In business, your employees can be your greatest asset. With the work they do for you, it is possible to make a profit, grow your startup, and secure your place in the marketplace. However, your employees can also create problems for your business. If they are lax when it comes to issues around security, catastrophe will surely follow.

To safeguard your business from disaster then, it is important to remind your employees of safer practices within the workplace. With this in mind, here are some suggestions that you might want to take into account.

#1: Take Cybersecurity Seriously

As a business owner, you no doubt take the issue of cybercrime seriously. Having seen news of data breaches and ransomware attacks in the media, you will understand the importance of safeguarding your computer systems and protecting your financial and customer data. But what about your employees? Do they think about the consequences of a cyber attack when they’re at work?

As an employer, you should explain to your employees some or all of the security facets laid out in the Borgata online privacy guide. By following the given tips around phishing scams, password management, malware, and more, your employees will be at less of a risk of making a mistake that could compromise your business. You will then have the peace of mind in knowing that your employees can be trusted when using your office computers. Be sure to update your employees on security measures on a regular basis, perhaps with training on the latest cybersecurity threats.

#2: Be Observant

While you probably have security cameras installed within your business, your employees still have a role to play in being vigilant. You need to encourage them to report any potential issues to you, be that a stranger wandering around your workplace, evidence of a criminal act by another employee, or seeing a colleague behave in a way that could compromise the security of your business.

Operate an open-door policy and/or encourage your employees to message you with a concern, and create a list of potential issues they need to watch out for. Be sure to thank them for their efforts in being vigilant too.

#3: Lockdown Your Computer After Use

Unfortunately, cybercriminals might not be the only people looking to gain access to your computer systems. If you have any employees with criminal intent, or if you have any unauthorized people on your premises looking to damage your business, then you will be placing your business in a vulnerable position if workplace computers are readily available for use.

Remind your employees to secure their computers with passwords, and ask them to power down or place their machines in locked standby mode if they are leaving their workstations for any reason. And especially when going home of an evening, remind your employees to turn off their computers before vacating the building.

#4: Check the Premises Before Leaving Work

For those employees who are the last to leave on a workday, remind them of the various security measures they need to take before going home. This includes checking all doors and windows to make sure they are securely shut. They should also be reminded to remove from view (or lock away) any item that could take the interest of a potential burglar. And assuming you have an alarm system in place, your employees should set the alarm before vacating the building.

As an employer, you should give your employees a checklist of what to do before leaving, as this way, they are less likely to forget something vital.

#5: Don’t Share Your Keys or ID Cards

While it’s unlikely your employees would share their keys or ID cards with any unauthorized personnel, you still need to remind them not to. You should also remind your employees to refrain from sharing such items with other employees unless you have given them permission to do so. This is so you can keep tabs on who does and who doesn’t have access to your business premises, and to prevent the risk of keys and ID cards getting lost and/or falling into the wrong hands.

Finally

Chances are, your business is perfectly safe, but you should never assume this to be the case. Be it an online hacker of an offline intruder; your business could be compromised if your employees didn’t treat these threats seriously. Remind them of the points we have made on a regular basis then, and take any further steps that we have neglected to mention. Your business will then be in a safer position, and disaster might have been averted.