A convincing phishing email does not need to fool everyone. It only needs to reach one busy colleague at the wrong moment – perhaps while approving an invoice, resetting a Microsoft 365 password or responding to a delivery query. Knowing how to prepare phishing training means preparing people for those ordinary working pressures, not simply asking them to spot obvious scams.
For Irish businesses, phishing training should support a wider security programme that includes secure email settings, multi-factor authentication, managed devices, reliable backups and a clear incident response process. Staff awareness is still essential because attackers increasingly use familiar suppliers, senior names and business context to make fraudulent messages appear legitimate.
Start with the risks your business actually faces
Generic examples have a place, especially for new starters, but they should not be the whole programme. Training is more likely to change behaviour when employees can see how a phishing attempt could affect their own work, customers and colleagues.
Begin by reviewing recent security events and near misses. Look at spam quarantines, suspicious emails reported by staff, failed sign-in attempts, finance-related requests and calls to the helpdesk about unexpected password prompts. Your IT provider may also be able to identify patterns from email security tools and endpoint monitoring.
Then consider the business processes that present the greatest opportunity for fraud. A finance team may be targeted with altered bank details or urgent payment requests. HR may receive fraudulent CVs or messages posing as payroll providers. Directors and office managers may see invoices, courier notifications or emails impersonating senior leaders. Hybrid workers can be exposed through personal devices, home networks and messages that arrive outside normal office hours.
This does not mean every employee needs a technical briefing on every threat. It means the training should use relevant scenarios and explain the practical consequence. For example, a fake Microsoft sign-in page can lead to a compromised account, access to shared files and convincing internal fraud emails sent from a trusted address.
Set a clear outcome before creating content
The purpose of phishing training is not to achieve a perfect test score. The better outcome is a workforce that pauses when something feels unusual, knows what to check and reports concerns quickly without embarrassment.
Decide what you want people to do after the session. In most organisations, that means they can recognise common warning signs, avoid clicking or entering credentials when unsure, verify unusual requests through a separate channel and report suspected phishing immediately. Keep the reporting route straightforward. If staff have to search an intranet page, complete a lengthy form or guess which team owns the issue, valuable time is lost.
Make sure the process works before you train people on it. Confirm whether suspicious emails should be reported using an email button, forwarded to a dedicated address or raised through the service desk. Define what happens next, who investigates and how staff will be updated. A report that disappears without acknowledgement teaches people that reporting was not worthwhile.
How to prepare phishing training for different roles
One presentation for the entire business can provide a useful baseline, but different roles need different emphasis. The most effective programmes combine a core message for everyone with short, role-specific examples.
For all employees, cover the signals that deserve a second look: unexpected login prompts, unfamiliar sender addresses, altered spellings in web addresses, pressure to act quickly, unusual attachments and requests that bypass normal procedures. Explain that no single sign proves a message is malicious. A genuine email can look untidy, while a fraudulent one can be well written and professionally branded. The safer habit is to verify anything unexpected, sensitive or urgent.
Finance, payroll and procurement teams should receive additional guidance on payment diversion and supplier impersonation. Their training should reinforce approval limits, call-back procedures using known contact details and the requirement to verify bank detail changes independently. Senior leaders and executive assistants should cover impersonation and confidential-data requests, as attackers often exploit authority and urgency.
Technical teams may need more detail on reporting headers, account compromise indicators and escalation steps. However, keep the central message consistent: staff are not expected to investigate an attack. Their job is to stop, report and seek advice.
Use realistic examples without trying to catch people out
Screenshots and simulated emails make training more memorable than a list of warnings. Use examples based on common business activity: Microsoft 365 sharing notifications, invoice queries, password expiry messages, courier updates, meeting invitations and supplier communications. Remove real customer or staff data before using any internal example.
A phishing simulation can be useful, but only when it supports learning. It should measure behaviours and expose gaps in controls, not shame individuals or create a league table of failures. People who click should receive a short explanation of the indicators they missed and a route to refresher training. The organisation should also consider whether the email was genuinely fair. If a simulation depends on obscure technical clues that no ordinary user would notice, it is testing suspicion rather than teaching sound judgement.
Timing matters too. Avoid launching simulations during a major payroll run, office move, system migration or other high-pressure period. Staff may reasonably see it as an unnecessary distraction, and the results may tell you more about workload than awareness.
Make reporting safe, quick and visible
A culture of fast reporting is often more valuable than trying to ensure no one ever clicks. Even careful people make mistakes, particularly when a message appears to come from a trusted colleague. Early reporting can allow IT to block a sender, remove similar messages, reset credentials where necessary and check whether others have been affected.
State this plainly in the training: if you click a link, open an attachment or enter details, report it immediately. Do not delete the email and hope for the best. The priority is containment, not blame.
Managers should reinforce this message through their own behaviour. If a director receives a suspicious request, reports it and thanks the team for checking, employees are more likely to do the same. Short follow-up communications can also help. Share anonymised examples of reported scams and explain what made them suspicious, particularly if they targeted your sector or used a familiar supplier name.
Build phishing training into everyday operations
Annual training alone is rarely enough. Attack techniques change, staff join, roles evolve and the details of your technology environment change over time. Short, regular sessions are easier to absorb and less disruptive than a single lengthy course.
A practical approach may include induction training for new starters, brief quarterly refreshers and targeted guidance after a relevant threat or simulation. The frequency should reflect your risk profile. A business processing high-value payments or sensitive data may need closer attention than a small team with limited external email activity, although every organisation needs a baseline.
Track more than completion rates. Look at how many suspicious emails are reported, how quickly they are escalated, repeat simulation outcomes and the types of messages that cause uncertainty. An increase in reports can be a positive sign that employees are engaged and understand the process. Use findings to improve training, email protections and business procedures together.
Support people with the right technical controls
Phishing training cannot compensate for weak systems. If an employee enters their password on a fraudulent page, multi-factor authentication may prevent the attacker from using it. If a malicious attachment is opened, endpoint protection and restricted permissions can limit the damage. If an account is compromised, monitored backups and a tested response plan help protect business continuity.
This is why awareness training should sit alongside properly configured Microsoft 365 security, email filtering, device management, patching and access controls. The balance depends on your organisation, but relying on people alone creates unnecessary risk. Good controls reduce the number of dangerous messages that reach inboxes, while good training helps staff handle the ones that get through.
A clear phishing training programme gives employees permission to slow down, question unusual requests and ask for help. That is not a barrier to productivity. It is a practical safeguard for payments, customer information and the systems your business relies on. If you need help turning security policy into a workable routine, LANCAST can help align staff guidance, technical protections and ongoing IT support around the way your business operates.