The Roles Of Training Program For Records Management Professionals THE ROLES OF TRAINING PROGRAM FOR RECORDS MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS By: Fathiah Nasuha Binti Lukman [email protected] Faculty of Information Management UiTM Campus Puncak Perdana ABSTRACT Training is essential for today development and improvement of working performances. This is because training provides the individuals with new knowledge, skills and exposures. Every organization is responsible to offering training for their employees. With advancement of technology uses, records management field is demanding for professional to manage all the records created every day. Records created nowadays are not just conventional records, but there are a few formats of records available in an organization either in government or private sectors. Status of professional obtained is from their education background, working experiences and trained to be expert in particular task. High demands of professional in records management require the effective of training conducted for preparing the professional with comprehensive knowledge and skills. This paper highlights on the roles of training program provided for records management professional in managing, using, keeping and maintaining the records received or created. By then through reading this paper, the reader able to know clearly about the roles of training conducted for records professionals who are improving knowledge and skills of records professional, heighten capability of records management profession and improving the working performances. Keywords: Training, Records Management, Professional, Records, Demands. 1.0

Introduction

Employees are the most valuable for running the task of each department in organization. The well-established organizations are caused by the skills of employees who are capable to compete in getting the work done with achieving the company’s goals and objectives. Aidah Nassazi (2013) clearly stated that employees are major assets of any organization and the active role they play towards a company’s success cannot be underestimated. In getting the best result of performance, the organization require to sacrifice at first in providing the training for their employees as improving and advocating skills in their professional. Most of companies are investing a lot of money on the training and development of employees in order to remain competitive ad successful part of organization (Khawaja & Nadeem, 2013). The investments done for employees through training method are to ensure all the employees are equipped with comprehensive skills. 1

The Roles Of Training Program For Records Management Professionals Training provides innovative, comprehensive, and cost effective records management instruction to the professional who are handling directly to records. Record management professionals are responsible to make records available for the others’ needs. Aliza & Adnan (2011) stated that records management professionals are responsible for all aspects of records management, including the design, implementation and maintenance of recordkeeping systems and their operations, and for training users on records management and recordkeeping systems operations as they affect individual practices. Training is crucial for development of professionals’ working performances. The resources in pursuing professional development are such workshop/ educational progam, training/ seminar, regular research meeting with other professionals, online forum, academic journals and self-study (Haeyong, 2015). It can be said that training is one of method to improve the development of working performance for the employees. In achieving the professional status is not just get employed or work for one or two years only. Mainly this paper highlight on the roles of training program held for records management professionals. 2.0

The Roles of Training Program for Records Management Professionals

Ideal professionals have their own specialized on set of knowledge, skills and qualities which they know their profession very well and know in implementation the knowledge to perform the specified tasks. Records professionals refer to both records managers and archivists who are significantly responsible in the management and the preservation of the nation’s corporate memory (Aliza & Adnan, 2011). In upgrading the status to be records professionals, the training should be provided to cope with the industry demands. Basically training is a planned and systematic activity which brings the output result in term of enhancing the skills of individuals. The needs of training program for the employees are depending on every organization. Khawaja & Nadeem (2013) stated that today most of organizations have built up different programs for the training of their employees. Every types of training conducted has different approaches and goals with different target employees. Before undertaking the training program for professional require the survey on the needs to do training for specific target of employees. Olaniyan and Ojo (2008) said that there are efforts are being made through individuals and organizational appraisals to identify the training needs before training are organized. Through this method, the training provided are more specified and focused on the needs of employees or employers themselves.

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The Roles Of Training Program For Records Management Professionals Below is the example of types of training programs for records management professional which are related about the management of records task through the life cycle concept:

a) General records keepings rules and procedure; purpose of records keeping, roles and responsibilities, classification, records retention. b) Paper & electronic records keepingclassification, Examples of types of training programs for records professional

retention

criteria,

organization of paper files, transfer to archives, search and retrieval. c) Preservation preservation,

program: corrective

preventive preservation,

disaster preparedness & recovery. d) Records

retention

and

disposition:

retention schedules, disposal of records. e) Records

storage

and

maintenance:

storage & vaults room’s environmental controls, security rules, proper shelving, fire prevention system. f)

Records

access

and

retrieval:

satisfactory filing, finding aids, policies and

procedure

regarding

access

restriction.

Figure 1: The examples of types of training programs for records professional Refer to: The Basic of Records Management by State Library and Archives of Florida (2009), Records Management Training Manual by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2005), The Seven Attributes of Effective Records Management Program by Norris, T.D. (2002). 3

The Roles Of Training Program For Records Management Professionals Basically, this paper will focus on three roles of training programs for records management which the training is capable to improve knowledge and skills, heighten capability of records professionals and improve the working performances.

