Action still NAID’s hallmark

In his book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... and Others Don’t, Jim Collins concludes that great organizations try a lot of stuff.

While I cannot go so far as to say NAID qualifies as a “great” organization, whatever degree of success the association has enjoyed throughout the years likely stems from taking action.

One thing is certain of such an approach: When you try a lot of experiments, some don’t work out like you plan. However, the plans that don’t work are as important as the ones that do.

As for this update, I am happy to report that NAID’s focus on action continues to work for our members.

Hopefully you’ve been reading about our success on the issue of overturning New Jersey’s restriction on mobile service providers’ right to shred hard drives. Yes, it is only one state, and, yes, it primarily serves our mobile service providers, but every member should take solace in the fact that the association takes action where action is needed—this has been demonstrated in the U.S. at the federal and state levels, in Canada, in Europe and in Australia.

One of the major benefits of consolidating industry resources is that it gives members the power and will to act where needed.

NAID also has recently announced a consulting subsidy for members that need support in obtaining certification, and, in order to eliminate redundancy, we’ve allowed ISO audits to suffice as the scheduled portion of the NAID audit. These programs join other initiatives, such as Shred School, the CSDS (Certified Secure Destruction Specialist) program, NAID Certification, the Customer Employee Training Program and the Compliance Toolkit.

Finally, Downstream Data Coverage is a historic experiment and continues its steady progress. For those unaware of the ultimate goal of creating a captive risk retention group, it could legitimately mean millions of dollars in cost savings for participants. Though it is too early to claim success, all signs point in that direction.

Space doesn’t permit a complete update on the wide range of the association’s initiatives to improve and defend the information destruction industry. NAID’s predisposition to action simply reflects the drive, dedication and work ethic of its members. With that kind of support, continued success is a given.

Bob Johnson is CEO of the National Association for Information Destruction, based in Phoenix. He can be reached via email at rjohnson@naidonline.org.