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Forbes
04-08-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Teaching The Basics: The Importance Of Micro-Level Training
Kathleen Hurley is the founder of Sage Inc., a tech company that offers SMB businesses infrastructure solutions and next-gen technology. Without training, your investment in software is wasted, your employee value is reduced and your company's productivity is constrained. You know the importance of training already, but considering what you choose to train your team on is just as important as offering training in the first place. Training on the right platforms, products and focus points can provide your team with the information and insights they need to make choices that support your business and allow it to go faster and further. A 2016 survey conducted between different methodologies and organizational practices revealed that 44% focused on training employees toward improvements in quality. More recently, a LinkedIn Learning study from 2024 shows that the vast majority of companies train in order to retain employees. Quality and retention can go hand in hand, since the longer the tenure of the employee, the stronger the product delivery for the organization overall. Training that is based on a needs analysis is even more powerful and productive, since it is targeted and hits the points that the organization and employee will benefit from most. These findings help businesses defend spending on something that may otherwise seem like a time and cost sink to some. Taking time away from production to attend a training session has to be justified by something, and a gain in productivity is what many companies are currently seeking. While many companies may focus on high-level training areas such as Six Sigma, Lean and other methodologies, I would like to propose that it's the micro-level training topics that matter even more: training employees on the basics of their jobs periodically can not only enhance productivity, but it can improve quality and add a third, crucial element: employee confidence. When employees have not had introductory training since their first month on the job, it can be a difficult task to remember what was explained, demonstrated and outlined during that introduction to Outlook, Word and Excel. Employees must not only be re-introduced to HR policy and cybersecurity training annually, but also given re-introductions to the basic functions of the programs and platforms they rely upon to produce their work. The tools employees rely on are frequently updated, often without formal guidance. At the same time, job-specific tasks and workflows evolve in ways that weren't covered during onboarding. To keep employees aligned with both the tools and the evolving context in which they're used, companies should offer short, recurring refresher sessions. When these are built into the culture—not treated as one-off interruptions—they become easier to schedule, more relevant and more widely attended, especially by employees balancing heavy workloads. Another approach that can help with retraining is the integration of computer-based training. While having an in-person trainer when possible is indispensable for answering questions in real time and informing the direction of the next training session, computer-based training allows additional flexibility for each learner. This is especially helpful when enabling employees to take courses on their own time when they're able. No matter how you elect to design the training program, offering retraining as an option—even when a needs analysis suggests that no remediation is needed—can help reinforce skills through repetition and reintroduction. This approach can help boost confidence, increase speed and productivity, and improve the quality of output across the organization. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Entrepreneur
16-07-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Beyond Denial
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur United Kingdom, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Hackers claim they have breached a large company and stolen millions of sensitive files. The victim initially stays silent, then denies any breach. Journalists receive evidence confirming the hack, yet the tech company insists it is not as it appears. Onlookers are confused and suspicious: is the company justified, or merely stalling? Days later, the company emails customers with a vaguely worded confirmation of a data breach, lacking details. The message downplays the incident using ambiguous technical language to soften the admission. The company assures users it is nothing to worry about, but concerns persist. Was this a notifiable breach? Is my data affected? Answers should be straightforward, yet in many real-world cases, they are elusive. Welcome to a world where truth collapses under disinformation, hearsay, and claims and counterclaims. Nobody knows what to believe, which might be the point. However, evasion and denial carry costs. Playing for Time From the breach report to acceptance, two weeks elapsed, leaving customers uninformed and at risk. Attackers exploited stolen data freely . Speculation wasted time, and social media amplified reputational damage. This imaginary example is a blueprint for poor cyber incident handling. Suffering an attack is not failure, but denying it has occurred against all evidence, then admitting it later, erodes trust long-term. What can organisations learn to improve their responses? Breach Response Playbook: A Guide to Smart Communication Cyber attacks burden today's digital economy. As organisations move their operations online, this offers numerous opportunities for criminals to breach their infrastructure, which is one of the key reasons why cyber crime is surging today. Criminals gain more targets, fuelling cyber crime growth. Defending through continuous monitoring and state-of-the-art security tools is vital, but preparing for breaches and knowing obligations is equally important. Here are best practices for managing and communicating cyber attacks: Transparency is Paramount Transparency builds trust. Communicate clearly and promptly if a breach is suspected or confirmed. While not all information can be publicly shared, it's best to let shareholders and customers know upon breach discovery, especially if they could be impacted. Don't Deny Unless Absolutely Certain Avoid blanket denials unless 100% sure no breach occurred. Premature denials damage credibility, undermine security perceptions, and expose stakeholders. Often, it is better to stay silent until understood, or state that claims are being seriously investigated. Run Forensics to Understand Scope Running effective forensics quickly is essential, as this is critical to understand how attackers got in, what they touched, if they are still present on the network and what needs to be done to mitigate their access. Inform Regulators Understand the regulatory requirements for reporting personal data breaches for all the regions the business operates in. In the UK, it's essential to report personal data breaches to the ICO within 72 hours; failure invites fines and added costs. Have Well-Rehearsed Incident Response Plans Maintain rehearsed plans for response, recovery, and service resumption. These should allow service disruptions if needed, with technologies configured for worst-case scenarios and strong detection. Provide Informative Updates Provide timely, accurate updates to customers, partners and investors. Don't leave stakeholders guessing and always ensure the information provided is applicable to the audience it's being delivered to. Consumers don't always need to understand the technicalities or how a breach unfolded and technical jargon will confuse them. Ensure communications are regular, informative and stamp out misinformation and speculation, which can cause reputational damage. Document Everything Document every action taken during the breach response. This helps with regulatory reviews, internal audits and post-incident analysis. Learn for Future Survival After the incident is resolved, conduct a post-mortem review. Identify what went wrong, what worked and how your security and response strategies can be improved. Assess successes, improvements, and strategy changes. Lessons learned should be holistic, not just negative-focused. Cyber attacks are a reality in our connected world, offering criminals more vulnerabilities to exploit. Yet a breach need not be disastrous. Those delaying, denying, or deflecting face lasting consequences. Remember, breach response affects the long term beyond initial crisis. While public attention fades, effects linger. A breach is bad news but a weak response worsens it. Organisations that respond swiftly, honestly and strategically will emerge stronger.
Washington Post
11-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Grok's Nazi tirade sparks debate: Who's to blame when AI spews hate?
A tech company employee who went on an antisemitic tirade like X's Grok chatbot did this week would soon be out of a job. Spewing hate speech to millions of people and invoking Adolf Hitler is not something a CEO can brush aside as a worker's bad day at the office.