Improving Knowledge and Skills of Records Professional The roles of training program for records management professionals

Heighten capability of records management profession 1.1 Records Professional Improving the working performances

Figure 2: The roles of training program for records management professional 2.1 Improving Knowledge and Skills of Records Professional

One of the roles of training programs for records professional is to raise the knowledge and skills of records professionals. The growth of knowledge and skills among professional are beneficial for the organization as the employers truly depend on the employees in accomplish the organizations’ goals and objectives. By then the training for records professionals become important element that should be undertaken as bring benefits for future. There is growing interest in professional circles concerning issues of education and training for records professionals, evidenced by the recent frequent discussion of these issues in conferences (Anderson, 2007). With today technology advancement, the quantities of records created are increasing. In ensuring the records are manageable, the records professional have to attend the training provided as adding up and equipped themselves with comprehensive knowledge and skills.

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The Roles Of Training Program For Records Management Professionals Records management field nowadays requires the professionals who have specific skills and knowledge on managing, handling, using, maintaining and preserving the records and archival materials. With that kind of requirement, the organizations need to employ the staff with background in Records Management program and following up the training in future to expose the employees with current knowledge and skills about managing records effectively. Kanzi (2010) stated that there should be training of records managers and records office staff to equip them with the necessary skills to carry out their functions properly. The primary concern of Florida’s Records Management Program is the efficient, effective, and economical management of public records and information. Proper records management ensures that information is available when and where it is needed, in an organized and efficient manner, and in an appropriate environment (State Library and Archives of Florida, 2009). This shows that records staffs need to be sent for training of records management programs. Electronic records have led to fast changes for organizations operate their company in dealing with many transactions every day. Technology development day by day becoming more advance with new software and applications. It is crucial for organization provide training of send the employees to attend the training in electronic records management. Rusnah Johare (2006) stated that changes in technology and multimedia have brought new types of records into existence and more difficult to identify and therefore challenge the ability of the record keepers and those who are involved in managing these records, to capture them in a static or permanent form that will enable them to provide evidence of business or administrative transactions. The situation of digital records deemed archival also raises concern since studies show that the national archival system is plagued by poor infrastructure and the lack of skilled capacity to ingest any digital records for permanent preservation (Ngoepe & Keakopa, 2011). Fredrikson (2002), Katuu (2003) and Menne-Haritz (2003) (as cited in Rosnah Johare, 2006) suggested that archivists must be equipped with knowledge and skills pertaining to professional techniques of preservation and providing access for electronic archives. This shows that the requirement of training electronic records among records professional as to improve the skills of expert towards electronic records management. For short, training program related to records management capable to increase and improve the knowledge and skills of records professionals. Training is a type of activity which is planned, systematic and it results in enhanced level of skill, knowledge and competency that are necessary to perform work effectively (Gordon, 1992 as cited in Aidah Nassazi 2013). Thus, increasing and improving the skills is one of the roles of training program for records professionals.

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The Roles Of Training Program For Records Management Professionals 2.2 Heighten capability of records management profession

Training program for records professional is also able to heighten capability of records and archival profession. This means the records management profession is seem as career that has expert or skill-specialized individuals. According to Noko & Ngulube (2013), they stated that the establishment of Records and Archives Management (RAM) training and education program is helping in building capacity of the archival profession in Zimbabwe. The records management profession is involving many procedures in managing the records with every day keep increasing. This is because based on National Archives of Australia (as cited in Aliza Ismail & Adnan Jamaludin, 2011) records management professionals are responsible for all aspects of records management, including the design, implementation and maintenance of recordkeeping systems and their operations, and for training users on records management and recordkeeping systems operations as they affect individual practices. The wide range scope of job in records management profession is required to equip the records professional with well-developed training. As to increase the competencies of records management profession, the training attended should be well-recognized by those institutions which are expert in records management field. The examples of institutions are National Archives, academic institutions and consultation private companies (either inside or outside of country) that provide the training on records management profession. The National Archives of Zimbabwe (NAZ) was usually in the forefront when it came to training archivists overseas (Noko & Ngulube, 2013). Furthermore according to Pederson (1996 as cited in Rusnah Johare, 2006) reported that the purpose of the University of New South Wales’ records management program is to promote recordkeeping professional and personal growth and development. As stated by Akussah (2005), in Ghana, some members of staff of Public Records and Archive Administration (PRAAD) have acquired additional knowledge through formal means, short courses, study tours or attachment program through technical cooperation agreements between Ghana and the countries involved particularly Denmark, Malaysia and the United Kingdom. National Archives and Records Administration, NARA (2011) stated that about seventy-seven percent of agencies responded that they have a specific, formal training curriculum for employees assigned records management responsibilities, although some agencies commented that they send staff to attend NARA records management courses rather than developing their own, agency-specific training because NARA records management training provides a solid baseline of information about federal records management. This examples show that there are different categories of training program for records professionals because nowadays every organization start to aware about records management profession. However, the training should be conducted by those are expert and professional in records management profession because they are already exposed on the 6

