Shred on Site

We are entering an era of socially responsible business that requires much more investment in ethical values and environmental considerations. Customer trust has been shaken in recent years by scandals that have revealed that some of the most “trusted” brands are actually failing their customers in terms of keeping their promises. So, it’s more important than ever before for businesses to be able to shore up consumer trust – and paper shredding is one very easy way to do it.

Security is the foundation for trust

Data security is fundamental, both in a B2B and B2C context. New data protection regulations come into force this year that implement much greater penalties for poor data security and also give consumers greater power over how their data is treated. This is the beginning of a new focus on what businesses do with data and, crucially, how safely it is disposed of. Paper shredding – and, in particular on-site shredding – is one of the safest and most secure ways to handle tangible data destruction. If you want to build customer trust then demonstrating that there are procedures in place to ensure safe data destruction is an effective way to do it.

Environmental considerations

Well over half of the 10,000 sheets of paper used by individual office workers in just one year are considered to be waste paper. No business looking to stake a claim on genuine corporate social responsibility could allow this to end up in landfill. When it comes to environmental considerations, paper shredding contributes to green business credentials by providing a simple and effective way to enable better recycling of waste paper and documents. Every business now has a responsibility to invest in systems and processes that reduce negative impact on the environment and minimise waste. Recycling enables waste paper to be used again and also reduces the need to produce brand new products via manufacturing processes that also have an environmental impact. Being able to show green credentials is the first step towards building customer trust in genuine corporate social responsibility – and paper shredding is the simplest way to do it.

Genuine corporate social responsibility

The foundation of genuine corporate social responsibility is conducting business in a way that is ethical, taking account of issues that have an economic, social and environmental impact, as well as human rights. It has become a business baseline for many organisations and being able to demonstrate a commitment to corporate social responsibility is one way to generate a competitive advantage. However, consumers are becoming ever more savvy when it comes to businesses that claim to be investing in corporate social responsibility when there is little tangible outcome of this. Given the importance of CSR to consumers and businesses, it’s crucial to find ways to show a genuine commitment to it. Paper shredding is one of those ways. It is a tangible process that produces the kind of quantifiable results that genuinely impress.

If you’d like to explore how paper shredding could support your business in building better customer trust contact us to find out more.

Author: Mark Coombes, Follow me on Google+