In our current digital age, more and more organizations are transitioning to a paperless office. Benefits associated with going paperless are boundless, especially with the technology available to help businesses of all sizes in industries across the board migrate their paper documents.
Eliminating paper-based processes and is not a fizzling trend. There are plenty of tangible, cost-saving advantages of a paperless office that businesses cannot ignore. If your organization is still entrenched in dated paper systems, here are 5 compelling reasons you should consider making the switch to a paperless office.
1. Money
Is your upper management stuck in the paper document past? Tell them to consider these hard facts: not only does it cost $25,000 to fill a four drawer filing cabinet, the average cost for locating a misfiled document is $120!
If somebody tells you the idea of migrating to a paperless office might seem like too much work, the money doesn’t lie. Ask them to think long-term – the initial time and resources invested in the project will boost cost efficiency over time.
2. Productivity
If the stats above weren’t convincing enough, how about this: an average employee who uses paper documents daily (pretty much everybody) can spend more than 40 per cent of their time looking for files they need to do their job.
Physical documents just cannot stack up to the digital world when it comes to indexing capabilities – not to mention the accidental organization problems with paper documents that can make things even worse. Instead of wasting time looking for a document, that time would be better put toward role-critical tasks.
3. Prime real estate
This is a fairly obvious point, yet many organizations still face issues with space being taken up by large, bulky filing cabinets. A paperless office allows you to reclaim that space so that it can be used for other purposes, such as workstations.
How many big, bulky filing cabinets does your organization have? If you think about it, they take up a lot of valuable space that could be used for other purposes. Get rid of those filing cabinets to make more room for your staff, whether it’s more workstations or board room space.
4. Misplacement
Aside from costing you money, misplaced files can also help you run into problems with the law in terms of record retention guidelines. Your reputation could be on the line too, if your lost documents start to impact your customer service or client relations.
With a paper-free office, you have the ability to file, index and organize your documents in one location, eliminating any of the above issues.
5. Achieving a Green Office
The advantages of a paperless office are not just limited to your business – the environment and your customers will thank you, too. Not only is sustainability becoming trendy in the workplace, but consumers are responding positively to green initiatives and can even base purchasing decisions on a business’ commitment to the environment. By investing in a paperless office, you can help lay the framework for environmental sustainability in the workplace while also having an impact on your bottom line.
As demonstrated above, there are a number of compelling reasons why you need a paperless office. If you’re now wondering the first steps for how to go paperless in the office, we’ve got lots of great advice on how to choose the best document scanner provider to get you started.