Effective anti-bribery and corruption training: what really changes behaviour
GoodBlog | read time: 6 min
Published: 16 January 2026
Most organisations can demonstrate that they provide anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) training. Far fewer, however, can be confident that it genuinely influences behaviour when commercial pressures intensify.
To ensure organisations are properly protected, particularly those operating in higher-risk sectors or jurisdictions, an effective anti-bribery and corruption training programme is a critical component of any credible ABC compliance programme. This is not only about protecting reputation, but increasingly about meeting regulatory expectations.
As the UK Serious Fraud Office has made clear, enforcement authorities are increasingly looking beyond the existence of a training programme to the extent to which it can be shown to be effective. Regulators in the UK, Europe and the United States want evidence that anti-bribery training is credible, risk-based and likely to shape decision-making in practice. For many organisations, this means the key question is no longer whether training is in place, but whether it has been delivered appropriately: to the right people, at the right level, and in the right way.
Organisations therefore need to move beyond ABC training as a compliance tick-box exercise and consider whether it is achieving its intended outcomes. Does the training help people recognise risk and act differently when it matters most?
Why anti-bribery and corruption training often fails to change behaviour
Bribery and corruption risks often arise when employees find themselves in pressurised situations, for example when negotiating contracts, managing suppliers, working with intermediaries, or operating in higher-risk markets. Training that fails to address these scenarios or provide practical guidance is unlikely to change how people act.
Common weaknesses include:
- Generic content that could apply to almost any organisation
- An emphasis on legal definitions rather than practical judgement
- Training delivered in isolation from wider communications
- One-off sessions with little follow-up or reinforcement
- Limited focus on third-party and supplier risk
In these cases, employees may understand what constitutes bribery, but not how it applies to their role or what to do when confronted with a real risk.
Effective ABC training recognises that behaviour is shaped by context and commercial pressure. It goes beyond awareness, providing practical guidance, realistic scenarios and reinforcement over time so that employees can consistently make the right decisions when it matters.
What effective anti-bribery and corruption training looks like in practice
Training that supports effective ABC compliance focuses less on information and more on outcomes. It equips people to recognise risk, make informed decisions, and understand how the organisation expects them to respond.
Based on our work reviewing and designing ABC training across multiple sectors and regions, we have identified key components of effective training programmes that can genuinely change behaviour. These include:
1. Tailoring ABC training to real-world business and compliance risks
Effective ABC training reflects an organisation’s specific risk profile, including its sector, geographic footprint, use of intermediaries and exposure to higher-risk transactions.
When training mirrors the situations people are likely to face, it is more readily recognised and applied in practice.
GoodCorporation’s ABC training is designed around each organisation’s risks rather than relying on standardised content. This risk-led approach helps ensure training is proportionate, relevant and defensible.
2. Aligning ABC training with regulatory expectations and SFO guidance
In practice, ABC training needs to support effective decision-making in day-to-day operations and be robust enough to withstand regulatory scrutiny. Recent UK Serious Fraud Office guidance emphasises that having training in place on paper is not sufficient. The SFO will assess whether a compliance programme demonstrates effective implementation, including whether training is tailored to relevant risks and integrated into day-to-day operations rather than treated as a standalone annual exercise.
Regulators will also look for evidence that training is understood and applied consistently across roles and activities that present higher risk.
Best-practice ABC training therefore goes beyond generic awareness. It should be designed around the organisation’s risk profile, incorporate realistic scenarios, support decision-making under pressure, and be reinforced over time so that people understand not only the rules, but how to apply them in real situations.
3. Reinforcing zero tolerance for bribery and corruption through training
Training is most effective when it sits within a wider communication programme. Employees need clarity not only on the rules, but on the organisation’s position on bribery and corruption and how seriously it is taken.
