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November 2008: In This Issue

1. Want to Secure Budget in the Downturn? Get Our FREE Guide to Promoting and Strengthening RM Programs »
   
   
2. RM and ROI: What Are You Measuring? »
   
   
3. The TAB Roadmap to Compliance Series: Functional Classification »
   
   
4. How TAB Designs and Implements the Right RM Program »
   
   
5. News: Gimme Shelter - Precious Rock Records Destroyed by Fire »
   
   
6. News: The Paperless Office - Finally! »
   
   

Dear Records Manager,

The signs of an economic downturn are everywhere, and corporate belt tightening looks to be the order of the day for the foreseeable future. So how do you make sure your RM program continues to get the budget and profile it needs to be successful? To help you, we've put together a guide to Promoting and Strengthening RM Programs in the Downturn. This is a great information resource for anyone facing budgeting concerns within their organizations.

This month we continue our Roadmap to Compliance series with a closer look at the Functional Classification System. This is the first "signpost" along the way, and the foundation of any good RM program!

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,

TAB Canada

1. TAB Guide: Promoting and Strengthening RM Programs in the Downturn

What does the new economic reality mean for RM professionals and their programs? Things are likely to get tougher, with budget constraints, increased regulations, and a potential flurry of Merger and Acquisition activity. But the news isn't all bad, because as the saying goes, there is opportunity in crisis.

RM's role as a strategic corporate resource provides a significant opportunity to help guide your organization through tough times. If you do it right, this opportunity can raise the profile of your program as a critical implement in your organization's risk management and business efficiency toolkits.

We've put together a great guide full of tips on how your program can play a role in addressing these new challenges as well as how you can communicate this value. We'll look at handling:

• Increased regulation-accountability and compliance
• The need for cost savings
• Ensuring business continuity and managing risk

This is a great resource that will allow your program to successfully meet the challenges of the new economic climate, and to use this success to raise the profile of your RM program. You can download it here.

2. RM and ROI: What Are You Measuring?

In these challenging economic times, RM programs will have to demonstrate how they are positively contributing to their organizations.

We are going to be developing a whitepaper on how to measure ROI for RM that will be available in an upcoming issue of OnRecord. Please take a moment and tell us how you measure and monitor ROI in your organization, and we'll share the results in our whitepaper!

3. The TAB Roadmap to Compliance Series: Functional Classification

This month we continue our series on the TAB Roadmap to Compliance. With a look at the first "signpost" - the Functional Classification System.

This is the first step in forming the Corporate Governance model, the foundation of any good records management program. This also includes Retentions Schedules, as well as Corporate Policies and Procedures Development, which we will cover in the next couple of issues.

What It Is

Functional Classification is critical because it forms the "what" of your records management program. In order to implement any kind of comprehensive records and information management program, there must be a common convention for the identification of records. It is essential that paper and electronic records be classified and retained appropriately to insure that the organization is compliant with legislative and regulatory statutes.

Your classification system also provides a common way of grouping records, allowing for the clear identification of information and facilitating filing, retrieval and archiving.

The Benefits

It is the classification system that provides the basis for compliance, risk management, retention periods, security safeguards and other related issues. An efficient classification system also allows companies to minimize the risk of losing information, facilitates information sharing and communication, reduces the unnecessary duplication of documents, and can produce substantial timesaving in document retrieval and filing.

How It Works

After an assessment of your business activities and the electronic and physical records that support those activities, a classification scheme is then developed to better organize your information.

To determine the appropriate classification system, TAB conducts interviews with key business groups and record inspections to understand your organization and the information you create. Unique business activities are identified and titled. Activities are then grouped together into functions to assist in the use of the classification system. This functional classification system will apply to every piece of information you create, identify records from non-records and class like records across the organization together. For example, contracts can be created, negotiated and signed in many departments throughout an organization, but all would be classified as Legal - Contract Management.

The next step is then to create retention schedules, which we will examine in more detail next month.

4. How TAB Designs and Implements the Right RM Program

Want to ensure that your records are as organized, accessible and secure as possible? We can implement an effectively designed program to enhance responsiveness, increase customer satisfaction, ensure compliance with industry regulations, and more.

TAB uses three steps to develop a professionally designed records management program for your organization:

Information classification

Classification is the structure that identifies corporate records holdings and works as a "signpost," to clearly identify information and facilitate hardcopy and electronic filing, retrieval and archiving of your information. Together with your key business stakeholders, we'll assess your key business functions and processes and develop a classification scheme to better organize your information.

Records retention strategy

After classification is complete, TAB professionals work with you to develop a strategic plan including a records retention strategy and schedule. We identify records that need to be kept, how they should be stored, and when you can legally dispose of them. TAB can help you develop a vital records protection plan that identifies your most critical documents, ensuring their safekeeping.

Records Management policies and procedures

Policies & Procedures clearly outline expectations, authority and responsibility for your records management activities. TAB will help your organization define and document the Policies & Procedures required to demonstrate due diligence and ensure compliance. We ensure that your personnel will know how to properly treat records the entire RM lifecycle: file creation, active and inactive phases.

Let TAB help your company protect and manage your important corporate information: contact us today!

5. News: Gimme Shelter - Precious Rock Records Destroyed by Fire

If there was a case for proper RM storage practices, this is it. Recently, two million dollars' worth of legal documents, tour pictures and promotional material belonging the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Elton John, were lost in a fire, and you can read the full story here.

6. News: The Paperless Office - Finally!

A new generation of office workers who have grown up online may finally be making the "paperless office" a reality. As they bring their work habits into the office, the demand for paper (at least in the developed world) has been declining, to the point where the larger paper mills are having to consolidate. Read more on how the old rules of paper are being inverted.

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