Information Nation: Seven Keys to Information Management Compliance, Second Edition

Chapter 15. Essential Elements of Information Management Communication and Training

Case after case has demonstrated that, whether they like or not, companies and government agencies can be held accountable for their failure to adequately train and monitor their employees' actions. IMC depends upon a comprehensive and consistent ongoing program of communication and training. Organizations cannot expect their managers and staff to comply with Information Management directives unless they are given the guidance and training they need.

The low degree of employee understanding of their IMC obligations reflected in the Kahn Consulting survey (see Chapter 4) reflects the fact that most organizations still have a lot of work to do in the training area, despite the fact that 67% of those surveyed stated that employee training is critical to their success.^[136]

Be Clear and Consistent

Some time ago, a happy eBay bidder purchased a used BlackBerry, a mobile e-mail device that normally sells for hundreds of dollars new, for less than $20.^[137] The seller was a former VP at a major investment bank who had left the firm months earlier and no longer needed the device.

When the buyer powered up the BlackBerry, he found that it contained a wealth of information, including:

• About 200 internal company e-mails that revealed information such as loan terms for various investment bank customers, nonpublic information about mergers and restructuring, and discussions with a customer about whether or not they ...