Another financial year is over. Let’s make it a point to get few things done as part of your Records Management Process for a productive and successful new financial year. Follow this blog post to get organized, ensure records-keeping compliance of your business. 1. Come out of Shackling Contracts Your initiative to take professional assistance in records management is appreciable. However, if you don’t find any value-add from your existing records management vendor, this is the right time to switch to or begin evaluating potential records management partner. Evaluate your success in implementing a holistic records management process. Measure against the current performance to desired benchmarks. If you are not happy with service timelines, SLAs, retrieval services and other key performance indicators, make sure you start working with the right records storage and records management company. 2. Shred Obsolete Documents While there is no doubt that the Digital Age is upon us, the reality is that the majority of businesses still create, process and store plenty of paper. Over the course of a year, paper can pile up. Beyond the hassle of organizing and dealing with those files, all that paper can make you less efficient and keeping any document past its retention date creates compliance and possibly legal risks. Now is the time to purge the documents your company no longer needs. To ensure your business information, your employees’ personal information and the sensitive data of your clients stays protected, you must securely shred all documents that have reached the end of their retention period. 3. Free up office space with off-site records storage. Of course, there are certain documents that your organization may need to keep for business reasons or due to state and federal regulations. Although these items may not regularly be referenced, they must always be accessible and secure. Often the most cost-efficient and secure option is to outsource your storage to a certified records management partner. This will ensure the security and the integrity of your documents, as well as allow for a variety of retrieval options whenever you need them. And, it frees up your costly office space for other uses, like growing your business. 4. Digitize your Records Regardless of whether your organization is quick to try the latest technology or is still in the process of figuring out their digital strategy, your most frequently used documents should always be easily accessible. Did you know that the average worker spends 1.8 hours each day searching for and gathering information? Why not eliminate wasted time and increase employee productivity by digitizing your business documents? Not only will you free up your team’s time, but converting your physical documents to digital will consolidate your business information into one central repository where it can be accessed and shared securely. 5. Train your employees. Last, but certainly not least, consider bringing your employees up to speed on information governance. Every member of your team should understand how different records are created, stored and discarded. This extends to newer record types such as social media, tweets, instant messaging and more. All of these record types need to be managed and understood to ensure your compliance and, most importantly, to keep your risk to a minimum. Make Progress in your Records Management this Financial year! Ending the fourth quarter with a business clean-up is a great way to tie up any loose ends around the office before you ring in the new year. Partnering with a Records and Information Management provider can help you check off every item on this list and ensure your records management strategy meets all your business needs in the year ahead. Should you need any professional assistance, take Professional Records Storage and Management support from companies like KAYMAN Vaults in Chennai.