GDPR Training: Teaching your Employees Data Protection, efficiently and legally watertight
2019-02-01 - In order to achieve compliance with data protection, employee training is mandatory for every company – including yours. Depending on the size and structure of the company, however, the realization of the training course can prove to be logistically and financially challenging. Find out more about how to make your staff training efficient.
Employee training – documentation is a must
Compliance with regulations is not only a matter of those responsible in upper management, but of all staff members. The very basis for the practical implementation of data protection regulations in day-to-day business is comprehensive training. In this context,
documentation is crucial since the mere completion of the training is not enough – companies have to be able to proof their employees’ participation. Verifiability has to be ensured at all times.
What information regarding staff training has to be documented?
The following information is mandatory for training documentation:
- Names of participants: Who is attending the training?
- Location: Where did the training take place?
What does that mean? The training location means the geographic location at which the offline training took place, or the fact that the training took place online. - Date: When did the training take place?
- Time: At what exact time did the training take place?
- Number of participants: How many participants were trained?
- Topic: What was the main focus of the training?
What does that mean? Depending on the area of responsibility, different training focuses may be suitable for your employees. The training focus needs to be documented in order to be able to retrace the content of the training at a later time.
Capitalize on eLearning
Compared to classroom training, eLearning has many advantages: It allows for more flexibility, transparency and efficiency. In order to make use of these benefits when implementing the online training, you may want to consider the following factors.
- Allow for flexible time management! Compared to traditional training, eLearning has the significant advantage of allowing the participants to choose the time of the training individually. You can send the invitation for the data protection training via e-mail. Remember to include the estimated length of the training. This way, each employee can decide when to carve out time for the training independently. Remember to also include the time period in which the training is to be completed in order to create a clear time frame for your employees. Since eLearning does not require travels and time out of the office, internal processes are minimally affected.
- Keep an overview!All training courses, be they online or offline, have to be archived in an audit-proof manner. Exact documentation is not only crucial for compliance with the data protection regulation. Even though documentation is important for your company’s internal processes, the critical point is verifiability in the face of examination by the authorities. Particularly with eLearning, an
overview of which employee has already completed the training is very helpful since you can look up the status of the training very easily. Should you notice that an employee has not completed the training yet, you can send a reminder via email right away. Looking through physical copies of training documents becomes a thing of the past. - Automatize documentation! Not all obligatory data for audit-proof documentation is saved automatically purely by attending eLearning training. Make sure that the eLearning program you settle on stores the participation certificate automatically and in an audit-proof way. Like this, the step of recording the training measures manually is redundant. You profit by saving time and, as a result, costs.
- Make purposive choices! The GDPR is a complex topic. Dividing it into training modules creates a clear structure and helps optimize the learning conditions. Depending on the structure of your company, different modules may benefit the distinct departments. For example, your IT department needs training in different aspects than your customer service. Considering in advance which training section may benefit which employees and placing the main focus accordingly enhances efficiency and paves the way for optimal learning results.
Access to GDPR eLearning is becoming a main feature of all companies. The advantages of online learning are well-known and have been put into practice not only by companies, but also by schools, universities and other institutions. Online training improves the process of planning and organizing and boosts efficiency. Depending on the situation, however, classroom training may be the preferable option. The required GDPR skills can be obtained either way since both options offer training of the same standard regarding content. Therefore, the choice of a training design depends on the individual situation of your company or your client.
Ultimately, the decision for or against one of the training options is often a question of cost. Here, IITR tools like the Compliance Kit or the Privacy Kit come into play.
Compliance Kit and Privacy Kit: eLearning included
If you are looking to rely on efficient and audit-proof GDPR eLearning, the IITR Compliance Kit and the IITR Privacy kit could be your solution. Our kits do not only offer eLearning modules for your staff; they also include a variety of other useful tools.
The IITR Compliance Kit is a central online platform for all matters relevant to GDPR, staff training being one important aspect. The Compliance Kit is a data protection management system designed to help organize medium and large-sized structures, preventing internal processes from being strained by additional bureaucratic tasks. The central storage of all information and documents allows for compliance with the GDPR in a well-organized and clearly structured manner.
The Privacy Kit is the more stream-lined and cheaper version, that still includes the basic eLearning modules. This way, you can make a choice based on your individual needs.
Conclusion: automated eLearning saves money and time
Utilizing eLearning modules in your company means saving resources and time. Even though class room training can be the preferable option in particular cases, usually eLearning is advantageous since it allows for more flexibility and, hence, does not interfere with day-to-day business. In order to avoid unnecessary expenditure, you should look to choose an eLearning program for your company that includes the audit-proof verifiability of GDPR training attendance.