As firms think about heading back to the office, it is a great time to evaluate Front, Middle and Back Office Operations. What processes transferred seamlessly to a work-from-home environment? What were the pain points in being unable to work in the office? For firms that have not previously transitioned to a paperless environment, reliance on hard copy document origination, processing and storage, and using mail options to get documents in the hands of clients and back to the firm was one of these pain points. A paperless environment can truly be paramount to operational efficiency.
Advantages of a paperless environment:
- Although it would have been difficult to anticipate being out of the office for over a year, creating a paperless environment contributes to a robust business continuity plan.
- It is much easier to protect the personally identifiable information (“PII”) of your clients when not having documents stashed throughout the office.
- Client onboarding and account requests in a hard copy environment are time consuming and expensive. Expenses include, but are not limited to, paper, storage and postage.
- Internal and external audits are very difficult in a paper environment. Auditors can request the retrieval of hundreds of documents, requiring time and effort from staff to retrieve them.
- A paperless workplace results in reduction of problems due to lost or misdirected forms.
- Eliminating paper processes has a positive impact on productivity and associate engagement.
- Client satisfaction can dramatically improve by making it easier to conduct business at your firm.
The most difficult aspect of transitioning to a paperless environment is getting started. Oyster can help you through each stage of this transition. Oyster’s experts have decades of experience in change management and will assess and sequence our recommendations to reduce risk and maximize your return on investment.
