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April 2009: In This Issue

1. Green RM Breakthrough: Introducing the tabZEROfile!  »
   
   
2. How Environmentally Friendly is Your Records Program? »
   
   
3. Survey Results: RM Going Green »
   
   
4. TAB's Roadmap to Compliance Series: Inactive Collections Management »
   
   
5. What Your Colleagues are Reading »
   
   

Dear Records Manager,

Good environmental practices are good for business, it is that simple. From the cost savings associated with resource conservation to increased consumer and shareholder confidence, proactive steps to protect the natural environment can directly translate into an improved bottom line.

With this in mind, we've created an assessment tool that will help you determine how environmentally friendly your records management program is.

Continuing our green theme, this month we are very proud to introduce the tabZEROfile! This is a breakthrough in green filing, perfect for organizations looking to reduce their impact on the environment.

And we've also got the results from our Green RM survey!

We value your feedback. If you have any questions, or want to discuss any of the issues raised in this newsletter, please get in touch.

Regards,

TAB Canada

1. Green RM Breakthrough: tabZEROfile!

This is a Canadian made, 100% recyclable, carbon neutral, acid free folder made from 100% recycled materials. tabZEROfile is the perfect folder for organizations that are doing all they can to reduce their impact on our environment.

For a FREE sample of tabZEROfile call us at 1-800-417-8001 and click here for more information

2. How Environmentally Friendly is Your Records Program?

Today's businesses operate in a world that places increasing importance on reducing your operation's impact on the environment.

The good news is that there are direct business benefits associated with environmentally friendly practices, incuding:

• Decreased risk of non-compliance with emerging regulatory requirements in the area of environmental protection
• Cost savings as a result of more efficient use of expensive resources
• Increased consumer and shareholder confidence as a result of more long-term sustainability

And your organization's records management practices, choice of products and supplies can all profoundly affect your company's overall environmental footprint.

So how environmentally friendly is your company's records management program?

Answering the questions in our self assessment tool will help you determine this and help put your organization on the path to more environmentally-friendly management of recorded information assets.

The assessment looks at three areas:

• Life Cycle Practices
• Filing Equipment and Supplies
• Information Management Services

Download this invaluable resource here!

3. Survey Results: RM Going Green

In January's OnRecord we asked our readers to tell us what their organizational priorities for RM and the environment were. We had a great response, and from the information we received it is clear that times are changing.

When it comes to the environment, most organizations are doing what they can to make the RM programs greener. In fact, over 70% of respondents said that their organization had a program in place to address their environmental impact!

In this article we'll take a look at what that means: what's driving the change, what impact that is having on corporate behaviour, and the actual steps organizations are taking to become more environmentally friendly.

Green Drivers

The environment is a contentious issue, and knowing what to do or even why you should do it can be confusing. One of the main arguments for taking action put forward by environmentalists is that being "green" makes sense because ultimately it is in line with our interests, business or otherwise.

Our respondents seem to support that thinking, with well over half indicating that the cost savings coming from making more efficient use of expensive resources was the biggest single driver. Increasing consumer and shareholder confidence, as well as compliance with environmental regulations are also significant factors in driving green RM programs.

Taking Action

Ensuring that environmentally friendly RM products and practices are used wherever possible is a very effective and popular way to support green initiatives. In fact, our results show that this can go beyond simply modifying your purchasing patterns to include:

• Paper use reduction programs
• Paper re-use or recycling programs
• Green paper purchasing programs

The data we gathered in this area did show a lag in addressing the reduction of packaging, however, only with 33% of our respondents who indicated they had a program in place.

The Electronic Answer

One very significant trend that emerged from the survey was the increasing role that electronic format records are playing in the effort to green RM programs:

• Over 90% of respondents indicated that they were creating and retain records in electronic format, while actively discouraging the creation of paper copies
• Over 50% had implemented electronic document management systems to replace multiple paper copies with one electronic version
• Over 80% were pursuing electronic imaging and transmission options as an alternative to transporting paper across different locations

That is great news for the environment!

Changing Times

Clearly, organizations and their RM personnel are concerned with making a difference when it comes to the environment. The reality is that greening your RM program can have a significant effect on your organization's environmental impact, which is just good business practice. RM looks set to continue to lead the way in this area, with the use of electronic records, imaging and transmissions comprising a significant part in the reduction of paper use.

If you want to find our more about how to make your RM program more environmentally friendly, contact TAB today.

4. TAB's Roadmap to Compliance Series:
Inactive Collections Management

This month we're looking at inactive collections management as part of our ongoing series on our Roadmap to Compliance.

What Exactly is an Inactive Record?

Inactive records are all of those records that do not need to be maintained on site for day to day use, but MUST be retained by an organization for administrative needs or legal compliance.

Why Inactive Collections Management?

At some point managing space and record volumes leads organizations to remove files from active collections and send those files to an offsite storage environment.

Our roadmap approach can help organizations with common concerns associated with this activity, including:

• Selecting an offsite storage facility, vendor and contract terms
• Boxing and identifying contents for future retrieval and destruction
• Applying retention schedules to semi-active and inactive records
• Managing retention, recall and disposal processes

Aside from conducting a comprehensive audit, we assist organizations in developing inactive policy and procedures, evaluating technology support tools and training staff on proper evaluation and classification of record materials.

Designing an Inactive Collections Process

Before conducting a collections audit, it is critical to design and build an inactive collections process document. This prevents organizations from returning to a situation post-audit where you have unclassified non-records materials being sent out.

The right inactive collections process ensures that you are sending properly classified materials at the appropriate time with the right controls on the records materials.

The Audit

Through a comprehensive audit, non-essential records can be identified, managed and stored as necessary, a critical part in implementing the TAB SMART process.

Many organizations don't effectively deal with their inactive files because they don't have a classification system or retention schedule. Following the Roadmap allows you to deal with inactive collections because your organization will have both components. This audit process uses the classification schedule to accurately determine what is in your boxes and cabinets, and then applies the retention schedule to destroy and store records as appropriate.

Cut Costs, Save Time

Removing inactive records from an active environment will save you money by reducing the space needed to store files and returning that space to business operations. It will also save you time by improving the effectiveness of active storage.

And remember, managing inactive collections is an essential step in implementing the corporate governance model!

5. What Your Colleagues are Reading

Want to know what your colleagues are reading?

These are some of our most popular recent downloads:

1. Demonstrating ROI for Records Management Initiatives

Need to show the ROI on your RM Program? This guide tells you how!

We'll give you a strategy for demonstrating records management's ROI based on hard and soft dollar revenue flows, reduced risk and improved long-term returns.

A recent survey of OnRecord readers identified three main sources of hard and soft dollar return on investment for records management initiatives:

• Savings on physical storage space
• Staff productivity gains
• Reduced risk exposure

We'll examine these three objectives in light of basic ROI principles, focusing on those records management approaches which can help optimize that investment over time.

Download this valuable resource here!

2. How to Manage Electronic and Paper Files in the Hybrid Environment

If you find managing the hybrid environment a challenge, then this is the resource for you. We've put together five tips which, when applied as part of a comprehensive records management solution, can help your organization thrive in both the paper and electronic worlds, bringing the two together in one value add for your organization's business.

Tips include:

• Correctly identifying your files
• Establishing central control over the record's life cycle
• Identifying the official record
• Purging non-records
• Choosing conversion options

You can download it here!

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