The Top Reasons Your Company Needs a Document Retention Plan
Running a business requires managing seemingly infinite quantities of information. But amid all the day-to-day tasks, records retention can quickly become an afterthought. Here are the top reasons your company needs a document retention plan:
Compliance
Although retention periods can vary from industry to industry, certain laws govern every business. Knowing which of your records to keep, and for how long, is essential to ensuring legal and regulatory compliance. A comprehensive document retention plan helps your business adhere to industry-specific and general legal requirements.
Space Savings
Few businesses have unlimited space and resources to store and manage records. A document retention plan prevents stockpiling files for too long, increasing your legal liability, and incurring unnecessary storage costs and hassles.
Efficiency
No one likes the stress and shame of not being able to produce requested information; it can damage customer relationships, dampen employee morale, and lead to legal trouble. A document retention plan ensures documents and data can be accessed at a moment’s notice, no matter the circumstances.
Company-Wide Cohesion
Document retention isn’t just upper management’s responsibility. Everyone in your organization should be able to identify relevant records and their retention and destruction dates. Ensuring everyone is on the same page when classifying, labeling, storing and disposing of documents helps your company comply with legal requirements and reduces unnecessary burdens, costs and risks.
Cost Savings
An ineffective document retention plan hurts your bottom line and more. It exposes your company to increased legal liability, compliance risks, and workflow hiccups. With solid document retention guidelines, your business stays productive and profitable.
Liability Reduction
State and federal laws require that personal information not be kept longer than required for the purpose(s) for which it’s collected. A document retention plan reduces your company’s liability exposure by making sure it follows mandated final disposition rules.
Privacy Protection
Every business needs a program for protecting important information from unauthorized access. A solid document retention plan outlines where, how, and when records are stored so customer and employee confidentiality is preserved throughout the information lifecycle.
Remember, a weak document retention plan is almost as bad as not having one at all. Make sure yours is consistent and strong!
Pacific Records Management provides records and information management services for businesses throughout Fresno, Stockton, Sacramento, Modesto, and Napa and Solano Counties. For more information, please call us at 800-685-9034 or complete the form on this page.