Many offices use a shredding service and think that their documents are secure.  This isn't always the case!  Even if you use an outside source, your company is still ultimately responsible should there be a breach and data gets into the wrong hands.

​KEEP YOURSELF SAFE FROM A SECURITY BREACH – CONSIDER SHREDDING IN-HOUSE

• Reduce costs by 20 – 40% • Control the handling & destruction of your sensitive documents & media reducing exposure to external forces and increasing regulatory compliance
• Ensure documents are destroyed and illegible by shredding at a higher security level.

SHRED SERVICE = VULNERABILITY
Security Level: Most shred services use pierce & tear technology that simply rips into large pieces, creating an increased risk that key confidential information is still readable after destruction.

Handing Off Custody & Control

• Does your provider do background checks & insure their employees?  Did you know the most shred service technicians are not bonded and insured should a breach occur? Using a outside service provider to handle your confidential materials increases the risk of falling into the wrong hands and your liability. Is it worth taking the risk?  
• Document Retention When using a shred service, documents are retained for extended periods of time in locking shred bins.  As the bins fill up, documents are easily accessible as shown in this picture.

​This month we are featuring the HSM Shredders.  Let us know if you would like more information - let us stop by with the manufacturer rep, and you'll be entered to win a shredder for your office! No purchase necessary, no obligation!

Does your child ask about where you work and what you do? This Thursday is your chance to show off your workplace and make your child proud during Take Your Child to Work Day! The whole idea behind this day is to get your kids to start thinking about career possibilities for themselves and to give your child a taste of your job. To ensure that both you, your child and your co-workers have an enjoyable day, see below for some great tips/tricks! Planning ensures that your kids don’t become bored because bored kids=kids that get in trouble.
 
Questions to Ask Yourself if You are the Company/Person Hosting the Event:

1. Will you host it as an “official event?” As a business, this shows your dedication to your employees and recognizes that they have lives outside the office. This is an opportunity to increase engagement and motivation (and see some adorable kids in the process).
2. What ages will be invited to attend? Some companies have a minimum age of 6 or 7 but others include all children.  The activities planned will be dependent on the ages of the kids attending.
3. Will the day be all day or ½ day?
4. Are there any hazards or sensitive areas the kids need to stay away from? (For instance, if you work on a construction site, laboratory or area with toxic chemicals.)
5. Are there specific activities you will do (see ideas below) or a certain schedule you want everyone to follow?
6. Will you provide lunch or should the parents go out with their child for lunch on their own?

Questions to ask yourself if you are the Parent:

1. Have you gotten approval from your manager?
2. Does it make sense for your child to stay for the entire workday?
3. Where should your child sit?
4. Are there any hazards or sensitive areas you need to be mindful of and keep your kid(s) away from?
5. Is it okay to take a longer-than-usual lunch break with your child?
6. What is the plan for the day? Does your office have activities planned or do you need to come up with your own schedule?
7. Did you call your child’s school to check them out and ask about any make-up work they may have?

 
Fun Activities/Ideas
All Ages

• Workplace Tour - Lead the kids on a tour of the office. Have them stop at each different department and ask them what they think it is responsible for. Try to connect each department with something the kids have learned in school. The finance department, for example, can be connected to math. The R&D department can be connected to science.
• Chocolate Challenge – make sure you have TONS of chocolate candy bars on hand (Hershey bars work great since you can break them into different sizes). Break the kids into groups, and have them build a structure with the candy bars. Once everyone is done (set a time limit), walk around and discuss them—which is the safest? Tallest? Most unique? Then, let the kids eat the candy!! This let’s the kids think creatively and learn how to work in a team setting.

Elementary School Age (and below)
Kids LOVE arts and crafts. Arrange art stations around the office (or in your area if it isn’t the whole company participating). Fun ideas to get them started:

• Imagine and draw a new logo for the company.
• Draw a picture of their parents doing their job (great for preschoolers too!)
• Write and illustrate a story about what they envision for the future of office supplies, computers, food, construction or whatever the main focus of your business is.
• Building projects such as making a house out of cereal boxes or even friendship bracelets—it doesn’t HAVE to be related to your job/company.

Middle School Age
This age is starting to grasp more of what is going on and are beginning to think about what type of career they want to pursue. You can get a bit more technical with them. Fun ideas to get started:

• Mathematics – give them a story problem related to your company. Twist’s favorite is:

If Customer Wonderful ordered 5 boxes of BSN pens at $5.29 each, 2 Lorell Chairs at $172 each and 10 reams of paper at $35.00 each, how much did they spend on this order? If they would have spent 10% more at Staples, how much did they save by ordering from Twist?

• Budgeting – About 50% of Americans would be unable to write a $500 check to cover an emergency. That being the case, it’s never too early to get your kids to start thinking about managing a budget. Use this budget worksheet as an activity to teach them a little bit about finances.
• Interviews – let the kids interview a few people from various departments. Before they do, have them prepare questions for the interview based one what they think is important for that job. Alternatively, you can have employees interview the kids. Be sure to film it as I’m sure it could turn in to an episode of “Kids Say The Darnest Things!”
• Marketing – have them look at your company’s current website and see what ideas they have for an advertisement. You never know what they may come back with for you!

