An Evaluation Of The Records Management Practices At The Social Security And National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Records Department

Abstract

A common factor in all decision making is information. As a consequence, the value of information as an aid to decision making has increased. Managers are however limited by the amount of information they can absorb in terms of cerebral capacity and physical time. The answer lies in improving the quality of information on which they base their decision. Records management is concerned with the management of information. Both the public and private sectors need information to function properly, if that information is mismanaged or is not available, organisations might cease to exist. As governments and businesses have expanded during the twentieth century, so has the need for information and records management. Records must be managed by the organisations that originate them from the moment they are created. How records are created and what information they contain is as much a records management consideration as is the maintenance of that information while it is being used and its ultimate disposal when it is no longer needed. Records management can therefore, be simply defined as the systematic control of organisation's information, whether on tape, disk, paper or film, from its creation through its use, to its permanent retention or legal destruction. Records management in an organisation involves people working at all levels who display skills ranging from the filing of day to day papers through the design of classification and indexing systems to the operation of retention schedules and data storage facilities. Successful records management is thus the co-ordinated application of all these skills to ensure the fullest use of organisation' s information sources. With a viable records management program in operation, an organisation can control both the quality and quantity of the information that it creates, maintain that information in a manner that effectively serves its needs when it is no longer valuable. Records and information management has become more sophisticated as a result of the increasing demand for information and advances in records keeping technology. Modem computer technology has made records management a lot easier than just a few years ago. It is however, an undeniable fact that records management is accorded low priority, because price tags cannot be placed on them. This has affected major policies and programs of governments because of the lack of reliable and accurate data to support such decisions. This problem is aggravated by the lack of qualified staff and even qualified managers to direct the records keeping process. The results of the above creates a situation where records are kept in attics or basements with no clear cut procedures for sorting, arranging and classification which ultimately affect retrievals. In the final analysis, adhoc measures are pursued when it comes to the disposal of such records which may lead to the loss of valuable records needed for decision making or for research purposes.