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Like most business leaders, you probably have a love-hate relationship with cybersecurity training. This is completely understandable, as you likely view cybersecurity training as an inconvenient necessity that provides no real return on investment for your business.

Conversely, training courses designed to upskill your staff or introduce employees to a new patient management platform offer a clear ROI pathway. When you invest in these types of training programs, you will generate a strong ROI and a relatively condensed time to value.

But what if we told you that cybersecurity training actually provides a hidden ROI for your business? By prioritizing cybersecurity training, you can not only obtain a significant return on investment but also unlock an ROI that may be higher than those yielded by other types of training.

Risky Business: A Shocking Cybersecurity Stat You Need to Know

Most business owners believe their staff generally does a good job of prioritizing enterprise security by adhering to established best practices. You may share this sentiment about your own team.

However, a recent survey reveals that employees engage in quite a few risky behaviors during the course of their work duties. To make matters worse, most of these behaviors are carried out for the sake of convenience. 

In the survey mentioned above, researchers polled over 1,000 individuals, all working in office roles within various industries. Researchers discovered that 99% of respondents reported committing one or more actions that may compromise their employer’s cybersecurity.

Here is a breakdown of some of the most common responses:

• 96% of employees saved passwords and usernames on work devices
• 64% of respondents emailed work documents to personal email accounts 
• 49% accessed work documents after resigning from their positions

These statistics reveal that many employees do not understand the potential repercussions of these actions. While a cybersecurity training program cannot remedy all of these issues on its own, it can certainly make a positive impact on employee behavior.

How Cybersecurity Training Delivers Value for Your Business

Think for a moment about the last employee training program you invested in. What was the ROI for that program? If you created a highly effective program, your ROI might be 200-300%. As strong as a three-times ROI is, it pales in comparison to the potential return of a robust cybersecurity training program.

To calculate the hidden ROI of cybersecurity training, we must first know both the cost of the training itself and the potential costs of a data breach.

Let us assume you invest in top-end cybersecurity training designed for small and medium-sized businesses. You spend $6,000 on this program, which includes educational content, learning materials, and access to an online platform for your entire team.

If your SMB incurs a data breach, you may incur costs ranging from $120,000 to more than $1 million, according to a 2019 IBM report.

To keep things simple, we will use the more conservative figure of $120,000. Using these numbers, your $6,000 investment would yield a 1,900% ROI if it successfully safeguarded your business from a data breach. 

The often-overlooked ROI of cybersecurity training is substantial, even when using conservative figures. If you are serious about protecting business continuity and investing in training that will deliver real value for your business, you need a cybersecurity training program.

Keys to a Successful Cybersecurity Training Program

If you want to maximize the efficacy of your cybersecurity training program, the following elements must be in place:

High Employee Buy-In

You must proactively work to optimize employee buy-in for your program to succeed. Before launching your program, communicate with your staff and relay the importance of following cybersecurity best practices. 

When employees know the “why,” they will be much more likely to be attentive during training and adhere to your new cybersecurity policies.

A Clearly Defined Purpose

Employees are not the only ones that need to know the logic behind your new protocols. As a business leader, you must also be intimately familiar with these reasons.

What goals do you want to achieve by investing in cybersecurity training? How do you plan on measuring the efficacy of your program?

Once you have answered these critical questions, you can begin searching for training resources and creating new cybersecurity protocols or refining existing policies.

Keep in mind that cybersecurity training is only part of the equation, albeit an important one. You will also need to deploy cybersecurity solutions to safeguard your network.

Timely, Digestible Content

Delivery is everything, especially when it comes to employee training. Even if you compile an encyclopedia’s worth of cybersecurity best practices, this information will be lost on your target audience unless you deliver it in a digestible format.

That is why it is a good idea to include interactive lessons in your training program whenever possible to maximize information retention.

Additionally, you should opt for several smaller sessions of about 30-60 minutes each as opposed to one or two lengthy training courses. If you make your staff sit through an eight-hour course, they will likely be zoned out by their first break. 

An Optimized Training Schedule

When building your training schedule, make sure your sessions are spread out throughout the year. You should periodically provide your staff with refreshers to keep cybersecurity best practices top of mind.

While you can host your core training in a condensed block of a few weeks, you should send updates or refreshers out at least once per month. Refreshers can take many forms, such as a short three-question quiz or interactive lesson. 

Ready to Bring Your Training Program Up to Speed?

Before you can create an effective cybersecurity training program and tap into hidden ROI, you must first understand the severity and scope of the digital threats facing your business.

With that in mind, Cytek has created an extensive content library you can use to explore timely, relevant cybersecurity topics that apply to the dental and healthcare sectors.

We cover subjects like the benefits of implementing cybersecurity, why conducting regular security assessments is critical for your business, and many other exciting discussions. Explore our blog to access knowledge that can strengthen your company’s approach to cybersecurity.