Why Your Employees Avoid the Office Shredder

Staff Problems

If your office shredder had feelings, would it feel neglected? Are your employees avoiding it? Is the shredder the last to get picked when it comes to disposing of paper? Do your employees gossip about or “trash talk” the shredder from another room? If it did have feelings, it would get an inferiority complex.

There are reasons your employees avoid the office shredder, and many of them could be legit. When employees are surveyed about using the shredder, here are some examples of what they have to say:

1. Not My Job: “Eh, take a look at my job description. It’s long and time-constrained and paper shredding isn’t part of it.” Paper shredding might be the last thing on your employees’ minds, so the paper just isn’t making to the shredder.
2. Inadequacy: “You know how frustrating it is when you have this expectation that the shredder is going to perform for you, and it doesn’t?” Shredders are a notorious hassle and are almost always underrated for the amount of paper in an office. No one wants to deal with a constantly-jammed or slow shredder you can feed only 2-3 sheets into at a time.
3. Too Far: “Our main office has a shredder, but it requires a trip there every time I have a pile of paper waste. The recycle bin is so much closer.” That might sound lazy, but when the average office worker generates about two pounds worth of paper products daily, that might mean they are getting their 10,000 daily steps just walking to the shredder.
4. Too Much Drama: “Every time I use the shredder, evil-looking eyes rise above the office dividers, annoyed by the noise of the machine. And if you push the shredder too hard, it overheats and stops with your sheets stuck in the feeder.” The sound of a shredder in an office space creates a chaotic vibe and doesn’t coexist well with conversations on the phone or with colleagues.

Shredder Problems

Your business may have chosen to buy or rent one or more shredders for the office because it seemed so much more affordable. The truth is it costs more to shred in-house when you consider the following:

1. Trash. No paper should be disposed in the waste basket. Employees will be making personal decisions on what paper is confidential or contains Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and what doesn’t. Every piece of paper has the potential to become a security breach. Everyone should be in the habit of shredding every single piece of paper. This will decrease the likelihood confidential information being leaked and ensure paper recycling takes place after
2. Cost. Shredding machines wear them out quickly and create frustrated employees with slow operation, noise, messy paper shreds everywhere, and constant jams. Shredders need to be replaced frequently. This is hard on the budget, the staff, and the environment. Don’t waste the valuable time of your professionally-trained staff on shredding.
3. Security. Because employees avoid the shredder, you risk a security breach by having documents go in the garbage or sit in a pile unattended, waiting to be shredded.

Problems Solved

Choosing to outsource your paper shredding is much more cost effective, better for staff morale, compliant, and environmentally friendly. When looking for a shredding professional, find one that is NAID AAA certified, is compliant with all local, state, and federal information privacy laws, and offers secure collection containers.

Pacific Shredding is NAID AAA Certified, offering scheduled shredding, one-time purge shredding or drop-off shredding in Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Modesto, and Napa and Solano counties.

We’re here to create a shredding plan that works perfectly for your business. Give us a call at 800-685-9034 or complete the form on this page and tell us about your needs.