The challenge
BNP Paribas Real Estate stored records electronically, while the Strutt & Parker HR team kept physical records in filing cabinets. This made it difficult to access records quickly enough when requests for information came in and provided an added challenge around GDPR compliance.
A solution was needed – and the timescale was tight.
Vicky Ryan, Deputy Head of HR at BNP Paribas Real Estate, said: “We were transitioning and combining two HR teams into our Head Office in London and it was coming up to Christmas, so a quick turnaround was needed.
“One team had all paper filing, big cabinets filled with employee files, and we needed to bring that into an electronic format and to clear the space taken up by the cabinets as quickly as possible.”
The solution
Crown Records Management UK focused on offering a bespoke solution at a competitive price.
Its experts promptly collected 37 boxes/937 HR records and securely delivered them to its high-tech Peterborough scanning facility, where they were fully prepared and scanned to searchable PDFs.
The files were scanned using OCR technology, which means that all the content is now fully searchable. It enables the BNP Paribas Real Estate HR team to search for keywords within each document, speeding up the process of finding records and information.
Each file was also indexed with key unique identifiers to ensure they could be found quickly and effectively. The records were then transferred to an encrypted removable drive and securely delivered to BNP Paribas Real Estate via a Crown tracked vehicle. Within two weeks BNP Paribas Real Estate had the records stored on their internal HR system.
The results
- BNP Paribas Real Estate now has access to all its personnel and HR records on one digital system, all easily searchable.
- All HR records are easily accessible, aiding GDPR compliance in the case of a subject access request.
- The solution was completed in time for a roll-out of new contracts across the business, which resulted in more than 300 requests for records in the last two months.
- The solution saved the company a great deal of time. It takes 37 minutes on average to find a physical file – but digital files can be accessed in seconds according to AIIM, the Global Community of Information Professionals.
- A new team is now based in the office space previously taken up by filing cabinets.
“The speed and efficiency of the service, the communication from Crown and the professionalism shown were very impressive, and we are very happy with the solution provided. It was important to us that the files were handled sensitively and that nothing went missing because we were dealing with confidential information.
We are now able to access HR records quickly across the business and the removal of filing cabinets has resulted in extra desk space, which in London of course has a high value in itself.” Vicky Ryan, Deputy Head of HR at BNP Paribas Real Estate
