7 Stats of Proof on Why You Need to Go Paperless - Arcoro (2024)

Setting performance goals is a common HR tactic, but we don’t often talk aboutwhy we do it. For many businesses, it’s ingrained in the process and has become another line on the list to cross off as performance reviews come around.

It doesn’t have to – and shouldn’t – be that way.

Setting goals at work can force disruption on an otherwise straight-and-narrow path. In business, disruption is considered a powerful tool: innovation, technology and growing a market base are all disruptive changes that can bring new products, services and customers.

As performance reviews and the ho-hum goal-setting to-do’s start to come together, encourage your team to take a step back and look critically at their goals. Are they:

  • Challenging
  • Rewarding
  • Enthusiastic
  • Daring

If not, your team needs to re-calibrate. Goal-setting is a powerful part of managing a team, and in this piece, we outline how to use it to your advantage.

Why Goals Matter

The power of setting goals has been looked at in countless studies. Here are some powerful statistics that speak towhy we continue to fall back on goal-setting:

  • Setting goals is linked to self-confidence, motivation and autonomy
  • People who write down their goals are 33% more successful in achieving them than those who note them in their heads(Dominican University)
  • Employees whose managers involve them in goal setting are 3.6 times more engaged at work (Gallup)
  • When the goals are measurable, it’s a good way to see progress and success, as well as compare performance to similar roles

How to Set Goals: Best Practices

Goal-setting and performance reviews create a solid foundation for all parties, from the company as a whole to smaller teams and departments, and especially for individuals.

Employee success is made possible by reviewing progress often, integrating personal goals with company goals and providing employees insight into how their actions contribute to company success.

Talk to the Employee

A major difference between personal goals and work-based performance goals is the need for two parties. The best performance management and goal-setting approach is for all stakeholders to sit down and chat. Make goals that attend to the employee, the department and the company, and take all three into consideration to create goals that will be rewarding for everyone.

Ask Why

Goals without purpose are more like checklists. To do their job, goals need to be a little scary, a little demanding and more than a little exciting. Get to the “why” of the goal: does it drive profits, boost egos or show professional mastery? Set a person on a more positive career path? Make sure goals have a mix of passion and purpose.

Use SMART Goals

SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-based and Time-bound) are the gold standard of goal-setting:

  • Specific:Include dates, resources and/or dollar amounts you’ll need to accomplish them.
  • Measurable:Identify appropriate metrics so employees can track progress and measure success.
  • Achievable:Make them a stretch, but doable.
  • Results-based:Align with company strategy by relating to something that is necessary, of value and supports the company’s vision.
  • Time-bound:Determine a date, time-frame or scheduled completion of the goal.

How to Use Performance Goals in Your Business

Here are some easy-to-see ways that great goal-setting props up your business.

Create Succession Plans

Employees who set challenging goals and consistently meet them may develop into top performers, not to mention, if they’re finding professional success, you’ll want to move them into positions where they can hone and share their craft. When you see these types of ambitious, successful team members,use your succession planning to solidify loyalty and increase the chances they’ll stick around to make waves in the future.

Identify Leaders

Setting and achieving goals isn’t the only measure of long-term potential; even a missed goal can demonstrate promise in how the employee handles failure. Grit and grace don’t seem like natural pairs, but great leaders have both. In this way, goals can demonstrate not just hard numbers, but also character traits that all organizations need.

Retain More Employees

A lack of professional development through practices like coaching, learning and goal-setting, is a major driver for voluntary departures. For Millennials, a must-keep-around demographic, the No. 2 reason they leave their current roles is because their career goals don’t align with their employer(Millennial Branding). By agreeing on goals beforehand and having a plan in place, you’re giving the employee the opportunity to drive their own career. Read: How Company Culture is Costing You Quality Candidates.

Set Employee Goals During Onboarding

The onboarding process can be a very busy and exciting time for both the employer and new hire. Set expectations and goals early on and begin tracking progress to get them on the right track. An automated onboarding process can simplify these tedious tasks and allow companies to engage employees from the beginning.

7 Stats of Proof on Why You Need to Go Paperless - Arcoro (2024)

FAQs

Why do we need to go paperless? ›

The goal of going paperless is to reduce the environmental impact of paper usage, streamline workflows, and improve efficiency and productivity.

