4 Reasons to Re-Evaluate Your Shredding Needs in 2023

Most businesses have some form of document organization and destruction processes, but few have optimal shredding practices. Document shredding is key to any business — especially businesses that process sensitive documents. There are four reasons to re-evaluate your shredding needs in 2023.

1. Organization

One of the primary reasons to invest in shredding in 2023 is organization. Any business can quickly become overwhelmed by documents that they don’t need to keep anymore. Between receipts, customer records, employee records, and other documents, even very small businesses can produce a lot of paperwork each week.

A lack of organization can make it difficult to find documents that you need and increases the risk that you lose track of important items. Well-developed filing systems help, but businesses need to move out documents that are no longer needed to truly stay organized.

Scheduling a regular shredding service helps ensure that you are routinely moving out documents to free up space and keep you organized.

2. Compliance

There are laws and regulations that govern how documents should be handled. These laws were intended to ensure that both customer and employee information is protected. No one wants sensitive documents floating around with personal information that can be exploited.

If you do not have proper shredding processes in place, you could be out of compliance with these regulations. All businesses are subject to these laws, but they are especially significant for businesses that handle highly sensitive information like financial or health documents.

A business audit can easily uncover documents that should have been disposed of or expose your document disposal practices that aren’t meeting shredding requirements. Working with a professional shredding service can help ensure that you are meeting all of your obligations as a business.

3. Streamlining Operations

Many businesses find that there is some employee confusion with respect to document preservation and destruction, especially businesses that task employees with shredding duties. When employees are not all on the same page with document management, it can put your business at risk.

Re-evaluating your shredding needs gives you the opportunity to re-examine your document management processes and ensure that all employees are trained properly. This can streamline operations and make things clearer for everyone in the business.

4. Protecting Your Business

Disposing of documents rather than shredding them may seem low-risk, but you never know where documents may end up if you don’t shred them. All it takes is one sensitive document to get into the wrong hands.

When you fail to shred sensitive documents, you put your customer’s and your employees’ information at risk. If a customer or employee is harmed by their information getting into the wrong hands, your business can face serious reputational and even legal liability.

Protect your business from these negative outcomes by properly shredding documents.

Prioritize Shredding in 2023

The new year is the perfect time to re-evaluate your shredding needs. There are thousands of businesses in South Dakota and North Dakota that handle sensitive documents that must be protected. Don’t wait — prioritize document shredding right away in 2023, and call SEAM for all of your shredding needs.