By Adam Turteltaub
adam.turteltaub@corporatecompliance.org
I think the greatest job in the world must be working as a spam filter. The standards for the “job” are just so low.
The job of the filter is to keep all that spam from cluttering up your inbox and keeping you from clicking on something that may unleash a virus of epic proportions on your company’s computer system.
The thing is every company uses them, but they never really work right. They get most of the spam, but a few strays get through. And, of course, if your filter is like the one we use, it sometimes grabs legitimate email.
So, once or twice a day, when I get the spam filter’s alert email, I have to go on their site and double check the filter did its job correctly. Imagine if we had to check our Excel spreadsheets with a calculator each time.
Bottom line is it’s not so much a filter as it is a holding pen with a few gaping holes in the fence.
Recently something clicked when I was doing what the filter was supposed to do and checking to make sure that the spam was actually filtered properly. I realized that on weekdays I get dozens of pieces of spam a day, but on weekends less than a handful. I’m sure that’s because the spammers have learned that junk email is more effective during the week, and they time their nefarious efforts accordingly.
All of this is a good reminder that it’s not just important to get the right message in front of people. It’s also important to get it in front of them at the right time.
Now, ideally, we could time the communication to the moment before people have to make that potentially devastating decision, but we know that’s not possible. Or is it?
Dan Ariely has shown in his book The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty that a moral reminder is very effective at deterring cheating if it’s delivered right before the opportunity to cheat. So, think about where and when people do bad things and if there is an opportunity to time your message accordingly.
A lot of wrongdoing ends up on expense reports. Make them sign that what they report is true at the top of their expense reports, not at the bottom. He found it’s an effective deterrent.
Maybe see if every signature line in email includes one of the organization’s core values. That way everyone sees it all the time. And be sure to rotate the values around so that people notice when there is a change.
Also, think about when people are less busy in your organization and have more time to think about compliance and ethics. The time between Christmas and New Years is often slow in offices, other than for finance types. Maybe schedule a lunch and learn then.
Just think about when others would want to hear from you, and then time your message according. You will, hopefully, be more effective than my spam filter.
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