When you’re choosing a records management firm (or a records storage facility or mover, for that matter), are you asking the right questions?  Asking your vendor about their employee screening process should be at the top of your list—if it’s not, you’re missing a critical part of the equation.

You need to know not only HOW your vendor will be handling your records, but WHO will be handling them—the best procedures in the world won’t protect you if the people following them can’t be trusted to do the right thing with your critical information.

There are many companies that treat records handlers as glorified file clerks—nothing could be further from the truth.  Make no mistake, the people who handle records are in a position of trust and should be held to a higher standard of integrity—to do any less is irresponsible or even careless.  And the more confidential the information they handle, the higher the standard to which they should be held.

The best records management firms know this is true, and properly screen and vet the people they put in positions of trust.  How?  By conducting thorough pre-employment screening, including:

    • detailed background checks
    • in-depth reference checks
    • exhaustive work history verification
    • assessing character and integrity

Of course, the best firms will also have extensive on-boarding of new employees, including training them on all of the latest privacy breach laws and best-practice processes.  And they will also already have protocols in place that ensure information is handled correctly, with redundancies to ensure breaches don’t occur and one rogue employee doesn’t have the ability to expose protected information.

So if you haven’t already, ask your vendors what their processes are, both for handling your records and in screening and training their employees.  If you don’t get satisfactory answers, or they don’t treat your questions with the seriousness they deserve, you would be well-advised to rethink your choice.

It only takes one breach to take down your company—the fines, penalties and bad PR can last for years.  So do your due diligence to make sure your vendor does theirs, and if you have any questions about what they tell you, I’ll be happy to answer them – just call! or see more at Admiral Records Management.