As an IT security leader, your ability to connect and collaborate across different departments is crucial. One vital yet often overlooked department is Human Resources, which can play a key role in helping you implement more effective cyber awareness training.
HR, people, and Cyber Security are closely connected. No matter what technology a company uses, it’s the people who operate and interact with it daily.
Partnering with HR is the way forward for training success because they have the most face time with the entire team. By collaborating, you can ensure the training zeroes in on the most critical areas to keep your data secure. From day one, HR can help champion the importance of following security best practices, fostering a robust security culture.
What are the benefits of collaborating with HR for Your Cyber Security Training programme?
- When HR and IT team up on Cyber Security training, you get a comprehensive programme that covers both technical skills and company policies.
- HR is usually the first and last point of contact for employees, so it plays a key role in building and maintaining a strong security culture.
- HR understands employee behaviour, which is essential for tailoring training to different roles.
- By working together, HR and IT can pinpoint which Cyber Security practices everyone needs to know, and which are specific to certain roles.
- This collaboration ensures that the onboarding process includes Cyber Security awareness, so new hires are ready to protect company assets from the start.
IT’s Role in Cyber Security Training Courses
IT brings the technical expertise needed for effective security training. Such as the threats your organisation faces, like deepfakes, QR code scams, and push payment frauds, and how to combat them. By working with HR, IT ensures the training content is accurate and up to date with the latest security risks.
IT can also pinpoint the skills employees need to prevent breaches and respond effectively to incidents. This technical knowledge helps create relevant and practical training for everyone.
Struggling to engage your team with dull and irrelevant cyber awareness training? You’re not alone! Joint planning sessions between HR and IT can be a game changer. Together, you have the insights to tailor your training effectively, making it more engaging and relevant for your team.
By working with HR, you can boost engagement through personalised training. While essential security practices apply to everyone, advanced training should be tailored for technical staff and high-risk departments. This approach ensures the training is relevant to job roles, industry standards, and company policies. Customising the training enhances retention and increases the likelihood that your team will apply it in their day-to-day routines.
Joint Meetings: How Should They Work?
Joint meetings between HR and IT are essential for developing a more effective and tailored Cyber Security awareness training plan. During these sessions, departments can collaborate to ensure training is relevant, engaging, and aligned with the company’s security goals and policies.
Here’s how to make these meetings productive and impactful:
- Set Clear Goals:
- Define what you want to achieve with the training.
- Focus on key topics like phishing awareness, password security, and data protection. Align these with company policies and compliance frameworks.
- Develop a strong training plan that includes targeted training for high-risk groups like finance, managers, and IT admins.
- Allocate Resources:
- Figure out what you need in terms of time, budget, and people.
- Assign specific tasks for content creation, training delivery, and follow-up.
- Create a Schedule:
- Map out a timeline for rolling out training sessions.
- Plan regular updates and refreshers to keep the content fresh.
- Use HR Insights:
- To help people understand processes like incident response, use real examples of recent security threats and breaches. This will make it easier for them to grasp the concepts they need to follow.
- Create engaging, hands-on modules that mirror real-world cyber threats like phishing.
- Establish Strong Communication:
- Set up clear channels for HR and IT to stay aligned.
- Keep each other updated on any changes in personnel and security policies.
- Maintain open communication to continuously improve the programme by holding regular meetings to review and refresh training content.
- Address new threats and changes in company policies or technologies.
- Integrate into Onboarding:
- Make security training a key part of the onboarding process for new hires.
- Tailor the training to the specific needs of each department.
- Help prevent security breaches by ensuring new employees understand their security responsibilities from the start.
A Perfect Partnership: HR and IT Joining Forces for Cyber Security Training
Collaborating with HR for your company’s cyber awareness training can help establish a culture of compliance throughout your organisation. This collaboration spans all HR specialties—onboarding, learning and development, and change management.
Gone are the days when IT alone needed to handle everything cyber. Cyber Security is about people, and both HR and IT are in the people business. This synergy ensures greater success when investing in security awareness that truly sticks.
If you have questions or need industry experts to deliver tailored cyber awareness training, contact Equilibrium Security. We’re ready to help you safeguard your business with our top-rated training services in the UK. Give us a call at 0121 663 0055 or email us at enquiries@equilibrium-security.co.uk.
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