Encouraging Regular Paper Shredding in the Office
Encouraging Regular Paper Shredding in the Office
A typical Dallas office might support 10 or 100 employees each day with sensitive information flowing at almost every moment. Keeping up with job duties may be the main goal, but protecting company, employee and client data must also be at the top of the priority list. Regular paper shredding must be encouraged in the office through a local shredding co. with a few small alterations to the workday.
Define the Parameters of Paper Shredding
Implementing a document shredding process is often challenging because of unknown factors. Employees simply don’t know what to shred in the first place. Posting posters with colorful diagrams about key papers is a smart, first step. From old invoices to former-employee paperwork, these items can be listed under the “shred” category while reserving more current files for the main office cabinets. Companies may want to email a basic shredding diagram to every employee so that document destruction is always at the back of their minds. Being comfortable with the process is clever encouragement that can last a lifetime.
Make it Convenient
Implementing document shredding shouldn’t be a complex process that takes time away from employees’ daily duties. In fact, they shouldn’t have to think too much about the process. Consider the addition of open bins in a secure area, such as in a supervisor’s office. The bins can be marked by order of shredding urgency, such as “immediate” or “regular shred.” As employees pass by, they can simply drop their old items into the bins. The area should be overseen by a trusted worker so that no documents end up missing from the space.
Arrange Duties
When a company opts for professional shredding services, there’s only a minimal amount of preparation that’s required by the business. Assign one contact to work directly with the mobile shredding service so that every need is quickly communicated and covered. That same person might meet the shredders when they arrive also. Most of the shredding work otherwise, including removal of the items, is normally completed by the document-processing company. The main point of professional shredding is the fact that it takes little time away from the company’s daily productivity.
Create a Digitizing Party
There can be less paperwork in the office when many of the items can be digitized. Companies can create a digitizing party or afternoon at work. Everyone pitches in for a few hours, and they transfer pertinent documents onto the computer. The hard copies enter the shredding bin where they’ll be picked up in a timely manner. This one gathering only has to occur once, and it shows the importance of handling and discarding critical information. New employees will benefit greatly from the process of looking at documents and ascertaining their importance.
Reward Clean Desks
Hardworking employees will often have several stacks of paperwork on their desks at any given time. Although productivity depends on some paperwork being out, it can be easily lost on an unorganized desk. Encourage paper shredding by rewarding employees with clean desks. At the end of each day, critical paperwork should be in its appropriate areas so that nothing is ever misplaced. The reward process also keeps employees aware of their surroundings so that information won’t be inadvertently lost. Each employee might create a cleanup time at day’s end, which only encourages daily shredding and document protection.
Hiring a trustworthy, document shredding team is part of the encouragement cycle. With a consummate professional visiting the office, employees will feel relaxed and motivated to keep up with the paper-organizational process. Paper shredding will simply be an inherent task that’s part of everyday life among professionals.
