Data protection is the ultimate responsibility of the company that is storing and using the data, but employees can certainly play their part in this. If you are running a larger company, it becomes more and more important to ensure that data protection is a shared responsibility, and your employees can play a major role in this. Here are a few of the ways that employees can get involved in data protection.
Attend and understand all training sessions
As an employer, you need to put on training sessions regarding data protection. There also needs to be a full understanding of the threats involved and the best methods for protection. When you are using an individual cloud-based system, it is worth ensuring that proper training is provided as to its correct usage. Employees can help by attending and doing their best to understand the sessions. However, there also needs to be some follow up, and they need to feel comfortable in knowing exactly where they can direct any questions if they have them.
Report any potential data breaches as needed
A strong and open reporting system is going to be needed if employees have a hope of strengthening data protection. Encouraging reporting without blame fosters a culture of support and protection for all in the company. As a company owner, you need to think about how this reporting system is going to look. Are you having a simple email policy, or have you considered creating a portal for data protection?
Contribute with their own ideas
Since employees are looking at an entirely different picture from the managers, it is useful to have their perspective as to where any potential breaches may be coming from. If they feel comfortable contributing their own ideas, this can help to create a sense of collective responsibility. If they believe it’s not their problem and ignore it, the issue may persist and lead to serious consequences.
Follow the policies in place
The final way that employees can assist is by following the policies that you have in place. Ensuring policies are in place is crucial, emphasizing everyone’s responsibility in implementing them. It’s important to have a network usage policy so employees don’t connect to insecure networks without consideration. The more these policies are reinforced, the better the overall level of understanding.
All of these top tips can help to keep data protection at its best among employees. Ultimately, if staff members are on board with this, it is more likely that the company as a whole is going to be protected, which is why it needs to be taken seriously and considered at all times.
