Our question for the day is this- do your employees avoid the office shredder? Does your office staff have nothing nice to say about the equipment? Do they often talk trash on it around the office? It may not be an issue you think about all the time, especially during a busy workday. But if your shredder had feelings, we bet it would feel pretty bad concerning all of the problems it hears about itself!
You would be surprised to hear the many reasons your workers are avoiding the office shredder. You would think the shredder would be one of the more popular pieces of office equipment in the workplace, but you would likely be wrong. Let’s look at why.
Common Complaints about the Office Shredder
Many employees believe that shredding paper isn’t part of their job description. They believe that they already have too much to do in the workplace, and they don’t think that paper shredding should be part of their work load. When it’s the last thing on their mind, it’s a job that rarely gets done.
Employees become upset when the shredder doesn’t perform the way that it should. They have an expectation for the device and when it doesn’t meet that expectation, they get angry. Shredders are notorious for being slow, jammed up, or broken. No employee wants to deal with that every single time they need to shred paper.
Your typical office shredder will only shred a couple of pages at a time. Again, no employee wants to wait for a shredder to catch up when they have dozens of papers to get rid of.
Most office buildings are large areas. If the building only has one main office shredder, many employees have to trek all the way to it to get rid of paper waste. And while this might sound lazy, an average office worker can easily generate around two pounds of paper products every day. If they have to walk across the office to get rid of waste paper over and over again, they may not get much else done! To many employees, simply throwing their paper products in their waste bin is a much easier task.
Finally, employees want to avoid the noise of the shredder, especially older models that have difficulties running. Other employees have mentioned how co-workers give them the evil eye when they start up the shredder, especially if they are on an important phone call. Worse, shredders often overheat and jam up, making even more commotion that distracts others from their work. The annoying sound of the shredder creates a vibe that doesn’t mesh well with the typical work vibe.
Additional Office Shredder Problems
Your company was likely led to believe that buying or renting shredders for the office is a much more affordable solution for paper waste. At first glance, you would probably think this is true. However, it costs a lot more to use an in-house paper shredder when you think about the following scenarios:
Possible security breach – When employees avoid the office shredder, you’re looking at a possible security breach within the walls of your business. Employees will simply throw their unwanted papers in the garbage or leave them sitting on a pile on their desk. You never know when someone could see something they shouldn’t or take papers that don’t belong to them.
More trash is generated – As employees make their own decisions on whether a paper should be thrown out or shredded, your company is going to generate a lot more trash every day. Do you want every employee to decide for his or herself whether certain papers are a possible security breach? While everyone should always be in the habit of shredding all of their unwanted paperwork every day, this simply doesn’t happen when you have in-house shredders. Again, the likelihood of a security breach is much higher.
In-house shredders cost money – Not only do you have to pay for the shredders in the beginning, but you also have to keep up with the maintenance. Shredders can and do wear out rather quickly, leaving you with frustrated employees who are tired of dealing with constant jams, noise, and slow operations. Many shredders will need to be replaced frequently, making a dent in the budget.
Shredding takes away valuable time – A jammed, broken, or slow shredder will cause your employees valuable time as they struggle to fix the issue. If the shredder starts acting up, your employees will find themselves messing with a machine that they haven’t been trained to fix. This wastes time that could be better used elsewhere.
Solve Your Office Shredder Problems Today
If your company is using in-house shredders, we have the solution. We offer paper shredding services in and around Riverside, California. Outsourcing your paper shredding needs will be a more cost-effective solution for your problem. When your employees no longer have to worry about shredding their paper, they will be much happier and relaxed. Professional paper shredding services from Shred Confidential are compliant, confidential, and environmentally-friendly.
When you begin your search for a professional shredding company, there are a few factors to take into consideration. It’s important to find a company that is NAID AAA certified. The company should be compliant with the various state, local, and federal information privacy laws. They should provide secure collection containers and be professional at all times.
Instead of worrying about a possible breach of information or dealing with fussy in-house paper shredders, outsource all of your paper shredding needs to Shred Confidential. We are NAID AAA Certified and will create a personal shredding plan that works for your business. We offer one-time purge shredding, scheduled shredding, and even drop-off shredding. Our company works in the following counties: Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, and Riverside.
Get rid of those troublesome office shredders before hiring a company that takes care of your paper shredding needs. Call us today at 866-817-4733 to learn more. You can also complete the form found on this page.
