Be Aware, Be Very Aware: Why “Healthy Paranoia” is Killing HR

As a part of a subcontract I work on, I just sat through a 30 minute plus online compliance training video. If you want to leave yourself paralyzed to make business decisions, I’ll send you the clip. It will leave you questioning the world in general.

I know we live in a world of terrorists, computer hackers and people who want to do harm, but the video left me thinking that their approach to business was to scare the living daylight out of every employee thinking that this would help prevent mishaps, lawsuits and wrong actions.

Although I can appreciate what I’m sure are good intentions behind why the company sees this as a need (I bet they have born the brunt of a lawsuit or two) I question whether or not it is going to make them any safer as an organization from the ills it is trying to combat. And, is having every employee, contractor, vendor, supplier and subcontractor (basically everyone the company does business with) spend over half an hour doing this the best use of thousands of people’s time? Will it make the company more profitable? Will it make anyone better? And will watching it keep the people who want to do harm from doing it? Doubtful.

When we paint a picture that everyone should “be very, very aware” and have a sense of “paranoia” (these are specific terms from the video about conducting day-to-day business like sending emails) we leave people paralyzed to make decisions, which does not make individuals or organizations better. It leave them scared, or wanting to scream.

Instead, why don’t we ask employees to ask themselves two questions before making decisions or acting:

1. Is doing this/not doing this going to advance my company and myself in an ethical manner?
2. If I do this/don’t do this, what is the worst that could happen?

Or better yet, spend half an hour teaching them about values of your organization and treat them like adults who are capable of living out those values through their actions. Explain the big picture why instead of giving a detailed list of don’ts.

What other questions do you think we need to ask ourselves that keeps us from needing compliance videos that scare and detract?