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February 2011: In This Issue
- 7 Tips for Developing an Effective
Records Management Policy »
- Top 3 Challenges for 2011 »
- Bank Improves Customer Service
with TAB FusionRMS! »
- Need a Retention Schedule? Datafile Can Help! »
- What your Colleagues are Downloading »
Dear Records Manager,
Records management policy—it’s critical to the success of your program, but creating an effective and usable policy is one of the biggest challenges facing RM professionals. Fortunately, it’s an area that Datafile has deep and extensive knowledge of and we’ve distilled it into this month’s download, 7 Tips for Developing an Effective Records Management Policy. So, whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to improve what you already have, these tips will help you create a policy that works for your organisation.
This month we’ve also got a great piece on the top 3 RM challenges of 2011, compiled from the results of a survey our North American offices conducted.
We value your feedback. If you have any questions, or want to discuss any of the issues raised in this newsletter, please get in touch.
Regards,
Datafile
 Do you have records management policy in place? If so, is it as effective as it could be? If not, you may be exposing your organisation to risk and missing out on realising the full benefits of your RM program.
A good RM policy will clearly and simply document processes for managing records, outline roles and responsibilities, and help your organisation meet regulatory requirements. It’s also vital that employees understand and apply the document. So how do you develop the right policy and ensure employees actually adhere to it?
Although the answer will vary from organisation to organisation, there are general best practices that can apply to any industry or sector, and we’ve put them together in this comprehensive resource. It outlines the things you need to know when developing an RM policy, such as:
- Understanding the needs of key stakeholders
- Indentifying roles and responsibilities
- Using the right language
- Getting buy-in
- Ensuring successful implementation
If you need an effective RM policy for your organisation, download this resource.
 Our North American offices conducted a survey in December with several interesting findings. Some of the most notable responses were to the question, “what are your RM priorities for next year?” We’ll take a quick look at the top three challenges our readers identified, as well as some resources that will help you meet them head on.
- Electronic records
Let’s face it, electronic records are a fact of life for today’s RM practitioners. It’s no surprise then that over 68% of respondents indicated electronic records as one of their top three priorities for this year. The good news is that when managed effectively e-records can be a huge asset to any organisation because they improve access and collaboration. Here are some resources you may want for your library:
- Retention schedules
Retention seems to be a perennial challenge for our readers, and this year is no exception. Fully 46% of respondents indicated that developing retention schedules is one of their top three priorities. This makes sense as retention is a fundamental part of the success of any records management program and in the age of litigation, creating the right schedule for your organisation is critical. The following resource is a great asset for anyone looking to ensure their retention situation is solid:
- Records Retention Toolkit: This toolkit features three great resources which cover everything from understanding the basics of retention to designing and implementing a schedule.
- Staff training and development
Your RM program may be great on paper but that won’t matter if your staff doesn’t follow it. Clearly this point is not lost on our readers, with 41.5% indicating that training and development is in the top three “to do’s” for 2011. If you want to get a better understanding of your organisation’s training situation, check out this excellent resource:
 Citizens Bank employees pride themselves on their customer service. So when management realised that records management software could help them handle their complicated workflow and manage 250, 000 loan-related documents, they knew it was a great opportunity to take their customer service to the next level.
The financial institution chose TAB FusionRMS because it was the only tool that could update multiple loan documents at one time and produce an amalgamated report. Now, with improved access and retrieval times, Citizens Bank can instantly provide customers with the information they need, and that’s great service.
Learn more about how Datafile's North American parent company, TAB, helped Citizens Bank help their customers.
 Every organisation needs a records retention schedule--it’s a fact of life. Whether you are using electronic records, paper records, or a hybrid of the two, the challenge lies in creating a schedule that covers all the regulatory and legal requirements, and then applying it to all your records management functions. Researching and developing your retention schedule can be a time-consuming process, requiring deep RM knowledge to get it right. The situation becomes even more complex if you need to apply it to RM software or an electronic content management system.
That’s where Datafile comes in. We take a holistic approach to your RM program, and retention schedules are a fundamental part of that approach.
Here’s a quick overview of what an engagement with us looks like:
- Start with extensive legal research into the legal requirements that pertain to your business activities and resulting records
- Evaluate legal citations and operational requirements
- Apply retention periods to activities identified in your functional classification system
- Retention schedule is then mapped to the classification system, allowing us to identify all your records
- Comprehensive programs simultaneously developed outlining everything from:
- Duplication and dispersal requirements
- Storage and access restrictions
- Eventual destruction of records no longer deemed vital as outlined by a retention schedule
If you'd like our help in developing a retention strategy and schedule that will identify the records that need to be kept, how they should be stored, and when you can legally dispose of them, get in touch.
 Want to know what your colleagues are reading? These are some of our most popular recent downloads:
Green practices can take your RM program to the next level. Whether you’re looking to cut costs through resource conservation or improve customer and shareholder confidence, environmentally conscience RM initiatives can help improve your organisation’s bottom line.
So to help you make your records management practices more environmentally friendly, we’ve put together this toolkit. In it, you’ll get:
- Tool 1: Green RM Self-Assessment Tool
- Tool 2: Tips for a Green RM Program
- Tool 3: How to Design a Green File Storage Solution
- Tool 4: Check Out Our Breakthrough in Green Filing!
Download the entire toolkit here.
Thanks to risking real estate costs and growing records collections, RM professionals need to make do with a lot less.
So to help you store your records better, save space and improve retrieval times, we’ve created this toolkit which includes:
- Space Planning in Records Management: Doing More with Less
- Guide to Smarter Storage
- Case study: How Datafile Helped Pengrowth Corporation Reduce Storage Costs with the Datafile SMART Program
- Case study: How Purging and Consolidating Files Frees Space for Revenue Generation
Download this great resource and learn how you can optimise your physical records collection.
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