Gilmore Blog https://www.gilmoreservices.com/blog

Records management professionals know that in order to solidify an effective records management solution, they need a bulletproof plan in place. And while organization is already a key tenet of your day-to-day, there’s more to a records management plan than meets the eye.

When you hear the word “destruction,” you may automatically think the worst. After all, you spend your days working to protect your important documents — not destroy them.

As an office manager, administrative professional, or record keeper, we know it’s your goal to stay organized and keep proper records in everything you do. It can be challenging to manage all your business files, especially with new financial contracts, patient information, or legal updates coming in all the time.

If your company has been in business for a while, then you know that it’s essential to have a solid records management plan in place. After all, bringing on more customers, patients, or clients usually means more paperwork, and it’s important to make sure you’re managing all your information efficiently.

The time has come to move your business. Perhaps your company has been so successful that it has outgrown your current space, or maybe it’s downsizing to a space better suited for a nimble team.

Another reason could be that the founder seeks greater business opportunities in a different state, and has decided to transplant the headquarters entirely. Or maybe it’s just a matter of chasing better rent or real estate prices.

Business owners, office managers, and administrative professionals know that as a business grows, so do the business records. As a company brings on more business, secures more clients, and serves a greater community, the essential paperwork can literally begin to pile up—from medical records to financial documents and anything in between.

Many companies may know they need document shredding services. After all, with identity theft statistics on the rise, you’ve likely already begun to devise a confidential document destruction plan in order to keep your client and patient information — as well as your company’s reputation — protected.

In the modern business world, information is always growing. This makes it challenging to keep up with proper records management and document storage requirements. What’s more, laws and regulations requiring that records be kept for a certain amount of time before being destroyed can add to the confusion of how to properly handle certain sensitive documents.

And of course, storing boxes of paper documents in warehouses or paying commercial rental prices to store them can be particularly frustrating.

In many businesses, storing sensitive documents, and destroying them appropriately, is an essential aspect of the record management process. It’s important to know how long your documents need to be stored and when they need to be destroyed in order to remain compliant with federal regulations and industry standards.

It can be challenging to stay on schedule and keep a consistent process in place, especially in situations where new information is developing all the time.

When you throw something away in a dumpster, chances are that you don’t stop to wonder if that trash could eventually fall into the wrong hands. But whether it’s a banana peel or old business records, just tossing something in the trash isn’t as secure as you think.

When people think about identity theft, they might think it’s something that only happens in spy movies, or something that only affects the most unlucky, irresponsible among us. In fact, your first thought might be, “it can never happen to me.”

If your company needs to shred a piece of paper for data security purposes, it’s as easy as running it through a personal paper shredder, right? Not necessarily.

While some businesses may be able to get by with a personal paper shredder and a few dedicated employees to shred documents here and there, your business may need something more reliable.

After all, when the amount of paper begins to build, or sensitive information is at stake, shredding in-house can go from convenient to complicated in no time.  

If you’ve ever had to move to a new home, then you know it can be a big job. No matter the final destination, packing up your personal belongings, putting everything in boxes, moving everything out, and transporting your items to a new home can be exhilarating—but it can also be stressful, time-consuming, and just plain hard work.  

If your company regularly deals with sensitive information, then you know the importance of secure document storage. This is especially true when official business paperwork or private patient records need to be stored for several years in order to align with document compliance standards.

If you’re thinking about partnering with a records management company, it’s a good idea to learn how the company operates and what exactly it can do for your business. After all, you’ll be relying on that company to handle, store, and securely dispose of your company’s sensitive physical or digital documents, so you’ll want to know what the company does and how it can help.

Have you ever wondered what a records management company actually does in a typical day? Here’s a hypothetical “day in the life” to help you learn just what can be accomplished in eight hours.

Businesses that experience new growth and development will eventually need to hire more employees in order to sustain an advanced workload. More business typically indicates more customers, paperwork, and ultimately the generation of more revenue.

These days, it seems there is a do-it-yourself option for everything. You can make your own candle holder from a glass bottle, or remodel your own bathroom with a few tips from YouTube.

There comes a time in every business' lifespan when the need for certain updates is necessary. Whether you own a hotel, restaurant, hospital, or bank, the process of making crucial business changes can be stressful. It comes with the growing pains of running a successful company.

Understanding the often complex details of records management is no easy job. If you handle records management for a business, you know it’s an ever-changing discipline that can be both exciting and frustrating.

There is no one-size-fits-all moving process. For example, the needs of a senior citizen downsizing into a retirement home are drastically different than a high school graduate moving into a college dorm. Different stages in life require specific moving requirements and demands.

There are plenty of situations that can arise in business where proper preparation makes it possible to successfully meet the challenge and overcome it.

Spring is officially here, and at Gilmore Services, that marks the start of a new Shred-a-Thon event to securely and conveniently shred your sensitive information! Gilmore Services is proud to partner with the BBB, WEAR3 and Cat Country 98.7, to offer complimentary shredding services to help our community organize, reduce clutter and protect their identity this season.

There are a thousand different things a business owner or office manager needs to think about every day. While legal document management is extremely important, it’s not something you want to have to worry about among other urgent matters. And it’s certainly not something you can afford to spend hours or days figuring out.

No business wants to lose money. In fact, successful business owners are almost always looking for ways to boost revenue, cut costs, or both.

You wouldn’t entrust just any company to maintenance your car or mortgage your home, would you? More often than not, you’re going to research to confirm that they are licensed and have the proper certifications in place. If they don’t, then the search continues until you find a secure business or a trustworthy partner.

Sometimes it can feel like there is just not enough hours in the day. Imagine having a couple more hours to file away finished projects and help cut down the growing stack of files piling up on your desk.

As an experienced records management company, we offer many tips for protecting your business and your customers through proper records management practices. With identity theft and other privacy concerns constantly in the news and new regulations affecting different industries all the time, every company needs to allocate time and resources for handling business records. 

Long gone are the days of strictly handling paper files.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: The world has gone digital!

While a formal records management plan needs to include document destruction at the end of every record’s lifecycle, destroying a business document before it has reached the end of its retention period can be a costly and time-consuming mistake.