The hidden costs of paperwork
Human resources departments and offices are often reluctant to let go of paper systems, intimidated by having to learn new programs and dismissive of the return on going paperless. Yet the cost savings of switching to an online system like Turbine are enormous and the learning curve rather shallow, not to mention the higher profits gained from your business’s increased capacity and productivity.
Physical Costs
A few sheets of paper can’t be that expensive, right? Consider the whole system that has to be in place, though, to use that paper. Offices have to order a lot of it, much of which ends up wasted, misplaced, or stored in some dusty corner. There’s the cost of the machines that mark up those pages as well as the expenses of ink, supplies, maintenance, and energy to keep those machines running. Some workplaces have added charges of wastepaper removal or recycling to add to the bill. Not only do you lower all these costs when you use less paper, you liberate the office from messiness and disorganization, freeing up valuable physical and mental space.
Time Costs
The highest and most damaging price of a paper system is what your business pays in time and operational efficiency. Think about the life cycle of a piece of paper that is, for example, an HR form. It has to be retrieved, printed, filled out, signed, copied, scanned, distributed, filed, and possible retrieved again for reference in the future. Each step provides a dangerous opportunity for errors to arise, discrepancies to creep in, and delays to stretch out the process.
With a centralised online system, you have everything in one place. Searches and retrieval are quick, and the materials are accessible to multiple people without having to multiply physical copies and clutter. Accounting departments will rejoice with easier and more accurate records, and the time and labor costs of filing and searching for files are brought down to practically nothing.
Security Costs
Another significant hidden cost is the security of your business. Cultivating a voluminous paper trail, which can be difficult to access quickly because of mistakes, disorder, or sheer size, is essentially a paper tiger. You pay with the risk of theft, loss, and destruction from fire, water, and weather. Web systems are even more secure than your own computers. You gain confidentiality with access control and security through encryption, backups, and continuous systemic monitoring.
Convert that paper into cash by freeing your employees to spend their time doing more substantive work, serve more clients, and produce more quality and quantity!
This is a guest post by Janet Choi from the TurbineHQ.com blog.
