Clean Desk
Policy or CDP means a directive by the corporate to the employee that specifies
how they should leave their workspace while leaving the office. Most of these
CDPs suggest to their employees to clean their desks of any litter or paper at
the end of the day. CDP over the years has changed according to the change in
technology and how office work generally. CDPs have also taken into
consideration increasing data theft and security concerns apart from just cleanliness
of desks.
Initially, CDPs
had been a part of management policy in number of corporates and employees had
adhered to the directives over the years. The offices used to recommend spic
and span policy in order to look clutter free and professional. This, as said,
has changed into more of security compliance and data protection regulation
nowadays. While CDP is not at all difficult to adhere once the tasks and
objectives are clear; one needs to be disciplined about it to make it
successful.
In order to be
effective, a Clean Desk Policy should be clearly put in writing about the
actions the employees need to take each day. It should look like a signed
agreement between the employer and the employee outlining what is expected from
the employee, how it should be monitored, objectives, and consequences of
non-compliance by the employee.
Employees should
adhere to the principle of clearing their workspaces at the end of the day
while they leave the offices and employers should arrange for proper waste
disposal, paper shredders and storage units to the employees. The employer can
task the supervision to the manager or floor supervisor who can check the
workspaces daily end of the day. This will ensure no loss of information or
data, destroying or confistication of files, storage media or papers that have
been left by the employees on their desk.
The consequences
of CDP non-compliance could be a simple warning to a penalty depending upon the
amount of non-adherence or risk associated with the same.
