7 Reasons a Shredding Day Makes Sense

Corodata TeamAug. 30, 2021 | Shredding |
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on March 26, 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve refreshed and edited it to reflect our current realities of remote work and community virus transmission; including decluttering your home office, workforce bonding, and safely shredding your documents and hard drives.

From earth-friendly reasons to relationship-building, there are many reasons a shred day is important.

In the “new” workplace, here’s one thing that hasn’t changed—you and your company’s employees still have piles of paper sitting around. (Maybe even old documents stashed away in a closet.) The difference is these sensitive company documents are now taking up valuable space in their homes, exposing you to even more liability the longer they sit there. You know you should do something about the problem. But what? With many employees working from home, you can still be accountable for the company’s sensitive information—and make it easy for your employees to manage their use of company documents. All you have to do is host a shred day, complete with shred bags mailed out to your remote employees beforehand, including related information about the shred day. From earth-friendly concerns to relationship-building ones, there are many more reasons a shred day makes sense.

#1

Celebrate the Earth, No Matter What “Day”

Having a green-themed shredding day associated with Earth Day (April 22) is one way to destroy sensitive and non-sensitive paper alike. But you should also be in a “green” mindset year-round and destroying records according to a retention schedule. And since shredded material can be used in other products if it’s properly recycled, a shred day is like a big present to the earth—no matter when you hold it.

#2

Shredding is Good for Your Reputation

Sensitive documents sitting around are asking for problems, including:
  • Theft
  • Privacy breaches
  • Ending up in the trash or recycling bin
  • Even worse, the wrong dumpster
Theft and privacy breaches can lead to fines and other legal consequences, and fire hazards are an obvious no-no. One way to free yourself from these kinds of liability is to have these records destroyed all at once on a dedicated shredding day.

#3

Shredding is Good for Your Employees, Too

With the pandemic-associated shift to remote work, more and more employees are working from home. Unfortunately for them, that also means that more and more employees are sitting amid stacks of paper, telling themselves they’ll get those stacks of paper securely shredded “someday.” By organizing a shred day where we arrange to have papers picked up from your employees’ home offices, you’ll make them happier—plain and simple. You’ll be happy too when we bring the paper to you to shred securely, knowing that you’ve addressed a major liability.

#4

A Shredding Day Builds Community Among Your Employees

Different departments or teams within organizations can sometimes silo themselves, resulting in a fractured work culture. Holding a company-wide shredding day can bring employees together around a common goal—especially now that people are working from home. Make your shred day about more than just shredding and you can add a sense of togetherness. For example, some of our clients use these days as an opportunity to raise money for local charities or surpass recycling goals.

Ready to host a shred day? Corodata can help

It’s easy to set up an onsite shredding event with Corodata. We’ve got Shred Trucks and a team of shredding experts ready to go. We’ll even help you spread the word to your customers.

schedule your own shred event

#5

A Shred Day Strengthens Ties with Partner Organizations

Inviting partner organizations to your shredding day serves a few purposes:
  • You’re showing them how much you care about records management and information safety.
  • You can answer any questions they may have about how their information is stored or destroyed—with a cool visual demonstration.
  • You’re providing a fun opportunity to build a deeper relationship.

#6

A Shred Day Can Make Necessary Shredding Fun

A single day devoted to document destruction can also provide an excuse to remind your employees of the company’s shredding policy and to answer any questions they have about it. Seeing exactly how much sensitive information can be contained by a single document, and learning how to properly destroy it, can really drive home to your employees just how crucial shredding is to records management. As for the “fun” part, that’s up to your individual organization, but creating a relaxed atmosphere with snacks and music is a good start! Measure how many documents can be destroyed during the length of one song, or have shredding or green-themed snacks.

#7

A Big Shred Day Gives You More Space Immediately

There’s a reason “spring cleaning” is such a widely practiced ritual: it’s a big effort that results in a feeling of renewal. But you don’t have to wait until spring. A big shredding day can clear out much-needed space in your office, particularly if you have been putting off document destruction or doing it yourself. Sure, maybe that space will only be used again to house newer documents that need to be retained. But there’s still a sense of accomplishment in clearing out the old and bringing in the new.

Here’s the Good News: You Can Safely Shred On-Site

When you host a big shredding day, you can plan ahead in order to maximize the amount of documents shredded—for example, by requesting more trucks to make sure all of your shredded material is properly disposed of. You can also request additional services like hard drive destruction. Most importantly, you can do all your shredding on-site, following all necessary safety protocols. Here’s the bottom line: a shredding day is a great way to cut down on costs and reduce liability, as well as streamline your business operations. What more reason do you need?