Since its release, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been a force in getting organizations to get a handle on their protection of personal data. An area of weakness, however, is in the lack of training and education these organizations offer to their staff regarding the appropriate processing and safeguarding of personal data.
Staff awareness is one of the cornerstones of preparing for GDPR. Ensuring that your workers are aware of the changes and advised of what is expected of them will go a long way in keeping your organization compliant and avoiding the potential risk of breaching the regulation.
A Two-Pronged Approach to Data Protection
To simplify things and streamline the GDPR preparation process, many organizations divide data protection into a two-pronged approach: Awareness and Training.
Awareness
An awareness program for data protection is developed to support training efforts. You can choose to deliver awareness campaigns on an ongoing basis and through a variety of methods. Typically, each campaign will deliver a single, clear message, such as password protection, avoiding data breaches, confidentiality, etc. Each campaign should be relevant to the threats face by your organization.
Training
When developing your training component, you will start by identifying who needs to be trained and what content is required. For example, regulators would expect workers who often handle personal data will have received adequate data protection training. Some employees will need in-depth training to support their unique roles and responsibilities.
Training can be delivered in various ways, such as:
Instructor-led (live) classes
Instructor-led (previously recorded) webinars/video links
Online or offline learning
Online Learning for Data Protection Awareness Training
As online learning or eLearning technologies continue to evolve, it continues to become a cornerstone in all aspects of employee training, including data protection awareness and GDPR training, in general.
If you choose to utilize online learning as part of your data protection awareness and training efforts, some of the benefits you can expect include:
Cost-Effectiveness
Online training eliminates some of the expenses associated with in-person, classroom-based training, such as travel, catering, instructor and venue fees. And because online training activities can be conducted after hours, there is no lost employee productivity.
Timeliness
Online learning allows for faster development and delivery of new learning materials than other training methods. This is especially valuable when an organization is made aware of an issue or threat and wants to address it quickly through training.
Convenience
For employees, online learning offers a level of convenience that cannot be offered with other training methods. Online training allows employees to learn at their own pace. It also supports learning activities at any time and from any location that offers Internet connectivity.
Measurement and Analysis
Online training technologies typically offer tools for data collection and analysis. The review of this data will help your organization to understand which aspects of training are working and which are not, so that you can revise and improve your training program over time.
LMS Portals for Data Protection Awareness Training
LMS Portals offers a powerful cloud-based platform for the development, delivery, and measurement of data awareness protection training. The platform allows you to build and deploy your training programs under your own brand and incorporated into your own web infrastructure.
Contact us to get started today!