Stages in monitoring recordkeeping performance
Overview of the stages
The table below sets out the stages for establishing a monitoring program for recordkeeping. While the stages are generic to any performance monitoring program, the explanation of each stage gives advice and examples specific to recordkeeping.
| Stage | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Setting performance objectives |
| 2 | Developing performance measures |
| 3 | Collecting the data |
| 4 | Analysing results |
| 5 | Implementing performance improvements |
| 6 | Reporting and review |
Regular and special purpose monitoring
Performance monitoring will usually be incorporated into the regular activities of the organisation’s records management program. The objectives for monitoring should correspond with the objectives of the program and the organisation’s business plans and are set at the start of the yearly planning cycle.
There may also be times when certain recordkeeping events create the need for special monitoring. For example, addressing critical recordkeeping failures.
These events may be due to:
- State Records NSW’s monitoring processes
- audit reports by their Audit Office of NSW
- investigation reports by the ICAC
- failure to provide records as part of a GIPA enquiry and subsequent investigation by the Ombudsman or the Information and Privacy Commission
- matters raised informally by staff or members of the public.
The performance monitoring stages outlined still apply in these instances.
Whether part of regular monitoring activities or special purpose monitoring, it is important to target your objectives and measures to the issue to be addressed.
Using risk analysis to prioritise activities
Assessing the business of your organisation, to determine high-risk business processes and the records created as part of these processes, could be a good starting point for identifying performance objectives, and for determining what performance measures you need.
Alternatively, you may priorities monitoring activities by identifying areas at risk of recordkeeping failures, such as failure to create or capture records, or unauthorised disposal.
How to set objectives
Clearly define performance objectives and their relationship to the objectives of the records management program.
Planning documentation for the records management program (that is, the action and strategic planning documentation) should set out the objectives of the program for the period covered by the plans.
These objectives could relate to very different aspects of the program, from assessing the quality of records management services to ensuring the creation and capture of records across the organisation.
Examples of performance objectives
- All staff create and keep full and accurate records.
- All staff can find records when they need to.
- All staff are aware of the organisational policy/rules for managing email, for managing corporate data on mobile devices or for storing data on removable storage devices.
- Records are stored securely and protected from unauthorised access, alteration, deletion or loss.
- Records in both paper and digital systems are disposed of accountably.
- Records are captured into official recordkeeping systems.
- All recordkeeping requirements for high-risk business processes are identified and documented.
- All business systems that create and keep records have been identified.
- All business systems that keep records of high-risk business processes have been assessed for recordkeeping functionality.
The performance of new recordkeeping systems, tools and processes should be targeted in organisational performance objectives and measures. Project plans should include useful performance measures for new systems.
Deciding what is good practice
There are several ways of determining good practice for recordkeeping and records management in your organisation. The table below sets out some useful resources and the reasons why they may be useful in establishing good practice.
| Resource | Reason for use |
|---|---|
| Standards issued by State Records NSW | Compliance with the standards is mandatory for NSW public offices. |
| International best practice, for example, AS ISO 15489 Records Management | The international records management standard is endorsed as a code of best practice in NSW. Compare your organisation’s performance to the international standard. Handbook HB 278-2009 Recordkeeping Compliance will also assist in developing performance assessment criteria. |
| Benchmarking within the public office | Compare records management services to expectations within the public office. There may be similar business units against which you can compare aspects of service delivery. |
| Benchmarking outside the public office | Compare the records management program with programs in other public offices, for example, departments of similar size, councils of similar demographic/geographic mix, or public offices with the same function in other states and territories. |
How to set effective performance measures
Performance measures are the yardsticks by which you assess whether you have met, or have gone some way towards meeting, your objectives.
They can be a mixture of quantitative and qualitative measures but should be scoped to fit your objectives and resources for monitoring. It is no use having 25 measures requiring daily data collection if you don't have the time to collect the data or to analyse and make use of the results.
Don't waste resources collecting elaborate statistics that are never used.
Tips to remember
Measure what you need to know, not what you would like to know.
- What gets measured gets done – a favourite management slogan.
- Incorporate monitoring into routine operations.
- Don't set too many performance measures – you may not have time to properly analyse information.
Different types of performance measures are used to measure the 'three Es':
- economy
- efficiency
- effectiveness.
Deciding what to measure
What you measure will depend on the objectives you have set. Usually, it's good to have a mixture of measures that cover the three Es.
What you measure will also depend upon the level at which you want to do this, for example, the high-level records management program, a business unit, a particular recordkeeping process or service.
| If you are measuring… | Then some examples of relevant measures could be… |
|---|---|
| Economy |
|
| Efficiency |
|
| Effectiveness |
|
Using other business performance measures to monitor recordkeeping
Many business processes are underpinned by good recordkeeping and poor performance in these areas can sometimes indicate that there are recordkeeping issues to address.
Examples of areas where it may be worth monitoring include financial management and procurement, GIPA responses, customer services and customer complaints.
A high-risk area where poor performance is often related to recordkeeping is the ability of the public office to manage any legal challenges (for example, locate subpoenaed records). Of course, not all failures in performance will be caused by recordkeeping.
Establishing the baseline
Baseline data is an example of the close link between planning and monitoring. If you don't know where you are, how can you plan for where you need to get to?
You need to understand where the program, service or system under scrutiny is in order to monitor any improvements. This 'baseline' should be established before any new activities are implemented and program monitoring commenced. The baseline generally incorporates the minimum results or outcomes required of the program or processes.
