I work for a large regulated bank. Because of that, we are required to take certain training courses. Further, our company has a high work ethic, and that requires other training. In all, each year there are probably a dozen training sessions that are required for most, if not all, employees. And while I work in technology, I am sure there are some departments that have even more courses that are required.

These courses are ones like anti money laundering, fair lending, active shooter, and employee conduct. They are pushed to our training queue usually in bunches of three to five at a time. And they usually have “must be completed by” dates that are six to eight weeks out.

The courses were less than a half hour if we were lucky. And sometimes there were “take the short refresher / changes highlighted review, and assessment” options which sped the process up too.

But part of the problem with these “due dates” is that upper management starts the nagging e-mails to management further down, even though the dates are still FOUR WEEKS AWAY that “these training courses are due soon, make sure your employees complete them on time.”

I’m not saying completing the courses isn’t important, I’m saying that sometimes there are more important things going on to start the nagging FOUR WEEKS AHEAD OF TIME.

I certainly won’t miss these required training courses.