5 Benefits to Online Policy Management

Below are 5 major benefits to an Online Policy Management Software.

Automate document workflow - Centralizing and automating the document workflow is regarded by many to be the most advantageous aspect to Policy and Procedure Management. The whole document workflow- form creation and import, to edit, review, publish, revise, and archive- can be automated. In a paper base environment,
each of these steps creates opportunities for paper documents to be delayed, or more intense, lost altogether. Once organizations discover they no longer need to manually gather and collaborate on multiple edits, reviews, etc, they will never go back.

Centralize repository of documents - Are your policies, procedures, and other business critical documents easy for all your employees to locate? Are certain documents trapped in certain files- perhaps on a desktop or filing cabinet- that could cost your employees time or gain access to the document altogether? Having a personalized, easy to access, online database of your documents- that can conveniently be searched- allows your employees to have the information they need when they need it.

Eliminate paper chase - Lets face it, paper document management is a thing of the past. A number of studies show that the cost of storing paper files, and implied labor cost of accessing those files can be thousands of dollars per employee per year. Thousands. The execution of an online policy management software might cost less than one or two employees worth of cost savings- just on the paper chase.

Detailed Audit Trails - As businesses are hit with more and more legal requirements, the implied risk of lawsuits goes up. Having a detailed audit log of the activity occurring within your organization can protect against the risk of lawsuits, penalty charges, and fines. While protecting against a "what if" scenario is never something that will get people bouncing for joy, you bet having an audit trail is of utmost importance if lawsuits, audits, or disputes were to regrettably arise.

Up-to-date global view of Compliance - An online policy management software will allow you to know who has read, signed off on, and understood (via testing) your policies, methods, and other business critical documents. Not only can this information protect against litigation (see #4 above), but it can elucidate the entire organizations policy and procedure compliance. Knowing who has read, tested, and signed off on policies and procedures- and who has not- allows organizations to build critical judgments and corrections