By Hugo Toledo, Senior Business Intelligence Architect

Trust in BI is typically not a technical problem but a human one: people don’t always do what they are supposed to do.

Technology can only go so far. How one harnesses (or wields) a tool often has far more of an effect on an organization than does the quality of the technology employed. This is an essential point to remember when you look to implement and/or update your organization’s systems.

To understand non-compliance concerns, you should consider the following table of reasons for non-compliance. First developed by Ferdinand Fournies in 1989, it is the subject of his best selling book Why Employees Don’t Do What They’re Supposed to Do and What to Do About It, which I highly recommend.

Reason for Non-Compliance
1. They Don’t Know Why They Should Do It
2. They Don’t Know How To Do It
3. They Don’t Know What They Are Supposed To Do
4. They Think Your Way Will Not Work
5. They Think Their Way Is Better
6. They Think Something Else Is More Important
7. There Is No Positive Consequence to Them for Doing It
8. They Think They Are Doing It
9. They Are Rewarded for Not Doing It
10. They Are Punished for Doing What They Are Supposed To Do
11. They Anticipate a Negative Consequence for Doing It
12. There Is No Negative Consequence to Them for Poor Performance
13. Obstacles Beyond Their Control
14. Their Personal Limits Prevent Them from Performing
15. Personal Problems
16. No One Could Do It

Once you know the reasons for non-compliance, it becomes much easier for you to limit their incidence.

Where to start? Each class of non-compliance will typically map onto a solution based on addressing the root cause of its trigger. These include:

  • user education to address gaps in understanding and knowledge
  • post-incident follow-up with direct explanations for the reasons why compliance is necessary
  • rewarding compliance, which is often the most overlooked yet easiest to implement
  • reminders on analytic tool displays, report headers/footers

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