Establishing a Confidential Document Plan for Remote Workforce

The pandemic taught many companies that a good amount of work can be done remotely. While this started for health and safety reasons, it can also help cut costs and reduce the amount of commuters on the road every day. Remote work is here to stay. Many companies have invested in remote work tools over the last few years, and there’s no indication they’ll be returning to the old way of doing business. However, some organizations still rely solely on physical documents or still need the originals for various reasons. This means that physical documents, some of which contain secure information, are being circulated more regularly. While working in the office, files can be stored in secure locations like locked desk drawers or filing cabinets. But when employees leave the office to work remotely, that built-in security leaves with them. How can employers establish a confidential document plan for a remote workforce?

Best Practices for Remote Work

While there isn’t one set of best practices that will work for every business with remote workers, there are some practices that are always smart.

• Staying organized.

Clutter causes mistakes. If your employees have piles of papers, some secure, some not, scattered throughout their home office, you are just asking for security trouble. Remote employees need to take home office organization seriously.

• Keeping company documents secure when not in use.

While remote employees may not have access to your file cabinets, they should still have a place where they can keep company documents secure. Investing in a file cabinet that locks is a basic security measure for anyone dealing with secure documents no matter who they work for.

• Shredding documents you no longer need ASAP.

One of the best solutions for remote employees is to implement a practice where secure documents are scanned into a digital format and the paper copies are securely destroyed. By destroying all hard copy documents immediately once they are scanned, employees can have access to everything they need in an organized fashion without the need to create a way to keep hard copies secure at home.

How Can You Safely and Securely Shred Business Documents Remotely?

Securely shredding unneeded documents has always been a best practice for a secure office, and that’s true even when the workforce is remote. However, when you are handling a large amount of confidential documents, a home shredder isn’t enough. Fortunately, there are solutions for a remote workforce to securely shred documents.

• Mobile and Off-Site Shredding

These services send a provider directly to the location of the documents, whether that’s an office or a home. A truck with a built-in shredder will do the destruction right there, and for off-site shredding, the materials are picked up and securely transferred to a local shredder.

• Business Shredding Events

In these cases, a mobile shredding truck will stay at a central location for a few hours while employees working remotely come by and drop off materials for shredding.

• Bring to the Locked Office Shred Bins

If your office has locked bins to store documents in need of shredding, you can request that your employees come by the office at regular intervals with their documents that need to be destroyed. This way, you can be involved in the process and ensure that your shredding needs are handled securely.

Having a remote workforce has many advantages, but it does mean that employers need to make sure they train their employees in secure document destruction and set them up for success. By making shredding options available, you can trust your employees to keep all their paperwork safe and secure. AccuShred is a one-stop-shop for all your document destruction needs. To learn more about our capabilities, our on-site services, or how we can help you with data security, contact us today.