Recordkeeping In Brief 32 - Promoting better recordkeeping

• Overview
• Knowing the requirements of the State Records Act
• Raising awareness of recordkeeping responsibilities
• Strategies for promoting better recordkeeping
• Promoting better recordkeeping across your organisation
• Resources for promoting recordkeeping

Overview

This Recordkeeping in Brief provides some practical tips on how to promote better recordkeeping in your public office. The RIB outlines some 'pick and mix' strategies for public offices to increase awareness of recordkeeping and encourage staff to make and keep full and accurate records.

Knowing the requirements of the State Records Act

To promote better recordkeeping it is important to understand what the requirements of the State Records Act mean for your public office. In summary, the key records management obligations are:

• making full and accurate records
• establishing a records management program
• ensuring the safe custody and proper preservation of State records
• maintaining access to equipment/technology dependent records
• making arrangements with State Records for monitoring and reporting, and
• ensuring the authorised disposal of records, including identifying and transferring records required as State archives.

The guidance contained in the Government Recordkeeping Manual explains and helps you to meet these requirements.

Raising awareness of recordkeeping responsibilities

It is also important to understand what better recordkeeping means for the staff in your public office. Making and keeping records is not just the responsibility of records management staff. All staff, to a greater or lesser degree, will make records as part of their daily activities and they need to understand the rules for making the right records and for capturing these into official recordkeeping systems. Some of the key responsibilities for all staff are:

• making full and accurate records at the time of or as soon as possible after a business activity (Not all business activities result automatically in a record being created, e.g. meetings, telephone calls.)
• using the official recordkeeping system/s to keep their records
• not disposing of records without authorisation
• respecting privacy and confidentiality requirements.

It is a good idea to include statements about recordkeeping responsibilities in position descriptions and the organisation's code of conduct. Staff still need support in understanding what these responsibilities mean in practice and how to use the official recordkeeping system/s.

Strategies for promoting better recordkeeping

This section outlines a number of different strategies for:

• promoting better recordkeeping across your organisation, and
• raising awareness of the role of records management.

Not all of these strategies will be appropriate to your public office. Select strategies that you think will work for you or use the ideas below to help you develop your own strategies. 

Promoting better recordkeeping across your organisation

Training and induction

Provide training to all staff on their recordkeeping responsibilities, appropriate to their role. For example:

• Provide senior managers with a brief introductory session or short leaflet outlining NSW recordkeeping obligations and rules.
• Offer a session on recordkeeping in the induction process for new staff (if this isn’t a formal process, then contact new staff and offer to do a briefing, give them a walkthrough of the system, tell them where to find procedures, etc.).
• Combine recordkeeping training with other organisational training, e.g. email and other IT training.
• Provide training when systems or rules change, or new systems are implemented, e.g. if you are moving from a paper system to an electronic one, you are introducing a new file titling system, etc. This is particularly important if users are capturing their own records.

Keep training sessions lively, informal and, most of all, informative. Explain the benefits of better recordkeeping. Note: Training sessions can be valuable informal sources of feedback on the records management program.

State Records has produced a training package called How to get ahead with recordkeeping for adaptation and use by public offices in their in-house training. For more information see the 'Resources for promoting recordkeeping' section, below.

Endorsement by senior managers

Under the State Records Act 1998, the CEO is responsible for good recordkeeping in the public office.  Brief the CEO about how you are helping her/him to meet this responsibility and underpin efficient service delivery for the public office. If you don’t have access to the CEO, make sure your line manager knows how records management contributes. 

Under the Standard on Managing a Records Management Program, public offices are required to nominate a senior manager with responsibility for records.  Brief her/him about the records program and its role in the public office.  Provide regular updates on key initiatives.  Select the key information that managers need to know, both positive and the things that need fixing.  Don’t overwhelm them with information that they don’t need and can’t use. 

Ask State Records to send a CEO induction pack to the CEO or to the nominated senior manager if they are new or unfamiliar with the State Records Act and its requirements.   

Setting up a steering group

Set up a records management steering group of people from across the organisation, e.g. personnel, business units, ICT, executive.  Either call for interest in membership, and/or target key people.  This may be an ongoing group or a steering group may be established for large projects or major new initiatives. Ask the senior manager with responsibility for records management to chair.

Use this group as a sounding board for new plans and projects.  Get feedback from them about how the records management program is performing in the different areas of the organisation – whether it is effective or perceived to be effective (these may be different), what areas need more support and assistance, training needs, etc.  They will also provide information on plans in other business areas that may impact on recordkeeping in the organisation.

Tip: Only hold meetings when there is something to discuss. If it is difficult for people to get together you could communicate with them via email. 

Intranets

Make sure that the records management policies, procedures and tools are on your public office's Intranet and that people know they are there.  Ask the IT team to monitor hits on the records management documents so that you know if staff are using them.  Publicise staff training sessions on the Intranet. 

Keep the records management pages up to date so it is worthwhile staff looking at them. 

Keep yourself relevant

Ask to be shown around some of the business units.  This will help your understanding of the organisational environment and help other staff get to know you.  Talk regularly to staff from other areas.  It is often much easier to get co-operation and feedback when people know the face that goes with the name.   

