5 Benefits of Scanning School Personnel Files

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This post is part of The Datamation Guide to Managing School District Records.

More and more schools are digitizing both their student and employees records. Employee records contain vital information like employment records, resumes, evaluations, education records, certification records, medical records, and much more.

When all of these records are stored in paper form, they have the potential to get lost, damaged from fires and floods, and are subject to general disorganization that can lead to serious legal problems within your district. Here are five reasons why scanning your personnel files is the way to go:

1. Files can be found in a matter of seconds

The average employee spends 51 minutes per day trying to find a certain paper file or document. Think about how much time could be saved and directed towards more important things if files were easy to find. With digital storage and management options like ImageSilo, each file can be find with a simple keyword search, making it easy to monitor files or access them in case of an emergency.

2. Files are more secure than ever before

Personnel files can only be accessed by those with explicit permission. Because they are stored digitally, they are also no longer susceptible to physical damage, like fires or floods. This preserves them until they are no longer needed.

3. Digitizing files saves space

Schools and businesses often have rooms dedicated solely to storing student and personnel records. These rooms are filled with boxes or filing cabinets that need to be sorted through to find a document. The space that is reclaimed by scanning and digitizing files can be used in countless different ways, as space is at a premium in most schools.

4. It’s easier to follow retention policies

This is a big one. Most schools have a document retention policy that is created by the school board, administration, government mandates, and the district’s legal team. This system determines how long certain documents are kept, and when they should be disposed of. It is important that these dates are followed in case of an investigation or lawsuit against the district, but if this policy is not followed correctly, the district can be penalized.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to monitor paper documents for compliance and to remember the different dates, so this often is overlooked. But the good news is that there is software for digital documents that can manage files according to the specific policy they follow, making compliance and retention effortless.

5. The completeness of files can be monitored

Making sure that all vital documents are in place is important in the event of an investigation, a lawsuit against the school or an employee, or if general questions are raised about an employee. These records serve to support employees during in the case of termination, but can also be used to justify hiring and promotion decisions.

Datamation makes maintaining employee files effortless and secure. We offer scanning services and managing software that help your district keep track of compliance and completeness while saving space and offering incredibly easy access.

Do your district a favor and digitize your records with Datamation.