Businesses Flirt with Disaster by Not Protecting Their Vital Records

Professional Organizer Fights the Battle of Haphazard File Organization in Offices

Professional Organizer Cyndi Seidler says, "A business that doesn't have a plan for protecting its vital records may find itself in deep water when disaster strikes."

Los Angeles, CA, March 30, 2005 -  Many file drawers crunch up year after year with stale documents and old files that will never be retrieved again.  Frequently, the results are stuffed file cabinets, overcrowded file folders, worn folders, a mixture of handwritten and computer-printed or typed labels, and the lack of file guides, and a charge-out or tracking system.

According to a Reuters study, 85% of the information that businesses need to operate does not fall into structured formats.  Instead, it exists in a wide range of unstructured content such as email, graphics or video.  With so much diverse information, employees spend roughly 25% to 35% of their time looking for the information they need to do their jobs. 

Of managers surveyed, 49% feel they are often unable to handle the volume of information received; 38% waste substantial time trying to locate information; 47% say collection of information distracts from their main job responsibilities.

"A business that doesn't have a plan for protecting its vital records may find itself in deep water when disaster strikes," says Professional Organizer Cyndi Seidler.  "An enterprise without a structured, uniform filing system that allows employees to easily store, retrieve, and track their records is just one part of protecting their information."

Seidler further states, "Filing systems for paper records have evolved without much planning or ongoing management attention."  She stresses the importance of proper filing, and has been on a crusade to urge businesses to make it a high priority to get control of paper records.

There are other reasons to proper management of files.  According to Seidler, the key value of having organized files is it results in better decision-making.  With information at an executive's fingertips, proper strategies and planning can be made in a company.  However, many executives had not viewed it that way, and therefore continue blindly in their efforts to expand.

Because of the lack of proper filing systems and an approved retention schedule, companies fail to make periodic purges. The volumes of paperwork retained are more than double what really needs to be kept.  This "asset liability" has proven harmful to some companies in the event of a lawsuit.

Since paper records make up 80% to 90% of the recorded information in small and large organizations, the consumption of paper in offices throughout the United States continues to increase at the rate of about 15% per year.  If it isn't managed, trouble happens; it's doubtful escaping that.

National Organize Your Files Week, April 18th, encourages people to reach in those file drawers and put some order in them.   This dilemma is not solved by purchasing new file cabinets that take up valuable floor space.  It is solved by a reorganization within file cabinets and a clean sweep of old documents.