Many of us make New Year’s resolutions, from saving money to getting fit. Similarly, businesses also set their goals for the year. It has been a dream for businesses, of all sizes and industries, of going paperless. However, going completely paperless can sound pretty overwhelming.
Over the last few decades, the technology sector and entrepreneurs have made it possible for businesses to function without paper. We could, if we wanted, go paperless tomorrow; yet, printers are still office essentials.
According to an Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) report, Paper-Free Progress: Measuring Outcomes, progress on creating paperless offices is slow. This is despite the fact that many organisations have bought into the idea that going paperless increases efficiencies and improves operational workflows and customer experiences.
Noticeable benefits of businesses that have gone paperless include faster customer service, increased organisation, improved productivity and compliance. Costs reduce across the board, in every business function that adopts paperless workflows and processes.
Paperless also goes a long way towards reducing an organisations’ carbon footprint, which also contributes to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. In turn, companies with active and coordinated CSR programs generate more shareholder value, find it easier to retain staff, and, when it comes to environmental policies, reduces operational costs whilst making a positive impact on society and the environment.
Benefits of going paperless
Reduced clutter and instant access to information
Having masses amount of paper on desks and shelves has more disadvantages than only being messy as it is also disorganised. By having a digital file helps keep you organised and your office tidy. By eradicating clutter helps to keep the mind clear and focused on business. The digital documents also help with time, as they can be reserved, indexed and found a lot quicker than a paper copy.
Easier accident recovery
It is more beneficial to store a company’s documents on a laptop and a cloud file rather than numerous rooms of shelved paperwork. By doing this it is ensured that the files will always be safe and if there were to be any accidents where documents are destroyed the recovery of files is more easily retrieved digitally in comparison to paper storage.
Cost-effective
Digital files will in the long run save money on printing, postage and other affiliated costs. Digital files may even lessen the rent paid of an office as a smaller space will be needed to less physical items that need to be stored.
Painless growth
Moving to a new office space can be made painless as the digital storage of files will mean there aren’t numerous heavy filing cabinets that need to be taken with.
Eco-friendly
The less amount of paperwork means fewer trees are forced to be cut, thus less energy used to make and transport the paper.
Immediate communication
These days not many people use paper mail for a quick interaction as emails are sent and received in a blink of an eye.
Compliance
Compliance is an important business function. Organisations that do not stay compliant with government regulations and/or health and safety guidelines face legal action, fines, license suspensions, and even directors who could face imprisonment. Compliance is mission critical, which is why, along with other important functions, employees have been encouraged or are obliged by the business processes imposed on them to put everything on paper, and ensure an accurate paper trail of information that could be a key factor when pitching for public sector contracts, applying for industry-standard accreditation, or even in a court of law.
Should Compliance Go Paperless?
In most cases, there is no good reason to keep using printed paper and signed copies of documents. Government departments and regulatory agencies understand the value of digital records. They are just as valid in the eyes of the law, more secure, easier to share and search, and – perhaps most importantly – harder to falsify.
Stop for a moment and consider how much of your organisations’ compliance is currently done on paper. How much time does it take? What does that time cost? How much are annual printing and storage costs? What else could your staff be doing with that time, if you had an alternative solution?
For most medium to enterprise-sized organisations, these costs, along with the proliferation of paperwork they generate, soon accumulate. Papertrail is a time and cost-saving solution that can liberate operational departments from an excess of paperwork and administrative work. Compliance is simpler when all the features and documents you need are cloud-based, can be shared with relevant team members, and take less time to complete and manage than paper documents. Peace of mind comes as standard with our compliance solutions.
Papertrail helps businesses around the world reduce the risk of accidents and cut inspection times by going paperless. Smart PPE management systems can help reduce administrative workloads by more than 90%.
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