Turning Compliance Into Connection: Digitising FICA Training
Client: A Pan-African professional services firm
Industry: Legal Industry
Focus: Learning and Development; Compliance training; Digitisation of training
What They Were Up Against
One of Africa’s largest professional services firms, operating across multiple countries, faced a challenge common to organisations with a dispersed workforce: scaling critical compliance training. The firm was heavily reliant on in-person sessions to deliver mandatory FICA training. Not only was this approach costly and logistically complex, but it also meant that employees were not always reached in time to remain compliant.
On top of that, the training itself was long, text-heavy, and uninspiring, leaving learners disengaged and reluctant to complete it. The stakes, however, were high: without effective proof of training completion, the organisation risked being unable to demonstrate compliance to regulators. In short, compliance was non-negotiable, but the way they were delivering it was unsustainable.
Where We Chose to Focus
Our discovery process revealed two critical insights. Firstly, the firm’s reliance on face-to-face training had become a logistical nightmare, inefficient, expensive, and nearly impossible to scale across multiple regions. Secondly, the root of the problem lay deeper: the organisation had not yet fully embraced the potential of technology in their learning strategy, despite already having an unused LMS in place.
To deliver the greatest impact, we focused on simplification, gamification, and leveraging audio-visual learning. We designed an interactive e-learning video that transformed lengthy, text-heavy compliance training into shorter, visually rich, and engaging modules. Recognising that today’s learners are far more responsive to visual and interactive content, we built the learning journey around impactful animations, real scenarios, and game-like decision points.
The visual design drew directly from the organisation’s identity: dark tones representing the risks of illegal activity, contrasted with light to symbolise the ethical duty of professionals to combat corruption. Learners were also asked to consciously “agree” to uphold ethical behaviour, tying the training not just to compliance, but also to personal accountability.
How We Partnered for Impact
Individual Awareness
We anchored our design process in Yellow Seed’s STICK framework and the What-Why-How learning approach, ensuring that the training appealed both logically and emotionally to learners.
Relational Understanding
Working closely with the firm’s Compliance Officer, we co-created a solution that was practical, scalable, and culturally resonant. The training was developed using cutting-edge design technology and then integrated into their LMS, finally bringing the system to life after years of sitting idle.
Storytelling and Narrative Exercises
Crucially, we reimagined assessments by replacing static multiple-choice quizzes with interactive, scenario-based challenges drawn directly from the firm’s real-world context. This approach allowed professionals to test their knowledge in meaningful, practical ways, deepening learning and improving retention.
What Shifted
The introduction of digital compliance learning created an immediate shift on multiple levels:
Systems-level
The organisation began using their LMS for the first time, gaining the ability to track completion and generate reports for compliance audits.
Financial
The firm reduced the cost and time associated with deploying trainers across multiple regions.
Behavioural
Professionals became more engaged in compliance learning, with training that felt shorter, sharper, and more relevant.
Most importantly, the compliance team could now demonstrate, with confidence and data, that the organisation was meeting its legal obligations.
Success Enablers
Momentum was unlocked by two key enablers. First, the unwavering passion of the Compliance Officer, whose commitment to meaningful training inspired and guided the design process. Second, the creative use of aesthetic design and gamification, which transformed compliance from a tick-box exercise into something learners actually found engaging.
A real turning point came when the firm saw the interactive video assessments in action. The shift away from generic multiple-choice questions towards scenario-based, in-game testing brought compliance learning to life in ways they hadn’t thought possible.
“Working with the Yellow Seed team was an absolute pleasure. Their expertise, guidance, and responsiveness made the development of our FICA e-training seamless. The course they delivered is interactive, engaging, and truly memorable, something rare in compliance training. The final product exceeded all my expectations.”
