Educating Employees: Why Teaching Your Team About Digital Safety Is a Life Lesson

Companies that operate in these tough times have a lot to think about and become as much responsible as possible. Many people think that the digital revolution and digitization of current work environments are just opportunities. However, this brings a lot of responsibilities too for the company managers to consider. And we are not talking about digital activities within companies, but digital literacy in general that employees have.

One of the sources discusses the issue of digital literacy pointing out three main cases digital literacy can be characterized with: The way we consume information, the way we create it, and lastly, how we share that information. The knowledge of necessary theories helps individuals navigate better in the digital world, but why would companies care about how their employees behave outside of the office territories? Well, for a very simple reason: Such companies will evolve from being employers to environments where professionals feel appreciated and safe.

Given the fact that we spend most of our time in the office or at least working for an office, it’s understandable that we don’t have enough time to dig deep into digital education. Organizing learning sessions will not only help your employees become educated for the digital revolution but also make them later realize that you gave them a lesson for life.

Working, Communicating, and Playing Safe

I always like to emphasize that employees have another life outside of their jobs, and it’s crucial for companies to remember this. Unlike the famous movie Severance, these two lives are not severed, and what we learn about digital literacy at the workplace can be equally valuable in our personal lives, where we’re constantly connected, whether we’re chatting with friends, shopping online, or even gaming and having fun.

Speaking of gaming, how about the rise of online casino platforms with crypto payments? This is quite a revolutionary concept – playing casino games with cryptocurrencies instead of regular money. As odd as it might sound, these new bitcoin-friendly casinos actually represent something important when it comes to digital safety. By using blockchain technology and crypto, they provide a more secure and transparent environment compared to traditional online gambling.

This is a perfect example of a larger trend that goes beyond gambling, showing that when people know the essence of online secure activities, they subconsciously opt for that, even when it comes to their after-work entertainment. That is, when having the option to choose between secure, crypto transactions vs traditional ones, they often select the former, as they prioritize anonymity, security, and privacy.

That’s why it’s so crucial for companies to take the time to educate employees about digital safe practices. Because those lessons apply just as much to our personal digital lives as they do to work, if we know how to stay safe online, we’ll make smarter choices whether we’re working, chatting with family, or, yes, even playing on a gaming platform.

Keeping Professional and Personal Separate

We’ve all probably done it before – sending a work email from our regular Gmail account. It might seem a minor thing at the time, but it’s important to remember that it can be dangerous. That’s why keeping your work and personal life separate (but still connected, of course) is important.

The numbers are clear – an interesting report found that 68% of data leaks were because of human mistakes or people using things online the wrong way. And you can bet some of those mistakes involved people mixing their work and personal stuff in ways that aren’t safe.

Companies need to be more active in teaching their employees about this. Everyone knows how bad a big data leak can be – lost money, legal trouble, and a damaged reputation. But it’s even worse than that. Employees themselves could have their personal information stolen if they’re not careful about online safety.

It’s a responsibility that goes both ways. Companies need to provide the right tools, training, and rules. But then it’s up to us workers to use different logins for work and personal email/apps, be careful about what devices and accounts we use for work compared to personal stuff, and always be aware of security protocols. If we get careless or lazy, we’re putting both our companies and ourselves in danger.

Professional Competitiveness with AI but Responsibly 

Now, about AI, the technology that’s been sparking both amazement and controversy lately! Those mind-blowing language models like ChatGPT have gotten people talking about the future and how AI will impact our work and personal lives.

Here’s the main point, though – AI is already here and rapidly growing. Research predicted AI could create an additional $13 trillion for the global economy by 2030. So, companies have a choice to make: try fruitlessly holding back the AI tide or prepare their workforce to use these tools responsibly to their competitive advantage. And we all know that the smart move is definitely the latter.

Teaching employees AI basics as a part of the company’s tech investment – strengths, weaknesses, ethical implications, and security considerations – gives companies a leg up. Workers who understand AI can then apply that knowledge to streamline processes, analyze data, spark creativity, and flat-out work smarter and more efficiently. Businesses that figure out how to use AI in a responsible way will be successful in the future.

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