The People Come First

Human Error. 

It factors into everything business. Every single thing hinges off an corporations ability to put people at the top of its list of priorities. There is a nice little article on www.securityintelligence.com that discusses how attackers play on our human weakness, and over 95% of successful attacks are caused by human error. 

Humans mess up everything. By this, I mean, we need to factor human error into every aspect of a business. In the heavy highway construction industry, safety is a huge human error threat. I recently sat through a presentation on this very aspect of safety. The speaker stressed over and over that you cannot legislate human error out of processes. You can't make up enough rules, enough check lists, enough audits, etc. People are going to screw up. 

The key to eliminating the chance of human error, is to figure out WHY. He told us about an electrical company that saw a huge increase in worker injury, so they called in a consulting company to help redesign their safety regulations. The first thing this consulting company did was go to the lineman and interviewed them. The answer was pretty clear after talking to these employees, they were tired. 

The shift schedules has recently changed that gave the impression workers were working less hours, however, with the laws written as they are, more and more of these employees could pick up more shifts/hours a week. Not only were they spending less time sleeping, their schedules were all over. 

The changes had been made to drive productivity, but the injuries were delaying production. The safety consulting team recommended not only changing the shifts back to a more traditional schedule, but to actually shorten the hours on each shift while paying the employees the same. The company was apprehensive. They wanted new reporting procedures, handbooks, daily tasks and talking points, etc. to drive home safety. The consulting company adamantly defended their recommendation and the company agreed to try it out. 

We all know how this story ends. The production rose drastically. Not only were employees safer, they were happier. Retention rates increased, overall satisfaction was up, more employees showed interest in development plans to move up the ladder, etc. 

The point of all this is without factoring the human need to sleep, this company would have failed. I tie this relationship back to the IT department in a few ways. Firstly, I am the IT department's worst nightmare. I break stuff in ways no one has ever seen. I believe I am cursed and it is beyond my control, but nevertheless, I am constantly needing them to look at my system. It is never a quick fix. And it is always something they have "never seen before."

So I think The Shelly Company should list my name on the factors of Human Error that could affect our company. You're laughing. I am not. 

But, seriously. If they interviewed me and asked me what could change to help me do my job better I have a few things I would add to that list. 

1. Comprehensive, visual diagram that shows how all the platforms we use link together. I don't know what data I input  has effect on what programs for what department...so it becomes less important to be completely accurate. 

2. Windows. No seriously. I work in a dungeon. I would love to see some human life while I am stuck here. (you see it--"Stuck" I just typed how I feel when I think about my lack of sunshine or ability to keep a desk plant alive...I feel stuck.)

3. A Field Day. I am not talking about that kickball day on the last day of middle school either. I mean I want to actually understand what the f*** it is that we DO. Excuse my language, but that is exactly how I feel about it. Here is how a normal conversation goes when asked about my company:

Person: "The Shelly Company? What do they do?"

Me: "Asphalt...like road construction and stuff."

Person: "Oh wow, so you're the reason I can't get to work on time! (haha) Just kidding! But seriously, why does it seem like the roads just constantly need re-paved? I feel like it doesn't last long...why is that?

Me: "...uh. well, I think...I think, I don't know."

Do not even get me started when someone from within the industry talks to me about work, or when the guys need parts ordered for a the screed, or I need to describe the nature of work on pre-qualification packets, etc. I have NO CLUE. It causes a disconnect between myself and the 5 immediate people I report to. They are project managers, out there in the trenches and in the office. They talk right over my head at times. Once, my boss brought his display crane to my desk to show me a demonstration of driving pile so I knew what my husband was doing on his own job site. For days my husband had talked to me about this project and I just nodded my head, completely lost. 

It is hard to get passionate about something you don't fully understand. 

There it is. Until we educate people completely on what our systems do and why, they are never going to be passionate about ensuring its integrity and accuracy. I work with a lot of men and women in this office who have expressed being lost on systems and/or exactly what it is we do on the road. I am not saying everyone wants to learn, but I truly believe some of us would benefit from seeing it up close. And our information systems might be less complex or tedious to us, if we knew what it was doing and why in a comprehensive, hands-on  perspective. 

Sources:

The Role of Human Error in Successful Security Attacks. Howrath, Fran. Found on https://securityintelligence.com/the-role-of-human-error-in-successful-security-attacks/. September 2, 2014.