Policy and procedures are an important part of establishing the rules of what can and can’t be done and how to do it within a company. Not only is it important to have policies and procedures but it is just as important to ensure that employees know and understand what those policies and procedures say.
Introduction
Policies and procedures can be daunting but necessary parts of business. These are kept in place to protect business owners, employees, and clients. Here are 4 benefits of creating, reviewing, and following policies and procedures:
- They provide uniformity.
- They save time.
- They help define roles.
- They create a clear course of action for team members to follow.
A well-made and well-followed set of cybersecurity policies and procedures can provide your company with the framework needed to grow safely. You, your IT department, and your staff should be operating the same understanding of your business’s best practices.
Even after your new policies and procedures are finalized and in place, you still have a problem. How do you go about making sure your workforce even looks at them? Even the most well-written, clearly-worded policies can seem inaccessible to employees.
By implementing security frameworks and policy manuals, you can ensure your employees are cognizant of your company’s cybersecurity.
Today, we will be going over some of the tools you can use to supplement your business’s cybersecurity policies and procedures.
Training Materials
Policy and procedure manuals alone are often not enough for your employees. While they provide the framework for your cybersecurity practices, you will need a bridge between these documents and your employees.
User-friendly training materials and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) can give your workers the practical information they need to stay consistent with your policies and best practices. Ensure that all instructions you provide (verbal and written) are in line with your materials, as conflicting instructions are a huge liability.
Annual Policy Reviews
As with health and safety, cybersecurity policy awareness benefits from annual reviews. Find a method for delivery (learning modules and classes are ideal) and keep records of completion.
The reviews should cover key cybersecurity takeaways that relate to your business. You do not want to get lost in small details that your staff will not retain. By the end of the review, they should know the essentials of your cybersecurity policy as well as where to find answers to their specific questions.
Cyber Security Talks
Regular cybersecurity talks are a great way to break down large, intimidating security topics. While policy reviews are a great way to refresh your staff of the fundamentals of your policy, security talks can delve into individual topics with greater detail.
Ideally, you will want to structure talks around areas where your business is struggling. For example, you may want to discuss proper usage of VPNs if you have a large remote workforce struggling to connect. If you find that sensitive documentation is being shared too freely, you can structure a talk around phishing methods that are a particular threat to your workplace.
Ensure that your talks are done by an experienced and trusted speaker who can answer audience questions. Ideally, this would be a member of your IT staff.
FAQ Emails/Email Sections
Your business should already have a channel for resolving their IT questions and concerns. Typically, the IT staff would be the ones fielding these inquires.
If you find that certain questions tend to come up frequently, you may want to provide an ongoing FAQ reference source for your employees. If your business provides general email updates to its staff, your IT FAQs can piggyback on them.
If you do not have an established communications method, consider creating one for cybersecurity and general office updates. This is a great way to stay connected to your staff and ensure that everybody is on the same page.
