I am often at a boiling point thinking about the laws we have. We have so many laws that infringe upon our personal rights. Laws as simple as a requirement to wear a seatbelt to as critical as the laws that protect one against violence from another.

I heard on the radio today that more and more businesses are putting into place no gun policies. As if telling someone, that wants to bring a gun, that it is wrong will magically stop that person from bringing a gun. It is the same with any law that we have. Making a law requiring seatbelts, speed limits, shoplifting, larceny, theft, drugs, etc does not, nor ever will prevent a "thing" from happening.

Congress can pass laws till they are blue in the face. Businesses can have policies that affect customers and, more specifically, employees, but it doesn’t make a difference. People do not follow a law or a policy simply because it exists.

It is the enforcement of those laws and policies (and fear of the consequences thereof) that make law make a difference. People may follow the law out of a sense of right versus wrong… assuming they agree with it. But, even the most OCD of people (you know who you are) won’t agree with all laws and won’t do everything perfect simply out of a sense of right and wrong.

The primary reason people obey the law or policy is because of fear of reprisal of some sort. They are afraid of the consequence. Think about that when you are driving the speed limit when you are in a hurry. Why do you stay within or at least kind of close to the speed limit and not just drive as fast as you can? What do you do when you see a cop?

Consider this when you try to put a policy or practice in place in your business. If you aren’t willing to follow through on that policy or practice it won’t matter. If you don’t enforce, you might as well not make the policy or practice in the first place.

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Corey Smith is the Chief Web Architect for Dealer Marketing Systems and is the editor in chief for OfficeProductNews.net.

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