Effective Records Management Part 3: Performance Management for BS ISO 15489

Citation

Tough, A. (2005), "Effective Records Management Part 3: Performance Management for BS ISO 15489", Records Management Journal, Vol. 15 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/rmj.2005.28115aae.001

Effective Records Management Part 3: Performance Management for BS ISO 15489

Effective Records Management Part 3: Performance Management for BS ISO 15489

Philip JonesBritish Standards InstituteLondon200342 pp.ISBN: 0 580 42776 5BSI ref: BIP 0025-3£25Keywords: Records management, Standards, Performance measurement (quality)Review DOI: 10.1108/09565690510596707

BSI has now published part 3 of a series of guides to help implement ISO 15489. This joins the highly acclaimed part 1, business benefits, and part 2, practical implementation, of ISO 15489.

How relevant is performance measurement for busy records managers, already grappling with the consequences of FOI and transparent corporate governance? Surely the benefits and advantages of using ISO 15489 to deliver results are already perfectly clear?

Well, maybe to the converted. The CILIP publication Library and Information Update of June 2004 carried an article “Are you making an impact?” in which it stated:

Recent British governments have … increasingly made it clear that cases for extra spending will only be considered when an organisation delivers value for money, supported by evidence that it makes an impact in the governments priority policy areas.

The article alluded to the British Library, which is striving to demonstrate its value to the UK economy following a radical re-engineering of its business by pursuing “a coherent quantitative evaluation of the total benefit to the nation of publicly funded institutions and programmes”.

In other words, it has devised an evidence based performance measurement strategy, which it calls “contingent value” that will impact on its ability to sustain and increase its operating budgets. The BL strategy concluded that it provides £304 million of indirect value and £59 million of direct value to the British economy (see www.bl.uk/pdf/measuring.pdf).

The above well illustrates the point that perceptions and reality – good or bad – need to be quantified in some way to give clear evidence of value and to act as a tool to spot and introduce improvements as needed.

In a recent edition of In Business on Radio 4, John Sneddon, a change management consultant, spoke about the monumental English NHS patient records computerisation project. He observed that for any system to be successful, a good understanding of “user demand” and “outcomes” is essential. To fulfil this need, mechanisms should be provided to determine the legitimate demands of users, how well those needs are being met and what can be done to improve matters.

This is where this new BSI publication on performance management provides fresh thinking. Traditional performance measures have considered either financial measures (in terms of return on investment and budgets) or, in the context of records centres or library services, they have been based around efficiency of the service. The tendency is to focus on what is easy to measure and provides a very introspective view. Records managers following only this route are likely to find themselves subject to financial scrutiny with a view to being outsourced.

This new BSI publication takes a much more holistic view of records management activities. It sees them as an integrated function of the organisation and considers their contribution to the objectives of the business. This includes effectiveness as well as efficiency. It examines how it can be demonstrated that projects or programs are delivering the required results, and that success is being achieved, measured, evaluated and communicated.

Author Philip Jones, head of information resources for Staffordshire County Council in the UK and co-editor of ISO 15489 International Records Management Standard, defines performance measurement as “a systematic way of assessing the goals and targets of an organisation (usually articulated in plans and policies) against actual achievements”. The records management program cannot exist in a vacuum and must be seen to contribute to the objectives of the business. Consequently, business metrics will be much more meaningful to senior management who may still view records management as yet another drain on resources. The author observes that “It is not enough to be successful, success must be measured, evaluated and … communicated”. He then goes on to describe why performance measures will have specific value to senior management.

So how could performance management be done successfully? Firstly, this guide notes that this process is not free. Resources will be needed and this needs to be a collaborative process involving stakeholders at many levels within the organisation. Getting funding for a proposal to introduce performance measurement means justifying the process and the results. The author argues that performance measurement will demonstrate how successfully the tactical records management programme interacts with the strategic business objectives. It is only when this is known that improvements can be planned, implemented and subsequently measured.

As noted by Sneddon, understanding what customers need and the effectiveness of what is provided in response to those needs, is critical in running successful businesses or services within those businesses. Jones describes how to decide what to measure in terms of: inputs (related to resources), outputs (tangible products) and outcomes (impacts or consequences). He goes on to explain how to plan, determine which metrics to use, collect data and decide what, if any, benchmarking to use.

There are two annexes that offer very practical suggestions. Annex A lists “preliminary questions” that set the context and boundaries for what needs to be and what can be measured.

Annex B is presented as a comprehensive set of “prescriptions” which marry the type of measure to the ISO 15489 clause to which it relates and to the DIRS methodology that could be used for data gathering. They are called “prescriptions” because they are examples of measures that could be imposed or prescribed. Not all will be appropriate for all organisations – the user must decide. Further information is offered on the objective of the measure, responsibilities and potential sources of the data.

Interpreting and presenting results to the right audience is critical. A useful table offers suggestions as to the interests of management at different levels in the organisation.

As noted above, the British Library strongly feels the need to devise performance measures to show its value to UK plc. Sneddon noted that many large public sector information technology projects fail because they firstly do not come to grips with user needs and later don’t identify and measure outcomes. Implementing ISO 15489 is a significant task, so identifying in RM terms where your organisation is now, where it wants to be and proving not only that it has arrived there but that it has benefited by doing so, are critical issues. Performance management techniques are an important way of fulfilling that requirement.

This publication is breaking new ground in its intention and its content. The records manager is fast becoming a manager with specialist skills rather that a specialist with managerial skills and Effective Records Management Part 3: Performance Management for BS ISO 15489 will be an essential item in the managers toolkit.

Bob McLeanRecords Manager, The Wellcome Trust, London