7 Noteworthy Ways to Reduce your Records Management Budget
The rigour of an organisation’s records management system is typically only put to the test when something goes wrong.
Compliance matters, audits and governance issues can arise at any time. If records are missing, are incomplete or lack integrity, the consequences can be great.
Many organisations turn to storing their records in a storage facility to be later transferred to a shredding warehouse when they are no longer needed – a strenuous task that blows out time and budget considerations. But what if there was a way that you could reduce these time and budget problems?
We believe we can help you reduce your records management budget in 7 easy steps:
- Identify what’s Important. Go through your current records system and only store important records. Identify documents that can be destroyed because they are duplicates, outdated, or no longer required for legal or compliance purposes. The World Resources Institute identifies that each misfiled document costs an organisation US$125. Each lost document costs anywhere from US$300 to US$700. And large organisations, on average, lose a document every 12 seconds – are you storing these copies as well?
- Beware of Information Overload. When you have too many documents, it’s hard to distinguish between what’s actively being used and what’s not. Research from the National Association of Professional Organizers estimates that as much as 20—30% of all records are generally “inactive”. Beware of this overload and actively track these through analytics.
- Stop Paying to Store Records. Are you paying to store records you don’t need? The disposal schedules proposed by various government agencies are designed to allow you to reduce the amount of records you need to maintain. Do you really need to keep every document your company has ever produced?
- Outsource what you can’t do efficiently. If you are struggling with legal and regulatory requirements, get help. An expert organisation can help you deliver better records management practices, thus becoming more cost effective and making your costs more visible and predictable.
- Help Staff find Records. According to AIIM, employees spend up to 2 hours a day looking for documents, and checking whether they are latest versions. Cumulatively, this can amount to very large expenses. Help your staff find their records by implementing a system that helps to find those documents.
- Help Staff Contribute to Records. Documents that have long term value for the organisation should be records, but it’s not just records managers who should be contributing to the collection of records. Regular staff should be able to add important documents to the collection, without needing to learn how to manage records, or having to bribe someone to access them. Look for in-place declaration of records in your next records management system.
- Think Long Term. It may seem more cost-effective, in the short term, to store your documents in paper form in a vault, rather than organise an electronic records management system and shred the paperwork. In the long term, though, you can save, not only in storage space, but also in making documents available to people who need them. Think outside the square and implement a system that doesn’t require you to hang on to unnecessary paper.
There are many different ways that your organisation can reduce its records management budget. It is just about deciding what works best for you and your team.
To find out how Parashift’s electronic document and records management system can help you reduce your records management budget, click here.
