How to get staff to watch awareness videos

Cyber security awareness is not a one off initiative. People will slowly forget information they are taught, that's a simple fact. We all do, no matter what the topic. And if the topic is not something they're particularly interested in, then the information will be lost faster. Do most people care about cyber security awareness? Well that depends on how relatable the content you present is for them! If you talk about the impact on the business, probably not. But if you talk about how people will personally be impacted, then care factor will be higher.

So we train people, we get them engaged, give them great content, and now what? This is where short reminder videos come in, and Web Safe Staff now offers these. We have an extensive library of videos averaging 1 minute long. There is zero fluff in these videos, straight to the point, telling people what they need to know to stay safe. It's all about keeping people reminded, and suspicious.

So 1 minute. Not much of a commitment, and surely everyone is going to watch those videos right? Actually no. The simple fact of the matter is, people are busy, they might not care, they might not see the email, they might think about doing it later but don't get around to it, or they might be doing something else while the video is playing. That's human nature.

This is a major issue with video based training content. How do companies get around this?

• Use a learning management system to track who has watched what. Managers can see reports, and chase up poor results.
• Block internet access until the videos have been watched (or something similar to this). Yes, this happens.
• The big stick approach - tell people they have to watch the videos, or they will be punished.

With the above methods, will people still actually engage with the videos? Will they learn, or will they just go through the motions to comply? Often they'll do the bare minimum to stay out of trouble.

For me, there's only one way to get this right, and that is to watch reminder videos at weekly staff meetings, which practically every company will have. Play the video in front of everyone. Ask if anyone has questions, or a story to share, then move on. 2 minutes and you're done, everyone has watched the video, no one has been reprimanded, and there's no lost time trying to chase up people who didn't watch it.

Who's running that team meeting? A manager / leader. By playing this video and getting everyone to pay attention, that manager is showing that they care about cyber security. Leading from the top is important!

Keep it simple, and choose the path of least resistance.

This article is from the Web Safe Staff blog here