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June 2009: In This Issue
Dear Records Manager,A recent survey of OnRecord readers identified records management training as one of the top five challenges facing organizations. In response, we've put together a comprehensive guide to Designing and Delivering a Records Management Training Program and you can get it here. And this month we wrap up our Roadmap to Compliance series with a look at the challenges of Real World Applications in a Q&A with our own Bob Duncan. Bob gives us an some great insight from the frontlines of compliance efforts! 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, 1. Guide to Designing and Delivering a Records Management Training Program
Even the best records management tools and practices are useful only if they can be applied effectively by staff across an organization. So how do you get there? This guide lays out a number of strategies for designing, developing and delivering a records management training program that helps reduce operating costs, supports compliance with records management requirements and increases efficient access to information. We'll cover:
Remember, by bridging possible gaps between day-to-day performance and organization-wide goals, effective records management training initiatives go well beyond educating staff in RM basics, making training a critical tool in effective change management, increasing program profile and cost savings! Download this invaluable resource here! 2. TAB's Roadmap to Compliance Series: Real World Q&A
To get the view from the frontline, we talked to our own Bob Duncan, Vice President of Consulting and Outsourcing, about some of the challenges organizations face applying and implementing records management programs. OR: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. What are you seeing when it comes to organizations applying the Roadmap or similar approaches? BD: Many organizations are doing the right things by building classification schemes, applying retention schedules, writing high level policies and procedures, and obtaining approvals. The real challenges come after that is completed. OR: Meaning in applying RM programs to their actual records collections? BD: Exactly. What we see typically is the finished RM program applied selectively, either to inactive records collections, electronic records, or active physical collections. OR: Why selectively? BD: The application and implementation process can be heavily influenced by particular business cultures, what is seen as imperative, and most significantly who it is that RM reports to. OR: Can you expand on that a little? BD: Sure. Typically, if RM reports to legal, they are concerned with governance initiatives like inactive collections. If they report to financial or facilities, they become concerned with the physical collections, efficiencies of space and the location and identification of records. If they report to IT, the focus becomes electronic records and collaboration. And so on. OR: So what is the downside to selective application? BD: When you take a pragmatic rather than a holistic view of RM, you may miss critical elements and leave your organization exposed to risk. OR: So how can RM break out of that selective application scenario? BD: There are opportunities for sure. When you have physical changes in your organization, RM can be come a part of that and drive a holistic approach. So if you are doing a move, acquisition or divestiture, for example, that becomes an opportunity for RM to broaden the scope by helping facilitate and manage that change. OR: Are there any other chances to broaden the scope of RM? BD: For sure, we call them the "ations". When change comes to an organization through litigation, legislations, regulation, or relocations, those are change drivers that allow a records manager to broaden and expand by helping the organization address the impact of these drivers. It is also, obviously, a great way to re-focus on the need for compliance. OR: There is a lot of talk about using technology to increase the profile of RM, can you comment on that? BD: Also a big opportunity. Take the oil industry. Right now a lot of the major companies get real time data transmitted from the wellhead. Why convert that data into paper records? It is easier to go electronic. Once RM integrates into the tech world, with electronic documents coming to the forefront, this is an area that gets funded and staffed. It has the attention of senior management, typically, and you can use that as a jumping off point for the whole program. OR: Any words of advice for a records manager trying to harness one of these change drivers? BD: Remember, and this is especially true of the technological driver, it represents both opportunity and risk. For example, technical teams don't understand record keeping, they need help with that, and that is an opportunity for RM to step in. The risk is that if RM doesn't understand where they play in that scenario, how they become an asset or consultant to the processes, they will be left behind. Be careful how you protect your program and don't get left behind! Bob Duncan has 30 years of experience within the Records Management industry assisting organizations in establishing physical and electronic records solutions to active and inactive collections. Since 2000 Bob's primary focus has been the development and implementation of corporate governance and electronic record keeping. 3. tabZEROfile Update: More Folder Options!
We are pleased to announce that the perfect folder for organizations who want to be green just got better! tabZEROfile folders are now available in the following styles: Pressed File Classification Folder with Full Side Tab
Expansion File Pocket with Full Side Tab
Well File Folder
Get a FREE sample and more information here. 4. TAB Consulting: Records Management Training Services
We have over ten years experience in this area and we can deliver training online or in the classroom, at your facility or ours. Whether you need "upfront" training on the fundamentals from classification and retention through to TAB SMART, or want to provide training for a specific product initiative, we can help. We can conduct training on a one time basis or on an ongoing basis. We'll work with your existing training methodology and can "train the trainer". Remember, the benefits of RM training go beyond teaching staff the basics and extend to cost cutting, risk management, compliance and increased program profile. Through our sessions your staff will:
For more information, contact John Eynon or Bob Duncan 5. What Your Colleagues are Reading
These are some of our most popular recent downloads: Disaster Recovery & Vital Records in a Hybrid RM Environment: A Risk Management Action Plan Will your records management program help your organization resume operations in the wake of a large scale disaster? Protecting your vital records is the best way to ensure business continuity in the event of an emergency, but you can't just deploy a standard toolkit of safeguards. Your approach needs to take into account the requirements of the records and the risks involved. This process can be complicated, and has been made more so with the emergence of the "hybrid records management environment" where more and more file collections mix paper and electronic records. The good news is that like many challenges, the combination of vital records and hybrid record-keeping also brings opportunity. This Risk Management Action Plan details 7 steps for seizing that opportunity. You'll learn how to:
Download this valuable resource here! File Retrieval Assessment Tool Struggling with lost files or long retrieval times? This tool can help! We've worked with hundreds of organizations over the past 50 years to help them solve their file retrieval problems, and we've used that experience to develop this useful tool. Answering these questions will help you identify the root causes of any retrieval challenges you may be facing, and get you thinking about potential solutions and what those might look like for your organization. You can walk through this diagnostic tool on your own - or call one of our records management experts to help. You can download it here!
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Last month we looked at the 
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If you need records management training for your organization, we can provide a comprehensive program customized to your organization's particular RM program and business needs.
Want to know what your colleagues are reading?