Effective training reinforces:
- A clear zero-tolerance approach
- Leadership commitment to ethical conduct
- The consequences of breaches
- Practical routes for seeking advice or raising concerns
GoodCorporation supports organisations to align training with broader communications, helping to avoid gaps between policy, training and day-to-day practice.
4. Extending ABC training to manage third-party and supplier risks
Many bribery and corruption risks arise through agents, distributors, suppliers and other third parties. Training that focuses solely on employees leaves a significant gap.
Well-designed ABC training can support third-party risk management by setting expectations, reinforcing acceptable conduct, and complementing due diligence processes. This is particularly important where third parties play a material role in business operations and in demonstrating reasonable procedures.
5. Designing ABC training with behaviour in mind
There is no single delivery format that works for every organisation. What matters is whether training supports better decision-making in real situations.
Whether delivered online, in person or through facilitated discussion, the key test is the same: does it help people recognise risk and respond appropriately in challenging situations?
Training that relies on passive information transfer is unlikely to achieve this. By contrast, realistic scenarios, discussion and judgement-based exercises are more effective in shaping day-to-day behaviour.
In practice, there is often a marked difference between training that asks employees to recall rules and training that asks them to decide what they would do in a realistic commercial scenario, particularly where time constraints or senior influence are involved.
Training as part of a wider compliance culture
Anti-bribery and corruption training is most effective when it forms part of a broader ethics and compliance framework rather than a standalone session. Enforcement authorities and best-practice guidance emphasise that one-off courses are rarely sufficient to influence behaviour when organisations are operating in challenging markets.
Training needs to be reinforced consistently over time, integrated with communications, and aligned with the organisation’s policies, risk assessments and decision-making processes.
Practical guidance should also be easy to access when people need it. Short checklists, escalation routes and scenario examples should sit alongside everyday working documents so that staff can use them in real time rather than relying on memory from a past training session.
Embedding training in this way helps employees understand not just the rules, but how to apply them in everyday situations, particularly in higher-risk roles or markets. It also demonstrates to regulators that the organisation takes a proactive, risk-based approach to preventing bribery and corruption, which is increasingly relevant in assessments of compliance programme effectiveness.
Well-designed programmes often combine core training with ongoing communications, refresher sessions, scenario-based exercises and leadership reinforcement. For example, we worked with the Pearl Initiative to deliver an eight-part webinar series on combating corruption, building on research from our white paper Combating Corruption: Businesses still at risk. This reflects the principle that behaviour change is driven by consistency and reinforcement rather than a single intervention.
Why effective ABC training is worth the investment
Effective ABC training is not defined by volume or frequency. It depends on relevance, credibility and reinforcement. Training that reflects real risks, aligns with regulatory expectations and is supported by clear communication is far more likely to influence behaviour.
Best practice consistently emphasises the importance of targeted training for those most exposed to corruption risk. Beyond risk mitigation, effective training can also support ethical decision-making, strengthen stakeholder trust and protect organisational reputation.
The key question is not whether to provide ABC training, but whether it is designed to genuinely change behaviour.
How GoodCorporation can help
Effective anti-bribery and corruption training is not defined by how often it is delivered or the format used. Its value lies in whether it reflects real risks, aligns with regulatory expectations and supports sound decision-making under pressure.
In our experience, training needs to be targeted, credible and proportionate to risk, particularly for roles and activities most exposed to bribery and corruption. Training that does not meet these standards may satisfy a compliance requirement, but it is unlikely to influence behaviour or withstand regulatory scrutiny if a business comes under investigation.
GoodCorporation offers a range of anti-corruption training options, including e-learning, face-to-face sessions, workshops and webinars, all tailored to the needs of individual organisations. Our anti-bribery and corruption specialists also help develop communication programmes that reinforce zero tolerance, equipping employees and stakeholders with the knowledge and tools to identify and mitigate bribery risks.
Find out how GoodCorporation can help your organisation turn ABC training into real, measurable behaviour change by exploring our ABC training webpage or getting in touch today.
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