What are the advantages of a paperless office? ›

Paperless offices can process a much larger volume of paperwork compared to traditional offices in the same amount of time. Further, digitization reduces money spent on paper, printers, ink, postage, office space for files and employee time to manage paperwork.

What is the advantage of a paperless transaction? ›

Not only can companies better control who has access to specific files when going digital, but paperless transactions can also be tracked, stored, and backed up for improved data security and disaster recovery efforts. Decreased carbon footprint. Of course, there are also environmental benefits to going paperless.

Why going paperless is good for the environment? ›

Benefits Of Going Paperless

Crawling in a paperless environment will lessen deforestation and pollution, and the more is trees, the greater will be CO2 absorb. Less air pollution will reduce the emission of harmful gasses, slowing down the ozone layer's thinning and global climate change.

What are the pros and cons of going paperless? ›

To find out, let's look at some paperless office advantages and disadvantages.
  • Advantage: Save Money and Space.
  • Disadvantage: Resources are Needed for IT Management and Training.
  • Advantage: Boost your Security.
  • Disadvantage: There's Still the Potential for Cyber Attacks.
Feb 14, 2023

Should students go paperless? ›

Paperless systems make it easy for families to interact with your school and submit documents. During the admissions and enrollment process, families and students must complete and turn in numerous documents. Paperless student enrollment reduces repetition and streamlines the admissions process.

What would happen in the future if we go paperless? ›

Going paperless: the perks

Whether you want to create, save, store, retrieve, share or delete information, systems get things done all in one place. Collaboration and transparency are enhanced, too, especially for remote workers and teams. This way everyone has equitable access to information that helps get work done.

What is the main objective of a paperless office? ›

Becoming a paperless office is a desirable goal for the majority of organisations. Doing so means reducing paper consumption and has the intention of saving a lot of money, helping the environment and speeding up business processes.

Should I go paperless? ›

Going paperless can boost transparency and provide business insights. For example, Docusign eSignature enables stakeholders to see who has a contract and whether they have signed it or not. Going fully digital saves time, which frees staff from administrative chores like printing, scanning and tracking documents.

What is the main advantage of e paper? ›

Advantages of electronic paper include low power usage (power is only drawn when the display is updated), flexibility and better readability than most displays. Electronic ink can be printed on any surface, including walls, billboards, product labels and T-shirts.

Can you save money by going paperless? ›

What does your business spend on paper, printer ink, printer maintenance and postage each year? If you are regularly sending and receiving contracts and other paper-based documents, then the costs very quickly add up. Going paperless will eliminate most of these costs, putting more money back into the business.

Why we should strive for a paperless society? ›

Environmental impact

The process of creating paper has significant impacts on our environment due to heavy usage of chemicals, water, and deforestation. Going paperless can help decrease the impact that the paper industry is having on our planet.

What are the benefits of paperless? ›

Adopting a paperless system can solve these challenges and achieve benefits like: Saving time spent on locating and retrieving physical files. Digital documents can be easily organized and indexed, which makes finding the files you need much faster with search capabilities.

Is a paperless office more efficient? ›

Going paperless or reducing unnecessary paper use also has the added benefit of improving document organization strategies and making business operations more efficient, which saves you money by encouraging more workplace productivity.

Is digital really greener than paper? ›

Print is less environmentally-friendly and cost-effective than digital media” The reality is that the pulp, print and paper industry accounts for 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions [4], which makes the sector one of the lowest of all industrial emitters – half the emissions generated by those data centres.

Can my employer force me to go paperless? ›

Some states, like California, go even further and say employees must have access to pay stubs and a way to print them. A few states (e.g., Delaware, Minnesota, and Oregon) require employers to give employees the opportunity to opt out of electronic pay stubs, meaning employees can choose paper pay stubs.

What is the purpose of a paperless office? ›

This is done by converting documents and other papers into digital form, a process known as digitization. Proponents claim that "going paperless" can save money, boost productivity, save space, make documentation and information sharing easier, keep personal information more secure, and help the environment.

What do I need to go paperless? ›

10 steps to a paperless office
  1. Find out what you print now. ...
  2. Calculate potential cost savings. ...
  3. Move to online applications. ...
  4. Don't forget training. ...
  5. Incentivise your employees. ...
  6. Scan any paperwork you receive from other people. ...
  7. Sign documents digitally. ...
  8. Use online banking.

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