High School Age
You might not have as many at this age, as they may be TOO COOL to come. However, tell them they are TOO COOL…FOR SCHOOL that day and bring them anyways! Here are some ideas for this age:

• Job Shadowing – have your kid shadow someone at your office that does a job they find interesting. It will give them a realistic view of the actual job and if it is something they really want to pursue.
• Interviews – similar to above, but step it up a notch and help the high school kids prepare for their future. Who knows, maybe this will help them prepare to land that summer job they really want!
• Marketing – again, have them look at your company’s current website, email blasts, ads, etc and offer their ideas for it. You could also arrange a case study to show them how to analyze marketing analytics or build the website.
• Mathematics – if your job is heavy on excel, maybe introduce them to EXCEL 101 to get them started. This will give them a leg up as they look for a job!

 
Just remember, HAVE FUN on Take your Kid to Work Day. Spending time with  your children and having fun is what really matters! 

Earth Day is this Sunday, April 22nd.  Although Earth Day lands on a weekend this year, there's no reason not to celebrate it all workweek long!  Here are 5 ideas to help you celebrate Earth Day at your company this upcoming week.

1.  Start Green Initiatives
If you currently don't have any initiatives in place to promote a more eco-friendly office, now is the perfect time to get started!

• Consider going paperless.  Many offices are now scanning and storing files to the cloud.  While you may not be able to go 100% paperless, work to cut down as much as possible.
• Replace your standard or incandescent light bulbs to energy efficient bulbs.
• Dispose of the disposable.  This means no disposable plate or utensils.  Ask employees to bing in their own reusable plates and silverware - or check out our selection of porcelain plates, stainless steel cutlery and glasses. 
• Set up recycling stations. Many office have a few recycle bins hiding around the building, but employees might not use them.  Use this week to educate your employees about the importance of recycling and set up more stations that are visible to employees.  Need new recycling bins?  Twist has you covered!

2.  Start A Company Garden
While no one has a good count on the number of gardens planted next to employer parking lots and in corners of office parks in the last couple of years, growth has been fueled largely by growing interest in employee wellness and an effort to give workers a low-cost benefit A company garden can be a fun way to get employees outside and help relieve some stress. It's also a great way to get some exercise. ​ Create a competition between employees or departments by creating "Adopt-a-spot" area.  These areas may include flowers as well as produce and herbs to beautify the outside of your office.

3.  Add Plants in the Office
Plants are more than just beautiful decor.  In fact, studies have shown they help reduce stress, enhance employee attitudes, increase productivity, and improve air quality. Spaces can be transformed without spending a lot of money by just adding a few plants here and there. The space becomes more welcoming and beautiful with the addition of plants. Variety of foliage, colour and shape of leaves also add drama to the surroundings.”

4.  Do Some Outdoor Cleanup
Chances are, your office probably has a bit of litter in the parking lot, walkways, or other outdoor areas.  Assemble a team of volunteers to help clean up the trash around the building for 10-15 minutes each day of the week. It's an easy way to help employees spend some time outside, not to mention how much better you will feel when you don't see the garbage!

5.  Start A Wellness Challenge.
Use Earth Day to launch a new wellness challenge.  Reward employees who participate and complete these challenges.
Some of our favorite ideas;

• Drink More Water Challenge  We all know drinking enough water is important, but sometimes it’s hard to make a habit of hydration. As an employer, you can help your team members by making sure access to clean water is available throughout your office, give away reusable water bottles to new hires, and host a water-drinking challenge. Invite employees to track how much water they drink in a day, and reward those who get more than 8-glasses in. Alternatively, ask employees to replace one glass of juice or pop per day with a glass of water.  An obvious reward for this challenge is a nice water bottle—although you may want to give it away in the beginning so team members have something to drink out of.
• Workout Challenge Exercise is an important part of any healthy lifestyle. But with busy schedules, balancing family needs with hobbies and work, it can be hard to find time to hit the gym. Make sure you give employees the time they need to exercise, even if that means offering a more flexible schedule. You can also offer subsidised fitness passes or invite personal trainers and coaches to create workouts for employees.
• Pack Your Lunch  Eating out is not only more expensive than making meals at home, it can also be costly to your health. Restaurants tend to use more salt and sugar when cooking, and it can be hard to find healthy choices on the average menu. Challenge team members to pack their own lunches instead of eating out. Let them choose the number of restaurant meals they’d like to replace with homemade ones, but a realistic suggestion is four days per week. That leaves one lunch open for “cheat days” or lunch meetings. For a further incentive, reward employees who stick to their goals with a gift card at the local organic grocer or a book of healthy, easy lunch recipes.
• 10,000 Steps Challenge The Center for Disease Control recommends 150 minutes of exercise per week, which equates to about 30 minutes per day. According to the FitBit blog: “Fitbit starts everyone off with a 10,000-step goal, and here’s why: It adds up to about five miles each day for most people, which includes about 30 minutes of daily exercise.” The health benefits? “Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that 30 minutes of walking each day cut stroke risk by a minimum of 20%.” Pedometers are relatively cheap to acquire. Try giving one to each employee, and rewarding all employees who get over 10,000 steps per day for a full month. Grand prize goes to the team member who walks the most.
• Smoking Cessation Challenge You don’t need me to tell you how many health risks are associated with smoking. But as one of the most addictive substances on the planet, cigarettes are a hard habit to shake. Aid those employees looking to quit with a challenge. The reward for this one can be sizeable but broken up into constituent parts, because most people don’t quit cold turkey.​ Reward employees who make it to one month, three months, six months, and one year without smoking with increasingly large rewards. For this challenge, make sure they have the resources they need and even invite them to bring their family members in on the challenge. For example, if someone’s spouse smokes, ask them to share in the challenge as well. We’re more likely to shake bad habits if we eliminate the impulses from our surroundings.