Stay in Compliance with Updated Manuals and a Records Management Company

As Q4 approaches, many companies look at their balance sheets, anticipating what end-of-year push they can make to meet their budgets. It’s also an excellent time to look at other aspects of business to set the new year off to a good start. One aspect is those dusty 3-ring binders loaded with policies, procedures, equipment maintenance logs, and employee handbooks. Compliance policies should not be “once-and-done” tasks, but they often tend to be that way. The laws change regularly, and your company could be at risk if you don’t inform your employees of the new changes. Utilizing a records management company can help you keep up with recordkeeping requirements and help your organization adhere to a document management program.

Keep Up to Date with the Latest Regulations Using Regular Policy Reviews

You may not think regularly reviewing your compliance policies and procedures is necessary, but if they address bringing floppy discs from home, yours is too far behind! Consider this: Are you worried your current policies are insufficient to meet future needs? Are you comfortable that your current policy management program will help you reduce legal costs from regulatory issues and fines? If you aren’t sure, then it is time to review those policies. 

Here are a few useful tips to aid you in the process:

1. When you should review your policies and procedures: The everyday running of a business can leave you with little time for these types of tasks. The best way to get it done is to schedule time in your corporate calendar dedicated to the review. Ideally, it would be best if you did this once a year. There are other times when you may need to review and make adjustments, including large-scale organizational changes, changes in laws or regulations, and incident or policy violations.
2. Identify those policies and procedures that need updating: A review doesn’t always lead to a revision. Sometimes, there will be significant revisions; other times, you will only need to tweak some. Three questions you can ask during a review include:
   • Is the policy being implemented as intended? If employees are not complying, you need to know why.
   • Does the policy have the desired effect? Even perfectly followed policies won’t always have the desired effect on the company.
   • Are your policies and procedures still current and relevant? Do any of them refer back to old structures or technology? If so, it’s time for updating.
3. Develop a strategy for updating policies: A few tips to help you strategize your policy changes include forming teams. One team can handle the reviewing, and the other can manage the writing. It doesn’t have to be the same people doing both. Ensure that you document all comments and changes to the review and get input from all team members. 

Choose Crown Information Management for Your Document Retention Needs

Add another team dedicated to aiding you in your compliance and records management program. Choose Crown Information Management. We are NAID AAA and PCI Certified, and we have a complete array of services to aid you with your record management needs, including records storage, document scanning, records indexing, and retention schedules. We can even shred aging documents. Want to learn more? Call us today!

For timely, secure records management in a safe, pest-free facility with a SOC1 Report,NAID AAA, and PCI Certified company, call Crown Information Management at 800-979-9545. You can also contact us online to learn more about our document storage and shredding services.