Summarize the following:
To organize electronic files, you should create folders that clearly explain your organizational method. You can organize files by employee, in which case you’ll have a folder with the employee’s name that contains all of the related documents. Within the employee’s folder, you can include other sub-folders to further assist organization (for example, “performance evaluations”). Alternatively, you can choose to organize them by file type, in which case you’ll have a folder with the document type as the label (like “performance evaluations” or “application materials”) and include each employee’s information in a clearly labeled sub-folder. It doesn’t matter which organizational method you choose – it all boils down to your personal preference. When organizing electronic personnel files, it’s crucial that you label files correctly and clearly. Anyone who accesses the files should be able to understand the label that you assign the file.  Make sure to label employee names consistently: “Last name, First name.” An example of a clearly labeled document could be “Smith.John.PerformanceEvaluation.April2017.” This file name tells you the employee’s name, the type of document, and the date. An example of an unclearly labeled document could be “SmithEvaluationApril.” This file name tells you the employee’s last name, but this could be confusing if there is more than one employee with the last name “Smith.” It also doesn’t clearly indicate what type of evaluation or the year, only the month. This will help prevent files from being lost or misplaced, and allow people to find them easily when necessary. All electronic personnel files should be backed up in hardcopy paper form, on another hard drive, or on a secured cloud storage. You don’t want to lose all of your personnel files if something happens to your system or the computer you’re storing the information on. Backups should be performed regularly to ensure that all personnel files are always maintained and protected. A good rule of thumb is to back up your files once every 4-6 weeks, though this number will change depending on how many employees and files your business has.
Choose an employee-based or document-based organization. Label file folders carefully. Back up your files.