Culture
ERM Community Wiki
Culture
Culture in the context of records management operates on three levels:
- For a records management program to be effective in an organization, a culture of being good at and paying attention to records management is essential. Executive support is required. Policies must be developed and enforced. Employees must be trained on how to create records. A critical piece of any training initiative in the context of records management is the need for Change Management. In addition to planning for the records management system, you also need an-effective-change-management-plan.
- Records managers themselves must change from the stereotypical culture of managing files in a basement to being more forceful as they make the case about the importance of solid records management of email, tweets, and the other electronic deluge that clutters business life today (and exposes companies to litigation). Many records managers are making this leap. The rest need to. Records managers must take steps to make themselves relevant and to change the perception that they are no longer relevant in the world of ELECTRONIC records management.
- As the volume of electronic information (and electronic records) has exploded, managing records is no longer an issue confined to records managers. More than ever, effective records management requires teamwork.
If you're a
records manager, how do you burst the confines of the common (mis)perception that all you do is manage the boxes in the basement? If you're a
C-level executive, why do you need to care about records managers and their opinions? If you're
IT, why should you care about retention plans, after all, electronic storage is cheap—save it all. If you're
legal, you know the challenges of
e-discovery and
electronically stored information.
While some may argue that records managers are no longer relevant. That is simply not true. As the shift from paper to digital records continues, the principles of records management become MORE, not less, important. A UC Berkeley study reported that 93 percent of all information today is created in electronic format, and 70 percent is never printed*. A recent survey conducted for ARMA showed that while 99 percent of all records managers believe that the process that electronic records are managed are important, more than 40 percent of organizations do not include electronic records in their retention schedules**. Furthermore, this same survey found that in 56 percent of all organizations, IT is responsible for defining records retention requirements for archival and backup media. A Contoural survey revealed that 13% of RM initiatives were begun by the records management department. Of the remainder, 31% were begun by IT, 9% by business units, and 47% by the legal department. Records management is needed.
Records managers must lead, and IT and legal departments need to understand the basic concepts of records management.
As with any change effort, one thing we do know,
communication is key.
OK, two things we know: you need to get started. So, get started.
Resources
- How Much Information, 2003, School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California at Berkeley http://www2.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info/
- ARMA/AIIM Electronic Records Management Survey, 2007, Cohasset Associates http://www.aiim.org/industrywatch
