Your employees are some of the most valuable assets your business has. However, they’re also only human. Studies show that around 70% of the accidents that happen in a business are a result of a human mistake. That means that the only way to protect your company is to help your employees prepare for, and avoid issues.

While you might not be able to side-step every potential problem that your business could encounter, having the right strategies could save your company a lot of money and stress.

Here, we’re going to look at some of the most common human errors companies face, and what you can do to defend against them.

Data Entry Problems

Data entry problems are becoming more of a concern in the modern landscape. Today’s businesses are collecting vast amounts of information every day—we’re collectively creating around 2.5 quintillion bytes of data per day.

With so much information to embed into your system for compliance and governance, it’s easy to see how mistakes can happen. Unfortunately, just one mistake where your employee enters the wrong number could cost your company a fortune.

Solution: Use automated data entry to eliminate some of these problems. AI-enhanced tools that can collect and process data on your behalf reduce the risk of human error, while allowing your team members to focus on more creative tasks.

Cybersecurity Problems

Cybersecurity is a massive issue for companies. With team members working from a range of different environments, including their own home networks, there are more potential vulnerabilities for your organization.

While you may not be able to block all potential attacks against your enterprise, you can prepare team members for them.

Solution: Providing plenty of training and guidance for your team members on how to recognize scams and security problems could help you to bypass some significant mistakes.

Even insights into how to choose the right password, or why employees shouldn’t log into their system on public Wi-Fi could be enough to reduce your threat level.

Communication Issues

Employees can’t deliver their best work or keep your company secure unless they have the right guidance. Unfortunately, many business leaders forget to deliver the kind of regular communication and feedback that many team members crave.

Solution: Open communication channels. Having employees on hand that other colleagues can reach out to for help through video conferencing, or instant messaging can go a long way too. Make sure everyone on your team is aware of who they need to connect with straight away when they notice something that could be detrimental to the business.

Insufficient Training

Insufficient training is a serious problem for today’s businesses. First of all, failing to educate your employees could mean that you lose the engagement of your staff members. Your team wants to see a future with your company, and it’s hard for them to do that when you don’t invest in their growth.

Secondly, improper training means that your people could be using technology in a way that’s unsafe or inefficient simply because they don’t know how to access it properly.

Solution: Empower your staff so they know what to do when they notice a vulnerability on their computer—it’s a great way to a faster resolution.

Make sure you have plenty of ways to keep your company’s knowledge up-to-date on how to use crucial tools and systems. It might be worth looking into a variety of training options too, like one-on-one sessions or online webinars.

Lack of Planning

The four steps above will give you the tools you need to start protecting your business from unnecessary human error. However, it’s worth remembering that no company can prevent every issue from happening. Sometimes, no matter how focused or well-trained your team members are, accidents will still happen.

The software you rely on might glitch and crash, meaning that you lose access to crucial business data. Or you could have an issue with your technology that forces you to spend hours on recovery.

Solution: Have a worst-case scenario strategy in place. Explore what actions you can do once downtime happens. This will ensure that your business doesn’t stay down for long when problems occur.

Protect Your Business and Your Team

Learning how to reduce the risks caused by human error in your company is crucial for protecting the longevity of your enterprise.

When you know where disasters can strike in your organization, it’s much easier to create a plan that protects you from unnecessary problems.

Remember, keep an eye on your data protection and business management plan, and update it whenever needed.

P.S. Many thanks to Heather Redding for providing this valuable material. Heather is a part-time assistant manager and writer based in Aurora, Illinois. She is also an avid reader and a tech enthusiast. When Heather is not working or writing, she enjoys her Kindle library with a hot cup of coffee. Reach out to her on Twitter.