The Roles Of Training Program For Records Management Professionals best practices in managing records in organizations. Katuu (2009) claimed that different types of public and private agencies including national archives, universities, colleges, technical schools and public administration training institutes around the world offer these differing types of educational and training program. In short, heighten capability of records management profession is another role of training program for records professionals. It is comprehensive training when are organized or held by institution or other organization either government or private sector which are having professional with best practice of records management are practiced. 2.3 Improving the working performances The professionals who attend the training program are capable to improve their working performances. This is due to increasing the knowledge and skills and being exposed with high-quality working of records management profession. Aidah Nassazi (2013) highlights that employee training plays a vital role in improving performance as well as increasing productivity. Training program for records professional should be inclusive covering the whole concept of records management profession. The success of any integrated records management program will depend upon the professional capacity and training programs should be part of the overall management strategy with containing the elements to support professional or career development (IRMT, 2000). Besides that Anderson (2007) claimed that training focuses on acquisition of specific skills and competencies necessary in the workplace therefore it is essential to ensure optimum performance. Records management profession requires the professionals with their specified skills. With that, through attending the training help the records expert managing the records in their organization with manner which are efficiently and economically. Mainly the working performances refer to the how the ways professional manage the records after joining the training. There are many practices in managing the records in organizations. Based on Good Records Management Practices by Government Records Service (2011) that generally for records management staff, including records managers, registry supervisors and registry staff, specific records management training should be provided to them on records management concepts, principles and practices, covering such topics as records classification, records scheduling and disposal, and records capturing. Records must be managed based on their life cycle by then the original order and provenance of records are safeguarded.

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The Roles Of Training Program For Records Management Professionals 3.0

CONCLUSION

For short, training is essential for records management professional since it is beneficial for upgrading the skills, knowledge and competency of professional in facing the high demand of skills in working environment. Basically, training for records professional can be conducted by workplace organization (either public or private sector), through education institutions (universities) and governmental bodies such national archives institutions or national records and archives professional association. Records management is a field that facing the high demand from industry as they request the records professional to manage their bulk creation of records every second. With that, every organization either private and public start aware on providing the training or sending their staffs to training related to records management as desire to make their employees as records professionals.

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The Roles Of Training Program For Records Management Professionals REFERENCES Aisah Nassazi. (2013). Effects Of Training On Employee Performance. Retrieved on October 28th, 2016 from theseus32kk.lib.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/67401/THESIS.pdf?sequence=1 Aliza Ismail & Adnan Jamaludin. (2011). Records professionals: an invisible profession in Malaysia.Retrieved on October 28th, 2016 from www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/09565691111125116 Haeyong, R. (2015). Records professionals' challenges and barriers in public institutions in Korea. Retrieved on October 28th, 2016 from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740624X16301332 Katuu, S. (2009). Archives and Records Management Education and Training: What can Africa learn from Europe and North America?. Retrieved on October 28th, 2016 from idv.sagepub.com/content/25/2/133.full.pdf Katuu, S. & Ngoepe, M. (2015). Archives and Records Management Education and Training in Africa – Challenges and Opportunities. Retrieved on October 28th, 2016 from https://interparestrust.org/assets/public/.../KatuuNgoepe_20151016_ICDE2015.pdf Khawaja Jehanzeb & Nadeem Ahmed Bashir. (2013). Training and development Program and its Benefits to Employee and Organization: A Conceptual Study. Retrieved on November 12nd, 2016 from www.dcvmn.org/IMG/pdf/3947-5999-1-pb.pdf Khayundi F. (2011). Existing records and archival programmes to the job market. Journal of South African Society of Archivists 44: 62–73. National Archives And Records Administration. (2011). 2011 Records Management Self-Assessment Report: An Assessment of Records Management Programs in the Federal Government. Retrieved on October 28th, 2016 from https://www.archives.gov/files/recordsmgmt/resources/self-assessment-2011.pdf Noko, P & Ngulube, P. (2013). A vital feedback loop in educating and training archival professionals:a tracer study of records and archives management graduates in Zimbabwe. Retrieved on October 28th, 2016 from idv.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/12/02/0266666913510308 Norris, T.D. (2002). The Seven Attributes of an Effective Records Management Program. Retrieved on October 28th, 2016 from www.archives.nysed.gov/common/archives/files/mr_pub61.pdf

The Roles Of Training Program For Records Management Professionals Olaniyan, D.A. and Ojo, L.B. (2008). Staff Training and Development: A Vital Tool for Organizational Effectiveness. Retrieved on November 12nd, 2016 from lms.powercam.cc/sysdata/user/42/irisli/blog/doc/6aaf13ba58 c720e f/attach/161.pdf Rusnah Johare. (2006). Education And Training Needs In Electronic Records Management: A Case Study Of Record Keepers In The Malaysian Federal Ministries. Retrieved on October 28th, 2016 from umijms.um.edu.my/filebank/published_article/2029/355.pdf United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2005) Records Management Training Manual. Retrieved on October 28th, 2016 from unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001430/143010e.pdf