HR Departments handle recruitment, onboarding, employee records, benefits, payroll changes, policies, performance information, and workforce communication. Effective phishing simulation should reflect those responsibilities instead of relying on a generic organization-wide example.
This guide focuses specifically on running an authorized simulated email campaign around one defined employee decision. It does not combine separate keyword intents into one page.
Dedicated search intent • Audience-specific content • Safe practice • Useful evidence
HR Departments interact with employees and candidates, executives and managers, payroll, benefits, and recruitment providers. Those relationships can create credible requests, but the learning content should never copy an active incident, confidential relationship, or real person's distress.
Separate subgroups when authority, systems, device access, schedules, location, language, or support differ. A useful objective describes an action people are genuinely able and authorized to take.
Source: NIST SP 800-50 Rev. 1: Building a Cybersecurity and Privacy Learning Program
Phishing Simulation should reflect recruitment, onboarding, employee records, benefits, payroll changes, policies, performance information, and workforce communication, including the authority, systems, devices, schedules, and support available to the audience.
Use fictional examples when addressing employee, candidate, payroll, tax, benefits, health, performance, complaint, and investigation information; do not place production records, credentials, or active cases in learning or exercises.
Teach employees to use approved employee-identity, HR-system, payroll, manager, legal, and support processes when a request, destination, identity, or account event is unexpected.
Explain where reports go, what information helps, how employees receive acknowledgment, and why early reporting is supported after a mistake.
Document the audience, objective, owner, scope, permitted data, expected action, support route, and intended use of phishing simulation evidence.
Use approved employee-identity, HR-system, payroll, manager, legal, and support processes and approved instructions, with examples grounded in recruitment, onboarding, employee records, benefits, payroll changes, policies, performance information, and workforce communication.
Test access, accessibility, timing, devices, reporting, response handling, stop conditions, and employee support before broad delivery.
Review authorized audience, successful delivery, unique recipient events, verified reports, response handling, and follow-up; assign every content, process, or control improvement to an owner and review date.
These are original starting points. Adapt them to approved organizational procedures and keep the activity separate from real accounts, records, transactions, incidents, and external parties.
Practice verifying an invented employee record, payroll, or benefits request. For this phishing simulation activity, use fictional content and direct participants to approved employee-identity, HR-system, payroll, manager, legal, and support processes.
Use a fictional candidate, onboarding, or policy document through the approved HR system. For this phishing simulation activity, use fictional content and direct participants to approved employee-identity, HR-system, payroll, manager, legal, and support processes.
Rehearse escalating an unexpected executive, legal, identity, or account request. For this phishing simulation activity, use fictional content and direct participants to approved employee-identity, HR-system, payroll, manager, legal, and support processes.
Retain the approved objective, audience, exclusions, content version, delivery or assignment status, access issues, authorized audience, successful delivery, unique recipient events, verified reports, response handling, and follow-up, employee feedback, and completed follow-up.
Participation is not the same as mastery. A click, report, answer, or drill decision is one observation under a particular set of conditions and does not establish intent or overall employee risk.
Document role, scenario, device, timing, difficulty, delivery, and access to support before comparing results. Use findings to improve instructions, verification, reporting, management support, and relevant business controls.
Common questions about Phishmake's features, onboarding, and support, answered to help you get started with confidence.
The goal is to observe delivery, employee activity, reporting, response handling, and follow-up under controlled conditions. Define the behavior and evidence before selecting content or technology.
Use a risk-based schedule and revisit learning when responsibilities, systems, policies, incidents, or threats change. Applicable obligations may also influence timing.
Only when their responsibilities, authority, systems, devices, working conditions, and expected response are sufficiently similar. Use subgroups when meaningful differences exist.
No. Activity records can support a broader program, but they do not independently establish compliance, certification, control effectiveness, or future behavior.
Use Phishmake to connect employee learning, controlled practice, activity review, and documented follow-up.
