Jessica Tjornehoj (jessica.tjornehoj@usbank.com) is an Assistant Vice President, Manager, Global Ethics Strategy and Framework at U.S. Bank in Minneapolis, MN.

Should we be training on the contents of the Code of Conduct or Code of Ethics (the Code), or on how to use it as a resource?

Code training is unique compared to other trainings typically found in organizations, because it is usually a snapshot or sampling of what is found in the Code itself. With pressure to reduce the length of Code training and make it more interactive and make it more function-specific (the list of demands goes on), organizations cannot possibly include everything that employees need to know about the contents of the Code. Instead, employers find themselves forced to pick and choose a few of the many topics from the Code to delve into, and to do it in a way that captures the short attention span of employees who take the training online. Studies show that the attention span of adults typically drops significantly after about 20 minutes. So, how can ethics teams make the most of this timespan in new and practical ways that are more effective for adult learners in the long run? Teach employees to use the Code as a tool applicable to daily life at work.