`How to Draft an Effective Email Policy'.

`How to Draft an Effective Email Policy'.


IN A HURRY AND LOOKING TO TAKE A SHORT CUT?

The Corporate Email Policy from WorkingDocs.comTM has been drafted utilizing these guidelines. If you need to get your email policy up and running quickly, without going to the trouble of following the detailed instructions contained within this mini-course, then consider obtaining a copy of the Email-Policy toolkit available immediately from http://www.Email-Policy.org
The purchased product also comes with a free implementation plan to ensure effective adoption within your organization, thereby ensuring that your new policy is not seen as `toothless'.
Click here now for immediate access: http://www.Email-Policy.org

WHY DOES MY ORGANIZATION NEED AN EFFECTIVE EMAIL POLICY?

First, let us recap why it's important to draft an Email Policy and implement it effectively within your organization.

It doesn't matter whether your organization employees just a single part-time worker or hundreds of thousands of full-time staff, granting access to your corporate email system places your organization's assets, reputation and even its very existence at risk.

According to the 2002 Computer Securities Institute/FBI Computer Crime and Security Survey, 78% of employers reported staff abusing email and the Internet systems whilst at work.

Misuse of the email system, whether it be accidental or intentional, costs money and could impact your organization's bottom line.


WHY?

Regardless of how the email system is misused, a monetary impact is almost always the inevitable consequence in one form or another.

For example, a breach of confidential information is likely to result in competitive disadvantage - it could lead to the loss a specific sales contract, market share, or provide opportunities for a competitor to exploit that information at your organization's expense.

Similarly, legal action brought about as a consequence of misuse may lead to severe financial penalties imposed by a court.

Loss of productivity caused by staff using the corporate email system can, in addition to the lost work-time, also lead to increased IT network traffic and storage requirements, whilst also increasing the organizations vulnerability to the introduction of viruses to the corporate network. All these have cost implications in one form or another.

It is important to note that these risks do not always arise from direct employee misuse but from third parties sending unsolicited or other email to staff within the organization. However, if employees are not aware of how they are expected to deal with these offending emails
(specifically what they should not do), the risks can still be realized, sometimes to devastating effect.

Lastly, be aware that it is not always inexperienced or disgruntled employees who expose an organization to these risks. There are numerous examples of senior professionals - including CEOs of both large and small corporations as well lawyers who should know better - who have damaged their company's reputation by sending emails of an inappropriate nature which have been leaked to the media or posted on the Internet.


THE CONSEQUENCES OF A REAL-LIFE CEO EMAIL BUNGLE

Neal Patterson, CEO of Cerner Corporation, was upset at his employees' level of commitment to the company so he decided to email to his managers.

But what an email - it had everything: "SHOUTING" in capital letters, threats and a very crude measure of performance, how many cars were in the parking lot before and after normal working hours.

Here's an excerpt:

"Hell will freeze over before this CEO implements ANOTHER EMPLOYEE benefit in this Culture...We are getting less than 40 hours of work from a large number of our KC-based EMPLOYEES. The parking lot is sparsely used at 8 a.m.; likewise at 5 p.m. As managers - you either do not know what your EMPLOYEES are doing; or YOU do not CARE.... You have a problem and you will fix it or I will replace you.... What you are doing, as managers, with this company makes me SICK."

Unfortunately for Mr Patterson, someone forwarded the email on, and it made international news.


THE RESULT?

Cerner's stock slipped 22 percent in just 3 days and its reputation as well as that of its CEO was severely tarnished.

Further examples highlighting the need for an effective Email Policy can be found at http://www.Email-Policy.org