Getting your staff “on-board” can be daunting and challenging. Employees don’t usually like change – especially change that could impact their own workload and their productivity. Therefore, any support that can help navigate this difficult terrain is welcome in the eyes of many small SME owners.

Forbes argues that leaders need to lead by example – which means senior executives and directors need to “own” the training and engagement process. This means that security training needs to be accessible and relevant to everyone – at all levels.

After understanding engagement and “owning” this networking stage, leaders need to understand employee resistance and how “buy-in” is predicated on benefit. The adage, “what’s in it for me”, is a relevant start point. Thinking that they’re “just staff that follow orders” misses the point by a country mile. You need to understand resistance in order to create the right narrative to help make change possible.

By giving a heads-up to the change, by owning the training and making the benefits relevant, organisations and their leaders, can successfully gain strong employee “buy-in” by creating a cohesive engaged workforce that puts cyber security front and centre during the working day.