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95% of senior staff in Education sector waste time searching for paperwork every day
Added: (Wed Oct 29 2008)
• 82% of those surveyed lose up to an hour per day, worth £280* per week per person
• Just 13% of educational institutions use document management software
• Only 2% of educational institutions have a predominantly paperless office
• Senior education staff lose half an hour on average every day looking for documents
Blisworth, 29th October 2008 - 95% of senior staff in the education sector admit to wasting valuable working hours unnecessarily looking for paperwork, with 82% losing up to a whole hour per day, according to independent research. The survey, which was commissioned by Invu and conducted by YouGov, revealed that these staff are losing precious time trying to locate documents that have been mis-filed, moved to another location or simply lost, costing their schools dearly.
Educational establishments have to handle a surprising amount of paper day-to-day, ranging from examination papers, to accounts and student records. Given the confidential nature of much of this paperwork, and in order to meet data protection laws, it is vital that it is filed and stored safely. In spite of this, and in conjunction the time that is wasted looking for this paperwork, it is alarming that just 13% of institutions have replaced their paper filing with document management software and only 2% operate a paperless office to improve effectiveness.
Given the constant pressure on the sector to meet government targets, educational institutions must improve efficiency. The root cause of the current inefficiency -which is resulting in lost working hours - is paper; just 2% of these schools, colleges and universities have 91% or more of their documents saved electronically, even though paper documents can easily be lost or mis-filed due to human error.
For those that didn’t yet have a document management system, 41% were apprehensive about the amount of upfront investment required, and 22% were worried about the time it would take to get the system working; worries that may be unfounded as it has been shown that time and investment can be recuperated within less than six months with this kind of system.
When asked what they would do if they were not wasting time looking for documents, 39% of senior staff stated that they would spend more time on admin tasks, highlighting just how much paperwork plays a role in the sector and the need for efficient filing. 21% said that they would spend more time with their colleagues, and 21% said that they would be able to go home on time if their time was not being wasted, emphasising how work-life balance can be adversely affected, with a potentially negative impact on morale.
“The education sector faces aggressive targets from the government, and teachers can sometimes struggle to meet these with the limited time and resources available. If you then add wasted time into the equation, caused by inefficient document storage, the challenge becomes greater,” commented David Morgan, CEO, Invu. “By simply deploying a document management system, educational institutions can streamline the management of all documents and records by ensuring that everything is filed electronically and is searchable at the touch of button, saving time as well as improving efficiency and productivity.”
Of those institutions that had already implemented document management technology, 76% cited the ability to search through archive documents quickly and easily and time savings as the main benefits. 6% of respondents said that they implemented a solution in order to meet regulations, such as the Data Protection Act, 6% were aiming to save money, and a further 6% did so with the intention of reducing overheads by eradicating storage space rental.
[* value established from survey questions]
-Ends-
ALL FIGURES, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, ARE FROM YOUGOV PLC. TOTAL SAMPLE SIZE WAS 858 MANAGERS/DIRECTORS IN UK SMES. FIELDWORK WAS UNDERTAKEN BETWEEN 16TH - 27TH JUNE 2008. THE SURVEY WAS CARRIED OUT ONLINE. THE FIGURES ARE UNWEIGHTED.
ABOUT INVU
Invu [LSE, AIM, Symbol: INVU] develops, markets and sells software (under the brand name of Invu) for the electronic management of all types of information and documents, such as forms, correspondence, literature, faxes, e-mail, technical drawings, electronic files and web pages. Invu targets the small-to-medium size enterprise ('SME') market and individual departments of larger organisations with a range of products which the Directors believe strongly adhere to Invu's brand values of ease of use, high quality and price performance.
Founded in 1997 and based in Northampton, Invu has 68 employees and operates in the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, South East Asia, Australia, the United States of America and Nigeria. Invu's products have been sold to over 4,000 customers, representing more than 75,000 licensed users. Invu has a proven reseller business model and has established a network of more than 166 Value Added Resellers, 14 of which are in Benelux.
Invu is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a member of the Business Application Software Developers Association (BASDA). Its version 5.4 and Series 6 software have been accredited by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW). In January 2006 Invu became the first DDM ISV to join SAP's portfolio and is certified for integration with SAP Business One. In September 2006, the Invu Series 6 product was selected by Sage to be marketed by them into the Professional Adviser market in the UK.
In January 2008, Invu announced a partnership agreement with IRIS, to integrate its Invu technology into the award winning IRIS Practice Management system, extending the IRIS systems’ existing document functionality.
Invu achieved the ISO 9001 compliance, in March 2008. Used by over ¾ million organizations the accreditation sets the standard for quality and management systems, by helping companies to succeed through improved customer satisfaction, staff motivation and continual improvement.
For further information on how Invu can benefit your business, please contact us on +44(0)1604 859893, or email us at info@invu.net. Alternatively visit our website at www.invu.net.
Media contacts:
Sarah-Anne Bray / Laurie Glimmerveen
Wildfire PR
0208 339 4420
invu@wildfirepr.co.uk