Most companies succeed or fall short on the strength of their organizational skills. Customer demands can change or escalate at any time and businesses must be prepared to meet them. Without proper organization, any firm could suffer serious consequences.
However, it can be difficult to remain organized when businesses are constantly weighed down by an excess of paper records. Not only will it be difficult to find important information when needed, having to maneuver around boxes, cabinets, folders and stacks of records can hinder efficiency and hurt productivity.
A recent study conducted by a collection of organizations found that a number of banks perpetuated the housing crisis of 2008- 2010 due to their lack of organization. The report concluded that roughly 800,000 homeowners received poor customer service from their respective banks, usually due to confusion stemming from disorganized documentation.
The study found that the banks’ failures were not due to a lack of employee empathy. Several individuals working for the banks who had wanted to help their customers vented their frustrations in the study, expressing anger in the fact that they were not equipped with proper document organization and, as a result, couldn’t help those in need.
Had these banks taken the proper measures to store their paper records with a records management professional and properly organize their files, perhaps they would have been in a better position to respond to customers and other employees in a timely and helpful manner.
Regardless of your industry, organization is important for any business, and that includes the storage of records in a secure location with proper indexing and filing techniques.