Record Storage and Management
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The document outlines 7 steps to create an effective record storage and management plan: 1) Completely inventory all records, 2) Select the best storage method such as offsite, DMS, or cloud, 3) Decide who will manage the plan, 4) Develop retention and destruction schedules, 5) Create a disaster recovery plan with backups, 6) Document plan procedures, 7) Train employees and implement the plan while maintaining it over time. The goal is to safely and legally store records for as long as needed before destroying them.
Record Storage and Management
- 1. Record Storage and Management: Create an Effective Plan in 7 Steps
- 2. Let’s learn from previous companies’ mistakes Why Focus On Storing & Managing Records Anyway?
- 3. Morgan Stanley Learned It the Hard Way In 2017, banking giant Morgan Stanley was fined $13 million—partly for failing to preserve and maintain their client records properly
- 4. Fear-Based Storage & Management Plans There’s danger in keeping records forever
- 5. “Perhaps too much of everything is as bad as a little.” —Edna Ferber “
- 6. Hanging On Too Long Seeing Morgan Stanley, many companies create plans to keep records indefinitely. Unfortunately though, keeping more records also has some potential side-effects: ◎ Greater odds of one being stolen or lost ◎ Higher cost of total record storage ◎ Other legal risks such as privacy rights violations
- 7. What Is an Effective Record Storage & Management Plan Then? Let’s go over what goes into a solid storage and management plan
- 8. Effective Plan Components Figuring out what records need to be kept—and for how long Planning how and when you’ll shred and dispose unneeded records Preparing a plan for when disasters (hopefully don’t) strike
- 9. 1. Completely Inventory All Company Documents Let’s begin with the basics
- 10. Know What You’re Dealing With Before you put processes and plans in place, you need to know how much you have to handle By doing a complete inventory of all the records you have to manage, you can develop the best plan to handle your needs
- 11. Organize Different Record Types Financial documents, client files, and employee records all need to be stored and retained for different amounts of time Organizing different types of records right off the bat helps to simplify managing records down the road
- 12. 2. Select the Best Way to Store and Manage Records Let’s go over your options
- 13. Storage and Management Types Offsite Hard-copy storage at an offsite records management facility for files requiring paper copies DMS Paperless document management system software for scanned and converted digital files Cloud Internet-based record storage and management for remote access to digital records
- 14. 3. Decide Who Will Manage Your Plan Let’s look at the processes to consider
- 15. Choosing Who and What to Manage There’s a few things to determine: what processes need managing, and who will handle it Many hire a records manager to maintain organization and retention schedules A DMS and cloud storage can track and maintain these automatically, but both need someone to take care of records’ eventual disposal
- 16. 4. Develop Records Retention & Destruction Schedules Let’s go over the lifespan of a record
- 17. Retention & Destruction Plans ◍ Auto Insurance Claims: 10 years ◍ Bank Statements: 7 years ◍ Payroll Checks: 7 years ◍ W-2 Forms: Permanent Different types of records all require different retention times. Some of the most common examples include: Once records pass their retention times, they need to be shredded and destroyed to avoid both security risks and privacy rights violations
- 18. 5. Create Your Disaster Recovery Plan Let’s figure out what to do when disaster strikes
- 19. Disaster Recovery Strategies Digital Backups Data is backed up, encrypted, and then stored on external hard drives where it can be easily implemented but still secure and separated from potential risks Tape Backups Data is backed up to a microfilm roll, and then stored in a locked and climate-controlled external location to avoid fire and moisture damage
- 20. 6. Document Proper Plan Procedures Let’s put it all together
- 21. Get Everything Down On Paper Now that you have a plan for how you’ll store and manage your records, you need to get the step-by-step procedures down on paper for training and implementing—just think of it as your instruction manual
- 22. 7. Training, Implementing, and Maintaining Your Plan Let’s finish with putting your plan into action
- 23. Maintaining Implementing Training Instruct your employees according to your new procedure manual Document any plan issues or inefficiencies with regular process updates and audits, and keep improving as you go! Get started by making sure your records managers are ready, your system is secure, and then simply following the steps in your plan
- 24. Need Storage for Managing Records? Find storage options for an effective digital or paper record management plan when you visit Record Nations Today!