One of your most important jobs as a company is to protect not only the data of your clients, but also that of your vendors and employees as well. Unfortunately, that’s often easier said than done. How can you make it happen within your organization? These tips can help.
- Formalize your Document Destruction and Retention Policy: If you haven’t already built a policy that is clear to your employees, clients, and vendors, it’s time to do so. Include the procedures to determine who has access to confidential files, how files are closed, how often files are reviewed, and when files are destroyed. You’ll also want to decide what you need to retain and what can be destroyed. For example, you should always retain items like your Articles of Incorporation, but you may want to destroy things like employment application. Set a schedule of what should be held on file and for how long you want to keep it. In most cases, documents should be destroyed on a 12 month, three year, five year, and seven year cycle.
- Create an Oversight Committee: The last thing your employees want is to join another committee, but without it, you won’t be able to come up with a solid disposal and retention plan that meets the guidelines laid out in your Destruction and Retention Plan. You may want to include a few department heads on this committee, as well as someone from your legal team.
- Begin Training Employees: To make your plan work well, you’ll want to train your entire team on implementation. That will help you avoid errors and problems in the future.
We can help you follow your company’s Document Destruction and Retention Policy. To learn more about the options we have available, contact us today.
