We’ve previously discussed how good records management fosters transparency. Today, we want to take a deep dive into one of the positive effects of transparency: trust-building.
As with transparency, good records management will cultivate trust because users and stakeholders can have confidence in the authenticity, accuracy, and legal compliance of the records in question. That, in turn, bolsters public support in government agencies as institutions serving the public interest.
It’s not just the public that needs to trust, however. Any records management system has many stakeholders and interested parties, ranging from internal users to external watchdog groups, from citizen customers to regulatory authorities. The more each of those groups trust the records that any agency or organization maintains, the fewer problems those organizations will face.
Internal Stakeholders
Your team – the people who actually create and use records to do their work – need to be able to trust that those records are accurate, complete, and pristine. They need to be able to dependably find all relevant files when they perform a search without having to undertake laborious, time-intensive searches. They need to be sure that the records haven’t been improperly accessed or altered, so they don’t have to do manual due diligence and double-checking every time they access a record. In short, they rely on those records to make business-critical decisions and to complete agency business. A lack of trust by your own people will undercut productivity and performance and, in extreme cases, may even affect morale and employee engagement.
The Public
Governments rely on public trust and support to execute their mission-critical functions. Without that trust, not only does their work become harder, they may find themselves being hounded by privately organized watchdog groups. They may also face increased risk of more frequent Freedom of Information Act requests, lawsuits and litigation that mandate legal discovery, and even face electoral impacts that can push leaders out the door. Researchers who studied the relationship between records management, transparency, and corruption in the Spanish government wrote in the International Journal of Information Management: “Opacity and corruption increase the public’s mistrust of the credibility and legitimacy of its public administrations, making it a significant risk to both.”
Auditors and Regulators
Do government regulators and oversight agencies also trust you? If not, it will increase the likelihood and frequency of audits (and possible penalties), lawsuits, and other regulatory actions. In other words, the more suspicious these parties are of your activities, the more likely your agency will be subject to oversight activity (which often necessitates procuring records upon demand).
How Can You Foster Trust?
Foundationally, agencies must ensure that their records management processes and systems enable full visibility into all records and their histories. Without that, there’s no way to know if the records are proper, compliant, and correct. Manual and analog records management processes are often inadequate to produce sufficient audit logs and provide the automation necessary for full visibility into record activity. For more information, read our guide to evaluating electronic management systems.
About PSL
PSL is a global outsource provider whose mission is to provide solutions that facilitate the movement of business-critical information between and among government agencies, business enterprises, and their partners. For more information, please visit https://www.penielsolutions.com or email info@penielsolutions.com.