Federal Agencies Say Formal Training Needed to Enhance Confidence, Reduce Records Risk by Lisa De Luca

It is clear that no federal agency wants to be the next headline for leaked or missing records, and many are in need of help to advance their information and records management programs. One potentially high impact area for agencies seeking to improve program effectiveness is addressing the inconsistency in the formal training of personnel at all levels on records management policies and practices. Although there are federal regulations that govern proper training for records and information management, there remains a significant gap in the consistency of formal training, which contributes to a missed opportunity for agencies to maximize informational value, lower costs and limit associated exposure to risk.

A recent Market Connections, Inc. study, underwritten by Iron Mountain , sought to measure confidence levels of managers in government who are responsible for managing records and information for their agencies, and illustrates just how widespread the lack of formal training is. The survey consisted of 150 key federal managers involved with records management, including records professionals and Line of Business managers. The survey found that only 4 in 10 total respondents report all employees receive formal training based on agency policies that will help them appropriately manage records under their immediate control. Another one-third indicate that training is informal in nature and 19 percent received none at all. Training is critical to building security, capability and confidence, so when you lack effective training it directly affects the ability of an agency to manage their information appropriately.

Informal training and the use of personal judgment when it comes to records management complicates efforts to standardize information collection, retention and dissemination of processes, as well as prevents agencies from realizing the goals in the Records Management Directive. If agencies are to live up to their requirements, they must first develop strategies that direct employees on how to efficiently create the most value from records they have under their control. They should also detail and share best practices for reducing the potential risk to which those records are exposed.

Consistency and structure are keys to a successful training regimen. The need for a proper information management training framework expands with the ever-growing public requests for information, new regulations that require agencies to keep more information than ever before, as well as the growing rate of information generated on a day-to-day basis. When all agency employees - from the executive level to the end user - know what and when to destroy or retain information, agencies can realize a greater Return on Information, capitalizing on its untapped value. Most importantly, a consistent, formally trained staff is a more confident staff and one that is likely to pose less risk to exposing or losing valuable records.

Learn more about the information management study here.

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2015/uncategorized/federal-agencies-say-...
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