Losing it: Mismanaging Information

Assessing and Recruiting Information Managers

When governments talk of a need to be transparent, we don’t normally expect this to mean sharing all our personal information with thieves and fraudsters. As the Ministry of Defence admits this week that the personal data of some 600,000 applicants to the armed services is lost on a stolen laptop, one wonders whether the Government has any individuals’ data left that isn’t now in the public domain. It would be unfair to blame the whole public sector, as of course the Freedom of Information Act cannot be applied to private sector businesses. However, blaming individuals such as the hapless MOD staff member who is facing a court martial is disingenuous. This is a systemic problem, and the fault for this lies solely with the management and poor strategic vision of these organisations.

Our experience is that clients tend to take the secure management of data and records very seriously. The Research Councils in Swindon commissioned us to construct a recruitment exercise to select Records and Information Compliance Managers within their organisation. This was actually before the Child Benefit records debacle of last year, and the fictional simulation exercises we applied now seem all too prescient.

It was quickly apparent when looking at the roles, that the management of information is not a simple case of establishing protocol or procedure. It requires a strategic perspective that focuses on organisational systems and impacts on staff psychology at every level. Any conception of the information or records manager as a completer-finisher, librarian type is wholly wrong. An information managers needs to be a change agent, just as in any other transformational management role.

Information is the lifeblood of any organisation and the emergence of new information technology is increasing at a rapid pace. Just some emerging issues include data that is now distributed amongst third party, online providers like Google, who already provide shared calendars and mail servers. Such external provision is a practice increasing as companies take advantage of the cost savings from outsourcing IT infrastructure. Social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook present further problems, as the amount of personal information that staff provide on these pages can be used to compromise security and passwords.

Our recruitment methodology used to recruitment information and record managers focuses not just on technical skills e.g. understanding the Freedom of Information or Data Protection Act, but also on assessing the organisational change skills required to embed culture into an organisation. If you need help in assessing best people to take your information management strategy forward, contact Quest Partnership now.

The Key to Keeping to New Year's Resolutions

It’s that time of year again when many of us will be starting our new year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, one year on, the success rate for maintaining resolutions is just 12 percent. So the odds are against us! For those of us who have just started on our new resolutions – what can the psychologists contribute to this area?

According to eminent psychologist Albert Bandura, there are certain types of people who are more likely to succeed. Bandura talked about self-efficacy - one’s belief in their own capabilities. So people with high self-efficacy approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided, therefore helping them to build stronger commitment.

Richard Wiseman, a professor of psychology at Hertfordshire University, has conducted a mass experiment on 10,000 people to uncover what is the key to successful resolution keeping. He proposes five useful tips. Firstly, only make one resolution or choose one aspect of life to improve, to increase your chances of success.

Wiseman also suggests planning your resolution in advance of New Year’s Eve, as the extra time will allow you to really think through what you exactly want to achieve. Another tip is try to avoid repeating previous resolutions, or at least use a different technique. This is because your self-belief or self-efficacy in your ability to succeed will be lower. So for example if the latest diet craze did not work last year, try a different technique altogether such as planning to exercise more.

The research also indicates that any resolutions should be kept specific e.g. instead of stating you will do more running, you should plan your precise schedule of the times, dates, places, and lengths of your weekly runs. Finally, give yourself a reward for any achievements such as buying a treat if you manage to cut down on smoking or lose a few extra pounds.

However, even if you do fail then this may not necessarily be a lost cause. Richard Koestner, a researcher at McGill University who specializes in goal-setting and self-regulation, says that "even though people fail, and they feel bad, they still usually learn something."

"The key is to know that it takes people an average of six or seven attempts to be successful. If you don't keep your resolution, learn from what you did this time, and see what you can do different next time."

Best of luck with keeping to your New Year’s resolutions!


You can take part in Wisemen’s current research on new year’s resolutions by clicking the link below:

http://www.psy.herts.ac.uk/wiseman/resolutions/opening.html