Impact of Poor

Records
Management
Poor performance.
• This is the situation of being difficult
to monitor or assess organizational
performance because there are no
records as the bases to evaluate the
past performance of the organization
and identify the problems
Increase cost of the
organization
• Without proper management of
records, organizations can incur cost
in money and time Increase cost of
the organization Without proper
management of records,
organizations can incur cost in money
Breach of confidentiality or
national security
• Also confidential information will be
accessed by unauthorized individuals
as a result of poor records
management practices
Inconsistency in decision
making
• Without proper management of
records no any kind of decision will be
done consistently and with a stable
manner, always will be done in
different way because there are no
records to refer
Loss of confidence
• Records can hinder individual
confidence, for instance the head of
department can lack sound decisions
to handle some matters as there is no
proof on it. E.g. punish the
subordinate because of disciplinary
matters
Lack of well established
guidelines
• An office can achieve the management of
records when there are well and
implementable guidelines (e.g. policy,
standard, procedures and manuals) that
indicate how records should be well
managed throughout their life cycle and
make available to the people responsible
for that process. Failure to do that, the
process of managing records becomes a big
challenge.
Lack of profession and
enough skills
• Most of the records staffs have little
or no records management skills
concerning RM. In-service records
office training and staff development
ceased for some time due to financial
difficulties hence make people to
work with experience without being
professional with work.
Loss of trust to an
organization
• The public can not trust the
organization because their records
are not maintained well or due to
poor performance. Difficult to protect
Rights of the organization and
individual
Lack of enough space
• One of the major problems or challenges
is that of space. When the organization
has little space compared to the amount
of records to be kept, some records can be
destroyed even when their period is not
over so as to utilize the available space for
all records required to be stored
Low priority given to records
keeping
• Records management function is
given a low priority by the top
officials in the sense that there is
inadequate management attention.
This affects performance of staff
working in records office and all
activities concerning records
management
Irresponsibility among
records officers
• Some officers (entrusted people to
manage records) are not responsible
on ensuring rules and regulations
guiding records management are
implemented.
• For instance, you find a records
officer allowing an unauthorized
person to access confidential records
Inadequate Storage Facilities
• Records offices in ministries, independent
departments and regions administration
including local government authorities are
still having inadequate storage facilities,
accommodation and supplies.
Solutions
• Comprehensive records management
guidelines. We need to have policies
which will reflect the current situation and
simple to implement. For instance, on the
current needs like electronic record
management which is associated by many
challenges like lack of capturing
authenticity of records in electronic
format
Provision of Training
• Training must be done in order to increase skill and
professionalism among people entrusted to keep and manage
records they lack while records management skills.
Financial support
• As records management is a very
crucial issue in organizations the
management must insure in
organization, the management must
ensure that, enough funds is provided
on the issues concerning records like
staffing and general maintenance of
records management facilities
Motivation
• The most to put in consideration, in
order to avoid bad perception of
down grading of the records officers,
these people must be more
motivated as a means of upgrading
them.
Importance of Records
Management
• Help in maintaining records that are
used for evidence. We use records as
evidence of the particular transaction
or activities. For instance in legal
proceedings those well managed
records can be of great help.
Help to preserve records for
historical purpose
• We get to know the history of the
particular organization or activities
trough records available. For
instance, the origin of the
organization can be traced back by
using the records created during that
organization creation period
promoting transparency and
accountability
• Through the use of records public
officials become answerable on their
actions taken when conducting a
certain activity. Example during Audit
For various decisions making
• For the consistent decision making,
we need to have the complete
record. For instance the decision
concerning employees records on the
work performance
For development planning
• For the future plans development, we
need to have records of the past
performance as a starting point for
future planning.
In investigation /research
purposes
• Researchers and fact finders can use
recorded information available as a
source of data on certain matters.
• NOTE: The above analyzed
importance of record can be achieved
only through good management of
records.
Other Records Importance of
Managing Records
• They are used for evidence
• Used for historical purpose
• Used for answering questions
• Used for plans development
• Used for decisions making
• Answering questions/queries
• Cultural heritage purposes
• Investigation/research purpose
The End