Keeping the cogs of industry moving

My recent blogs have been about the way we treat each other and how we have to put in place safeguards in case things go wrong. One example was a vending machine to tell hospital management exactly how their stock was used. It must cost a lot to run this system, so it must save a lot in order to pay for itself. This means that there are a lot of NHS staff who (what is the politically correct term for this...) manage to lose lots of equipment. This is my reading of the situation and it must be the same for a lot of the staff too. The system says we don't trust you. It's the same for anyone who clocks in. Whether they think about it or not there is an implicit mistrust that affects the whole of the nation. We are all guilty and need protecting from ourselves.

One mechanism to save us from ourselves is the legal system and our policies and procedures at work. I was recently told a story about someone who wrote a letter to their management. It was a private matter and one which they did not want publicising. A couple of hours later they found 40 or 50 copies of their private letter. It had been copied and left on a desk for anyone to read. The reaction when asked if they could be shredded was yes but not at the moment. They had to do it in their own time.

Now what would you do if you were in charge? A private letter of a personal nature has been left in a public place. I presume the first thing to do is investigate whether it is accidental or deliberate. I would guess deliberate because there was no need to make 40 or 50 copies and then leave them in a public place. So it looks like someone is deliberately making public information of a sensitive nature which could be hurtful. I would support an enquiry first and if my guesses are correct I would be thinking of a verbal warning. You see we do have managerial and legal methods of keeping the cogs of industry moving. However what was the answer this time? Shred them in your own time. Poor management affects us all.

Change the world.