This gives you the starting point for setting appropriate targets and for assessing how effective changes have been. The baseline data you collect will depend upon the performance measures you have decided upon.
For example, baseline data may be an assessment that 50% of business units are using the corporate records system at the start of the financial year. The objective would be to ensure that this percentage was increased to 70% of business units by the end of the year.
Setting performance targets
Set performance targets against the objectives that are achievable, measurable and time limited. Performance targets should reflect where the organisation is currently in relation to recordkeeping, and where it needs to go.
For example, it is unlikely that a performance target of 100% of staff receiving records management training in a year will be achieved if the number of staff in your public office is large, there is a high staff turnover rate or if your training program has limited resources.
Examples performance targets
- 95% customer satisfaction
- X number of boxes of hardcopy records sentenced
- X number of records sentenced in the EDRMS
- $ amount reduction in storage costs due to the disposal of records
- All user permissions reviewed and updated
- Business units have rules and procedures in place that identify business processes that must be documented and/or records that must be made and captured into business and recordkeeping systems.
Keep it simple
Do not make obtaining information about performance an onerous task. It should be part of the routine management processes carried out as part of the records management program.
Where specific activities (such as customer surveys) need to be carried out, make sure that:
- the purpose of these activities is clearly defined and well understood
- they happen only as often as is necessary.
Collection methods
Choose a collection method that's relevant to the type of information you're collecting. The table below sets out some common methods of collecting data.
| Collection method | Data type | Outline methodology |
|---|---|---|
| Surveys | Qualitative Quantitative | There are different ways of gathering survey data, for example:
Surveys can be qualitative or quantitative or contain elements of both. Qualitative surveys are more likely to focus on perceptions, for example, 'How well ...' Quantitative surveys are more likely to focus on facts, for example, 'Do you have ..., How many ...' Note: Don't overuse this method. |
| Focus groups | Qualitative | Organised by records management staff. Useful to get feedback on services or service delivery, new ideas, post implementation reviews of new systems or tools. Be aware that staff may be reluctant to criticise services even when they are dissatisfied. |
| System monitoring | Quantitative | Use software capabilities to monitor errors and exception reports. Monitor numbers of files created, disposed of and records registered. Most records management software should be able to generate these statistics automatically. In smaller paper systems, this can be done manually. Check with ICT about size of shared workgroup folders, email and accounts. |
| Enquiries | Quantitative Qualitative | Quantity of enquiries received by the records management staff or help desk. Identify the types of enquiries (for example, about using the EDRMS, collaborative work software, disposal of records, managing emails, where to find records, retrieving records from storage, retrieving and supplying records for GIPA enquiries). Enquiries can be used to get feedback or to learn about where staff need further guidance or assistance. |
| Observation | Qualitative | Formal or informal. Check how records are being managed. Visit business units and look in filing cabinets. Monitor system logs and records entries. Observe staff doing recordkeeping tasks. |
| File audits | Qualitative | Sample files to check that the contents match the subject of the file as registered on the recordkeeping system. Check that files fully reflect the business transactions that have taken place. Check that files are in the correct location. Check that records are formally attached to files, not just stuck between the file covers. Check that documents in EDRMS are virtually attached to files if appropriate. Note: File audits can also be used in conjunction with Interviews. |
| Interviews | Qualitative | Structured interviews with a random sample of staff to find out what records they are creating/ receiving, what they do with them, and whether they understand the recordkeeping rules of the public office will help to identify any issues and gaps in knowledge. Module 7 of the Records Management Assessment Tool also provides useful questions for this type of data collection and assessment. Note: Also use with file audits. |
| Informal feedback | Qualitative Quantitative | Anecdotal evidence can be useful in identifying strengths and weaknesses. Training sessions in particular are a good source of feedback on systems and services. Note: This is in addition to feedback on the quality of training provided. On its own, it is no substitute for a planned program of monitoring. |
Having carried out performance monitoring, you need to analyse the information you have collected.
- Check results against current performance targets.
- It's also useful to review performance against the performance of the records management program in previous years so that you can monitor trends in your services.
- If you are getting poor performance results, analyse the records management program elements to find out the cause. Be aware that sometimes the real causes can be beyond the control of the program.
Implementing improvements is an important stage in the performance measurement process. There's no point monitoring if you are not going to do anything with the results.
Actioning insights
Once you've identified the gaps and the causes of problems, you must develop strategies to fix them. These may be 'quick wins' or may need to be factored into longer-term planning.
Making the case for change
Use the information to report to management and to feed into future planning and review cycles. This is where 'soft' factors may come into play, such as issues of change management, or influencing senior managers to secure adequate resources, to support necessary changes or to upgrade tools.
Having the hard data to back up your analysis will be useful in securing management support.
his also reinforces the link to planning, as objectives for the records management program should be closely aligned to higher-level corporate objectives.
Reviewing for relevance
As with any part of a program, make sure your monitoring activities are focused on those aspects of recordkeeping and the records management program that you need to know about.
Do not monitor something just because you have always done this in the past.
As your public office changes and the records management program develops, there will be other aspects about which it becomes more critical to obtain performance data.
Using trend data
Trend data is very useful in demonstrating improvements over time or causes for concern over time. This relies on consistently measuring the same activity over time using the same criteria.
Keep these long-term measures under review to ensure that they are still relevant to your performance planning.
Request accessible format of this publication.