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Fostering Employee Engagement - Creating A Compliance Culture

Picture of Raine Streicher By  Raine Streicher  ·  3 minute read

In a recent post, we provided guidelines for building a CMMC compliance team, and while it’s certainly true that having a dedicated team is the most effective way to achieve and maintain compliance, it’s likewise true that the responsibility for compliance doesn’t rest solely with that team. As we’ve also pointed out, compliance is everyone’s responsibility. Compliance works best when everyone is on board, and to make sure that’s the case, you need to create a culture of compliance within your organization.

 

Creating a Culture of Compliance

Achieving and maintaining CMMC compliance requires more than technology and checking the boxes to meet the requirements for your CMMC level. Those things matter, of course, but the culture supporting them is even more important, as it means your employees are on board with your efforts and prioritizing cybersecurity. Here are some strategies for engaging your employees and creating a culture of CMMC compliance.

  • Lead by example: It starts with executive leadership. Top executives must model strong cybersecurity practices and actively participate in training and compliance initiatives. When leaders prioritize security, employees will too.
  • Put security first: Encourage your employees to incorporate security into their daily work. Require strong password management, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and secure data handling. Even better, recognize employees who model secure behavior or go the extra mile toward promoting cybersecurity.
  • Get them on board during onboarding: Start prioritizing security on day one. Include cybersecurity training in your new hire onboarding processes. Ensure that all new employees, regardless of level or role, understand the importance of CMMC compliance and their role in ensuring it.
  • Use training to build awareness and hone skills: Provide regular communications and training sessions to keep employees aware of the importance of cybersecurity and the part they play in achieving compliance. Make it relevant by tailoring training to specific roles, and use real-world examples and interactive content to keep employees engaged. Make it fun by making a game of it—for example, hold a friendly competition with a reward for the team that achieves the best score on a security quiz or implements the most secure practices. Beyond that, give your employees tools to deal with threats. Exercises such as simulated phishing attacks and tabletop exercises sharpen employees’ cybersecurity skills and identify areas for improvement within the company—which is a good practice for CMMC compliance in any case.
  • Implement clear policies and procedures: Make sure each of your employees understands their responsibility regarding security and compliance. Craft cybersecurity policies that are clear, accessible, and aligned with CMMC requirements. Write easy-to-follow procedures for managing access controls, handing sensitive data, and reporting threats.
  • Encourage communication: A secure company is one where employees feel comfortable reporting concerns without fear of retribution. Keep communication channels open, encourage employees to ask questions and to speak up if they see potential issues, and in turn, keep them updated on potential threats, phishing attempts, and overall best practices

Important Considerations

  • Tailor communications and training to the needed level: Make sure you adapt your cybersecurity training content and complexity not only to the roles of the employees involved but also to level of CMMC compliance required for your organization.
  • Keep reassessing employee engagement: Conduct periodic assessments to ensure your employees understand the importance of cybersecurity and compliance as well as your organization’s specific CMMC requirements. Also look for areas where you might need to provide additional training.

By actively engaging your employees in CMMC compliance efforts, your organization can improve its cybersecurity posture, increase overall awareness, and achieve and maintain CMMC certification. 

CyberNINES is ready to partner with you in that effort. Send us a contact request at this link to see how we can help you foster employee engagement and build your culture of cybersecurity and CMMC compliance.

Next up: Collaboration between compliance and IT teams

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