Are you familiar with the saying “hot desking” and has your Doylestown business ever considered it? If you’re not familiar with this, it basically means that your employees aren’t restricted to assigned seating/desks; alternatively, each staff member is free to move throughout the office on any given day, working where they please. Without the proper guidelines and organization, it could lead to security issues. In an effort to make this environment effective for everyone, it’s important that desks remain organized and free from clutter.
If you know what a Clean Desk Policy, the two policies generally go hand-in-hand, making it much easier to maintain clean desks in your office. A Clean Desk Policy encourages employees to keep desks free from confidential documents that deal with private information, such as business documents, notes, post-its, or any other records considered “private”. All computer systems should also be powered off properly and secured with password protection. It is highly suggested that you remove and store away any removable media as well, such as CD’s, floppy disks, or memory sticks. A Clean Desk Policy is ideal for any organization because it promotes a positive business reputation for those visitors or clients that may enter your Doylestown business, and most notably, it limits the chance of data breach and information theft; both of which typically take place in an unsecured office.
Of course, ensuring your desk is clear at the end of each work day is key in adhering to this policy, but employees are also encouraged to be conscious of information security from start to finish off their work day as well.
How Else Can You Promote a Clean Desk Policy?
Take Charge of Implementation: Management needs to administer all aspects of the policy from the beginning. Since upper management usually handles the bulk of private data, it’s imperative that all executives are carefully following the policy to set a clear example for staff.
Put the Policy in Writing: Always have the policy written out make a copy of it available online, through your internal business management program. Some companies will choose to assign an employee who will be responsible for carrying out random inquiries confirming desks are free from private documents. If you will be following this method, always notify your employees before beginning. You may wish to look into disciplinary action or advising HR if there are any concerns/issues. On the other hand, some organizations like to reward employees who effectively adhere to the policy.
Use Regular Reminders: A Clean Desk Policy checklist should entail office reminders that reinforce adherence. Place memos in regards to the policy online and in common areas around your office, where employees are bound to see, such as in your lunchroom or boardroom. Lastly, hire a document destruction company such as Titan Mobile Shredding, and we will supply you with lockable security containers which will allow you to conveniently store documents in, prior to collection for shredding.
Limit Paper Use: Encourage your staff to produce and share files electronically as this is a great step for our environment and assists in keeping clutter at bay. Run office finances through the web. Turn to online services for conducting any surveys or meeting arrangements; this is a great way to reduce paper. Scan files and send them out to your team as PDFs. Keeping paperwork at a minimum in the office only assists in maintaining clean desks in your office.
Keeping a clean desk improves productivity, improves compliance, and limits your risk of experiencing a data breach. Get in touch with the team at Titan Mobile Shredding in Doylestown for additional information about this popular policy and how our document shredding services can assist in establishing one.
Call 866-848-2699.
