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HR, Accounting and Legal Departments Still Printing Too Much

A new study conducted by Wakefield Research and Infotrends has revealed the extent of the printing crisis in small to medium-sized businesses. Printing and other paper-based activities are still flourishing in the corporate office, despite new eco technologies, and the main offenders are those in HR departments, legal offices and accounting firms.

The studies show just how dependent businesses are on paper for daily routines – with 73% of owners and decision makers at companies with less than 500 employees print at least four times a day. Paper is still a major part of the workflow in many sectors, including legal and HR.

The Research Vice President of Gartner, Ken Weilerstein, says that companies have tried to go paperless but failed to eliminate it altogether. Today, he says employees print an average of 400 pages per month – that’s A LOT of paper. He says many companies have figured out the easiest ways to “go paperless” by scanning and storing documents online, but it wasn’t possible to eradicate all in-house printing and scanning completely.

The Key to the Paperless Office

The trouble with implementing a paperless office isn’t the in-house documents. Once all records are scanned and in an electronic management system, employees can convert to the paperless process quite easily. Being completely paperless becomes an issue when dealing with other businesses and sometimes clients, who still have a reliance on paper.

They may ask you to post a hard copy of a contract to sign, rather than use a digital signature. Some companies may want to fax or post you a shared document instead of email it across. Others may not accept a digital invoice...the list goes on. The secret of successfully implementing a paper office is cooperation. One company has to be brave and take the first step, start the tidal wave in the corporate world. Everything is being transferred to digital, it’s just a matter of time before those businesses which resist the movement have to conform.

So why not be ahead of the times and be the first company in your area to make the move to a paperless office? It’s something you could brag about in the future as a cutting edge forward thinking business.

Pearl Scan specialises in HR document scanning and legal scanning services. Join a number of businesses who have ignited the digital revolution and benefited from exceptional document management.

A survey carried out by YouGov recently found that the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises could be throwing away as much as £42.2m every single day in revenues looking for paper documents. 82% of financial services are still printing documents just to get a signature, and 31% of respondents also said that if they weren’t looking for documents, they would be spending time on business development.

This overreliance on paper – an outdated method of communication by any standard – could be costing the UK’s SMEs big. Switching to paperless solutions might not simply be a great option to protect the environment – it could end up protecting businesses in the long-term. Here are just a few ways digitising documents could end up supporting and protecting a small business:

Time savings

In the world of business, time is money. Time spent searching for archived documents or files in storage is time that could have been used more productively for business development, as mentioned above. A study in Australia found that workers can spend as many as five hours per week looking for documents, with three and a half hours also dedicated to filing and organising – if we assume these stats are replicated in the UK, that’s a lot of valuable time that could be used to support and grow the business in other ways.

Security reasons

What’s more secure – a filing cabinet or a cloud server? A physical archive or a password-protected hard drive? The answer these days is almost always the digital solution. Physical files can be lost, stolen or damaged in fire or flood. Going paperless means these documents are protected more robustly, with excellent security solutions that are more reliable and permanent.

Audit trails

Many businesses have to adhere to very string compliance policies with regards to document management and storage. Digital document management systems can simplify this process, with every document having a unique number and creating its own audit trail that can be followed with ease. Paperless documents can also be duplicated and amended while still keeping the original, which is another bonus when it comes to audits and compliance.

Accessible archives

Digital archives are far more accessible and user-friendly than physical ones. Sorting files by name, date or size can be accomplished with just a few clicks or taps, and managers can also password-protect confidential or restricted files, so that only authorised users can access them. Going paperless is also ideal when staff at different sites need to access the same documents – rather than the lengthy and expensive duplication of physical files, digital documents can be brought up from any location if they’re stored within the cloud, for total ease of use across multiple sites.

The Feng Shui Effect

Do you want to go the extra mile for your employees, and provide a calming work environment? It could promote productivity and improve the health of your workforce – follow our Feng Shui tips and see the results for yourself.

Feng Shui principles can increase the sense of harmony in a room, and can therefore remove stress and increase creativity and inspiration in the office. Here are a few pointers for improving your workspace:

Incorporate more greenery

Don’t underestimate the power of plants – not only do they look pretty and brighten up the space, they also drastically improve the air quality. Many indoor plants have air-purifying qualities, such as the Boston fern and the Peace lily. They will silently remove toxins from the air which may be causing your staff to become unwell or unproductive. Installing plants is really easy for any working environment, so it’s a simple step to take with proven benefits.

De-clutter the space

People generally feel more relaxed in open, tidy spaces and there is nothing more distracting than piles of paper and unnecessary furniture. Part of this comes down to how tidy and organised your staff are, but you can help with the interior design of the office.

For example, are all those filing cabinets really necessary? How often do your staff need to locate records and documents dating back tens of years? Consider upgrading to a paperless office – it’s a lot easier than it sounds. With all business documents easily accessible from individual computers, there will be no need for ugly filing cabinets taking up room in the office.

Improve the light

Office lighting can make us feel tired and can really affect quality of work if it is not sufficient. Nothing can beat natural sunlight, so it’s good to choose a work space with lots of large windows to let the natural light pour in. Then make sure the overhead lights provide enough light, and consider fitting incandescent lamps to each desk so individuals can control their own lighting.
Implementing these Feng Shui practices is a way of investing in your staff and your clients. If people are asked to work in an environment with poor light, no colour and nothing interesting to look at, you can’t expect them to be full of energy and positivity. Create an environment they are happy to spend time in, and their work will be an extension of that positivity.