Are you tired of sifting through folders and filing cabinets trying to find a specific document? Or maybe you're looking to lower your company's carbon footprint in the new year? Or perhaps you're just ready to give up using paper documents altogether? You aren't alone –over 50% of U.S. companies are considering or implementing a paperless office.
Eliminating unnecessary paperwork from your office can free up valuable workspace, allow employees to focus on their jobs instead of searching for documents, and even help enhance compliance measures across your company.
But aren't digital tools pricey? While digital office upgrades will undoubtedly create new costs, they pay themselves off quickly. In fact, 28% of companies that invested in paperless document management earned a complete return on their investment in less than six months, while 59% reported achieving total ROI in less than a year.
If you haven’t already made the switch to digital, the near year may be the perfect time to take the plunge. Here are some reasons why you should consider it.
You'll save more than just paper by switching to a paperless office. The money spent on printer maintenance, ink, toner, postage, physical storage, to name a few, will all significantly decrease as you transition to using less paper. This is why companies save an average of $80 per employee when they make the switch to a digital system.
There are some surprising expenses of using paper-based processes we rarely consider, such as the amount of space it takes to store paper files. Consider this: roughly 50% of commercial real estate is inhabited by filing cabinets and other paper storage.
Consider how much money you could save if you could get rid of that excess storage and instead use the office space for a conference or wellness room. That additional area can then be used for a larger, more productive workspace.
Paper processes are tedious and elaborate, and often it's hard to find what you're looking for in the never-ending paper trail.
A paperless office can boost productivity for just about everyone by reducing the amount of time and effort required to store, manage, and fetch documents. This helps streamline business processes and makes it easier for employees to access the information they need to do their jobs.
Using digital collaboration tools not only reduces paper in the office, it also makes it easier for employees to collaborate on projects, share knowledge and circulate information. This can help improve teamwork, encourage innovation, and prevent knowledge siloes.
Print costs involve more than just supplies and labor. Companies can also lose money to date breaches due to printers that haven’t been adequately secured. In fact, printers are usually the weak link in company security.
In 2021, 68% of organizations experienced data losses due to insecure printing practices, and the average cost per data breach was over $850,000. Forty-five percent of IT managers have said they’ve seen “evidence of compromised printers being used as an attack point” by cybercriminals.
Going paperless can also improve security by allowing companies to store and manage sensitive information digitally, reducing the risk of theft or loss of physical documents. This is particularly important for companies that handle sensitive financial or personal information. In addition, a paperless office can make it easier to implement strong security measures, such as encryption and access controls, to protect electronic documents.
Did you know it takes 10 liters of water to produce a single sheet of A4 paper? And that 35% of all harvested trees are being used for paper manufacturing?
Switching to a paperless office can also have immense environmental benefits, as it helps reduce the amount of paper and other office supplies that are consumed, lowering a company's carbon footprint. In addition, going digital can help to reduce the amount of waste that is generated by your company, as electronic documents do not need to be discarded in the same way that paper documents do.
Overall, switching to a paperless office can provide a range of benefits for companies, including cost savings, improved efficiency, enhanced security, and environmental benefits. By making the switch to a paperless office, your company can improve its operations, reduce its costs, and protect the environment.
As you continue to make consistent efforts towards ensuring a paperless office, you start witnessing several benefits. This includes time and cost savings, increased data and document security, and protected data backup.
With digital tools and cloud-based workplace management systems like Sine, you can facilitate this transition and manage your digital workflows more efficiently.
