated by managers trained to lead the conversation
The DOJ's Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs asks whether training is "updated and refreshed" to account for "lessons learned" and "evolving risks" (DOJ Guidance, 2024). An ethics training programme that never changes is, by definition, not responsive to evolving risks — and will be viewed sceptically by regulators.
Related Insights & Our Courses
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- Ethics Training for Employees: Complete Guide for 2026 — comprehensive guide to building an effective ethics training programme
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA): Complete Guide 2026 — deep dive into FCPA compliance, enforcement, and training requirements
- BSA/AML Risk Assessment: Complete Guide 2026 — understanding anti-money laundering compliance and training obligations
- Regulatory Compliance Training: Complete Guide 2026 — the broader context of building a compliance training programme
Our Ethics & Compliance Training Courses
CompliQuest offers ethics, anti-corruption, and compliance training built by regulatory experts. Browse our courses to find the right training for your organisation, or contact us to discuss custom programme development.
- Code of Conduct Training — comprehensive coverage of organisational values, conflicts of interest, gifts and entertainment, workplace conduct
- Anti-Corruption & FCPA Training — substantive anti-bribery training covering FCPA, UK Bribery Act, EU Anti-Corruption Directive, and practical scenarios
- Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Training — financial crime compliance for regulated entities and high-risk businesses
- Whistleblower Protection Training — EU Whistleblower Directive, reporting mechanisms, non-retaliation, speak-up culture
- Ethics for Managers & Leaders — ethical leadership, handling misconduct reports, creating psychologically safe teams
- Custom Ethics Programme Development — bespoke training built around your code of conduct, values, and risk profile