Keep up with current good practice by networking with colleagues and organisations like State Records and the Records Management Association of Australasia.  Not only will this help you do your job well, it can give you access to the shared expertise of the NSW public sector.  

Networking

If new committees are set up that could impact on records, ask to be on the committee.  If that isn't possible, keep up to date with what happens and keep colleagues on the committee informed of your relevant concerns, ideas, plans, etc.

Work with records people in public offices with a similar function and/or that are geographically close.  Sharing experiences is a good way to learn.  Some public offices have formal shared service arrangements with other public offices that could be a basis for this.  

Newsletters – internal and external

Write regular pieces for internal newsletters or communication channels.  Keep people informed of what you are doing, good news stories, etc.  This helps with change management (for new projects) and reinforcing messages.  Provide stories for an external newsletter if they are relevant to a wider audience, e.g. how recordkeeping is saving the public office money, making it more efficient, helping it to deliver services, etc.

If your public office also holds archives, there may be many stories in the archives that could be included as a newsletter piece.  Make sure the archives/records section is credited for contributions. 

Leaflets

Produce your own leaflets advertising what the records management team does, setting out legal requirements under the State Records Act and other legislation, or advertising particular records management services and training available for staff. Depending on resources this could glossy and eye-catching, or it could be a photocopied side of A4 paper.  You could produce an e-leaflet for the Intranet or that can be emailed to staff.

Circulate copies of the State Records leaflets 'What have records got to do with me' and 'Recordkeeping reminders' (hardcopy and PDF versions are available from State Records).  For more information see the 'Resources for promoting recordkeeping' section, below.

Good news /bad news stories

Collect and circulate to colleagues, line managers, senior managers (as appropriate) media reports of public offices with good/bad coverage of recordkeeping issues, e.g. Poor recordkeeping causing resignation of a minister, public offices being cleared of maladministration claims or winning court cases because of good recordkeeping, etc.  Remind them of how you can help them get the accolades and/or keep out of the headlines.  Reports issued by the Auditor-General, ICAC and the Ombudsman often make reference to recordkeeping issues.

Place good news stories about recordkeeping within your own public office into the staff newsletter or onto the Intranet. 

Publicity stunts

Be part of local, national and international awareness raising campaigns, e.g. Archives and Records Management Week.

Plan a fundraiser for archives in countries affected by conflict (this could help to get across the message about the value of records).

Have awards for good recordkeeping (give book tokens, chocolates, etc).  Ensure records management staff are duly nominated for any organisation-wide awards for customer service, innovation, etc.

Resources for promoting recordkeeping

The following publications will be particularly useful in helping you to improve recordkeeping in your public office as they contain a variety of templates, tools and tips that you can use in your records management program.  They are available online from the State Records website.  

Strategies for documenting government business: The DIRKS manual

The DIRKS Manual is a tool for improving organisational recordkeeping.  It sets out a best practice methodology for the design and implementation of recordkeeping systems expanded from the Australian Standard AS ISO 15489.  It includes a number of tools and tips, for example:

• obtaining senior management support for recordkeeping
• initiating change management
• identifying business drivers to improve recordkeeping, and
• using DIRKS to improve compliance with the State Records Act.  

Create and capture: Guidelines on better recordkeeping

These guidelines will help your public office to create and capture the records needed as evidence of business activities.  The guidelines contain a number of practical tools including templates for letters, email, faxes and memoranda. 

How to get ahead with recordkeeping

This is a PowerPoint slideshow with associated presenters notes developed for staff in the NSW public sector.  The slides provide an overview of: 

• the NSW government recordkeeping framework
• the recordkeeping responsibilities of NSW public sector employees.

The slides can be used as a training aid to help raise understanding of recordkeeping in your public office.  The slides can be downloaded free of charge and adapted as necessary.  

How to take control of your records

The guidelines provide advice on establishing control of your records.  They give an introduction to 'records control processes' (registration, classification, indexing and tracking) and provide practical tips on implementing these processes in your public office.  They include a number of useful tools for managing files including a basic records control spreadsheet, and templates for opening and closing files, file minute and movement sheets.

Note: The guidelines are particularly useful for small public offices. 

Recordkeeping leaflets

The leaflets 'What have records got to do with me' and 'Recordkeeping reminders' are information resources that can be handed out to all staff.  'What have records...' sets out why records are important and the role of staff in relation to records.  'Recordkeeping reminders' outlines common situations where staff should make records.  Tailored versions of the leaflet are available for local councils.

The leaflets can be downloaded from the website in PDF format for printing or email distribution.  Alternatively order hardcopies from State Records (the first 100 copies of each leaflet are free). 

Monitoring recordkeeping performance

The guidelines provide practical advice on monitoring recordkeeping performance in a public office.  Included in the guidelines are ways to gather information on recordkeeping and records management services.  They also include suggestions for performance measures.

© State of New South Wales through the State Records Authority, 2003.
This work may be freely reproduced and distributed for most purposes, however some restrictions apply.
ISSN 1440-3978