Information responsibility belongs to everyone in your organisation: from the CEO and the CIO to sales people, customer service reprentatives, HR professionals and even work-placement students joining temporarily to gain experience. Systems and processes are essential for good information management. And, organisations should invest in the resources that will help reduce risk and exploit the value of information. But even the best systems can’t fully take human behavior into account. How can you make people part of your information management success?
- Don’t leave it too late. Offer your employees information management training as part of their induction. Simple ideas like always locking your computer or returning paper records to a secure drawer before you leave your desk will help them become aware of the value, and possibly the sensitivity, of the information they use to do their jobs.
- Share regularly. Use your company intranet and your internal communication teams to make people aware of information policy and practice. Don’t expect people to come to you for advice. Take a proactive approach and take your messages to people. If, for example, you want to share a social media policy to ensure no one uses social media to talk about your projects or clients, give your message a social tone by inviting people to a twitter break or other event where you can address challenges and questions in a more open and engaging setting.
- Prepare for departure. People leave organisations. It’s a fact we should acknowledge, accept and plan for. Having a strategy and clear communication in place will prevent people from thinking that the information they help create at work with belongs to them. Information is a business asset – one that belongs to the organisation and should be protected like any other asset.
Find out more about how you can get people involved in effective information management
