Why being disorganised can affect how compliant you are
Being disorganised can lead to hours of wasted time, in fact, research by a company called Fellowes found that the UK wastes over 1 million hours per week searching for misplaced documents.
It happens all the time in the workplace, say for example the Learning and Development Manager is looking for the latest compliance article to produce their next round of compliance training. However, the only one they can find is an old one which the HR Director published. They create their learning material based on the older compliance document. There may not be major differences between the two but any small difference will still create a problem.
Why chaotic filing is a problem
When your filing is so chaotic that no one can find anything, it can easily lead to regulatory breaches. This is especially true in extra-large organisations with lots of different teams and departments. If people keep updating files or creating new ones, no one will ever know which file is the most relevant and up to date. This means each department could be reading and distributing old outdated information, which could be a major compliance breach.
To avoid this you should have one centralised database which has published versions of the latest information. Each department should be in charge of their own documents. Oplift Engage offers a knowledegebase which gives your staff the ability to quickly search and find anything they need to know. They can only publish one version of a document, meaning everyone will know it is the latest version and you can also see who last edited an article.
Why not deleting photos of customer information is a problem
It is also a big problem when you are handling a customer's sensitive information. If you are taking pictures or scanning information on a device and you forget to delete them from the camera roll then you will face a data protection issue. This is because you are making it easy for anyone to get hold of your customer's data. To prevent this from happening your staff should check their camera rolls at the end of each day to ensure they are clear of customer images. You can also get apps such as Oplift Scan which will capture information, send it to the relevant place, and then automatically wipe the information afterwards. This automatic process eliminates the worry of human error.
Why giving too many people access to data is a problem
It is an upsetting but well-known fact that some breaches happen intentionally by internal staff. It is poor practice to give everyone access to things just because they are an employee. You shouldn't hand out access freely to anyone, as this will mean certain people will see data who shouldn't and you may also lose track of who has access and who doesn't. You need to be organised enough to give people specific access to certain data, rather than allowing them to access all data. Oplift Engage has a central place where you can allow and deny access to certain articles and reports, meaning you will always have full control of who sees what.
Why not having set routine times to do internal checklists is a problem
If you don't organise checks to be done daily, weekly, or monthly then the chances of you spotting an issue before it's an issue are going to be very slim! Even if you don't think you need a daily checklist for a simple task such as opening your shop. You may find that when you do have one, compliance problems will surface that you never knew you had before. This is because your staff will be going over every tiny detail and checking them off, meaning even if one small thing isn't done it will be glaringly obvious to you. Checklists don't even have to take long after Virgin Media used our digital checklists rather than their usual method of paper and pen, they reduced the time it took to do them by a massive 80%.
