by Cathy Sexton
In the current business world, companies are creating and storing documents and information at lightning speed.  What documents do we need to keep?  When can we discard records?  Where should we store documents, and what is the best way to do so?  Why do we need to keep all of this stuff?  How do I find what I need?

Record retention can be confusing and intimidating.  Instead of making a wrong decision when it comes to paper, most people simply keep everything, which creates several management problems.  The paper and electronic documents we deal with on a daily, monthly and annual basis can be overwhelming, take up valuable space (both physically and electronically), collect dust and create storage problems.  And we find that most people who keep everything with the best of intentions can’t find what they need when they need it. 

More documents are being created and stored electronically, and somewhere around 90 billion emails are being created and sent each day.  Electronic information is not found just on desktops and laptops; consider other mediums such as instant messaging, personal digital assistants, websites and data recorders—and the list continues to grow daily.  Storing documents means we then have to be able to find them.

Knowing what to keep (and for how long) is the foundation of a good management system.  Management of these documents will give you peace of mind if and when you need them for legal or tax reasons.  The emphasis is on quality and management versus quantity.  Eliminating the abundance of unnecessary paperwork saves valuable storage space, time and money.

A formal records retention policy, referred to as IMR (information management retention) is critical to every business.  This policy should apply to all storage mediums, including paper, electronic files, voice mail and e-mails.  Once a company establishes a policy, it must be followed consistently.  Keep in mind that business documents can have legal, tax and industry standards requirements.  For example, publicly traded companies are bound by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.  Your policy should be based on your business type and needs. 

Once an IMR is established, the next consideration is storage of documents.  There is a great debate over paper filing versus electronic filing.  Because of legal and industry requirements, not all documents can be transformed into electronic images.  There will always be a need for some documents in paper form.  But electronic filing has many advantages over paper filing.  The largest advantage is the space savings, the ability for multiple people to share files and images. 

Whatever methods your company chooses, the most important thing is that you have a system in place.  This system must enable all employees to find what they need, when they need it.  Hunting through multiple paper files or trying to find lost computer files costs companies thousands of dollars per year.  Larger organizations can be looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars in productivity losses.  

An IMR is only as good as its implementation.  A policy needs to be rigorously enforced from top management down.  A company must make sure it educates its employees about not only the policy but also the implications of not following it.  It must be easy to follow and periodically reviewed, and how often it will be audited must be made clear.  The policy should also address the fact that employees may store and save information in different ways.  It must be flexible enough to be suspended if a litigation hold is necessary.  It should address the litigation hold and how it is to be implemented, including any policy on email and backup tapes.

There are affordable software programs that allow you to find either paper or electronic files in seconds.  The value of these programs highly outweighs the program and implementation costs.   The best advice is to develop your record retention policy and filing process and then implement them.  Most companies will find that using a combination of paper and electronic files will give them the best process for document storage.

Cathy Sexton is a productivity trainer who helps companies be more productive in the workplace.   For more information, visit www.onpointsolutionsllc.com, call 636-717-6588 or email cathy@onpointsolutionsllc.com.