Issue 1 2008 > Records Management Fundamentals
Records Management Fundamentals: Part II
Part I of this article discussed methods for identifying business information via internal office surveys and creating an inventory file. After this method has been performed and the records have been identified thoroughly, they will need to be assigned a retention period. Then, policies, procedures, schedules and an internal compliance program will need to be established. This second article discusses these topics.
Retention Periods
The centerpiece of the records program is the retention schedule. Once records series have been identified through the inventory, each records series (types of similar records linked as a single unit) must be assigned a retention period. Retention periods have different criteria and can be dictated by:
- Administrative or ministerial rules
- Statutes of limitation
- Limitations of action
- Recommendations of legal counsel
- Audit or tax retention periods
- Other needs of the organization
Each records series must be researched to determine the longest period of retention among these various elements. Many organizations rely on records retention consultants to design and verify the records retention schedule. A well trained consultant can speed the process of legal research a great deal, and has already established a working knowledge of the various resource areas and statutory requirements. If you should decide to use a records management consultant make sure to check with your offsite records management provider. Many either have a retention consultant on staff or have established a working relationship with a records retention consultant.
Policies & Procedures
Also important are records policies and procedures. These are important because they can be used to defend your company’s actions regarding the destruction of records, in the ordinary course of business, whose retention periods have expired. This principle of “ordinary course of business” is critical in minimizing organizational risk. Incidents like those at Enron are the exception rather than the rule. Still, establishing a policy based on legal requirements and then enforcing those policies on a daily basis, are an important legal safeguard. Policy and Procedure documents are also useful for employee training and orientation programs.
Offsite Storage
The next step is to transfer inactive records to lower cost offsite storage. Records that have become inactive, which can be defined as business records whose reference rate is less than one time per drawer per month, should be transferred first. Several sources place the cost of maintaining one four-drawer filing cabinet in a high cost office environment at over US $2,000 per year. Records which retain a high activity level can be centralized and managed by any number of filing methods including alphabetical, chronological, subject or numerical filing systems.
A Team Effort
Buy-in from employees and management support for records management programs is essential. As records creators, employees need to follow the rules regarding naming conventions, assigning retention periods, protecting vital records and using file structures for electronic records that have their basis in records management. If the system is to be centralized, employees may hesitate to surrender their records for fear they will be lost, or disappear into a bureaucratic bog. It will take time, good service and a rapid response from records management professionals to prove the efficiency of the system. Once management has made a firm commitment to pursue a records management program, their decision must be demonstrated to all employees. This can be achieved through clear and consistent internal communications as well as adequate funding for the program’s activities.
Stressing the Benefits of a Solid Records Management Program
One method of insuring internal compliance with records management procedures is a periodic audit followed by retraining. The audit can be extensive or simple spot-checks. The goal of the audit is to measure employee actions against stated policies and procedures. Should there continue to be resistance to adoption of some aspects of the program, records managers must effectively “sell” their program to other employees and management. Records managers can do their part by continually stressing the benefits of a solid records management program which are:
- Less risk exposure to the organization from litigation, financial audit or statutory compliance audit
- Less cost to the organization for storage of records materials
- Greater productivity and efficiency of employees who need not waste time searching for information
- Better identification and retention of information assets that can be retrieved quickly when they are needed for research, strategic planning or decision making
- Better information security where requesters are tied to information requested, enhancing protection against employee theft, poor organization skills or espionage