Records Management and Retention Program

The Challenge

A medium sized city with a population of just under 50,000 citizens was challenged with responding to an ever-increasing number of public records requests while applying retention requirements and protecting personably identifiable information (PII) and confidential information.

The Solution

Kaizen consultants met with key stakeholders in determining the problem statement and best approach to solving the problem while maintaining document integrity wand ensuring a reasonable turnaround time in responding to each request. The problem identified was that public records that were available to the public were stored and comingled with documents that were neither records nor responsive to a public records request.

Kaizen, working with the city, defined what a record is for the City and began creating a Retention Schedule with the various categories of records for the City.  The Retention Schedule defined the required retention period and identified which department within the city was responsible for complying with the define retention period.  This resulted in locating many duplicate documents that were not records, just copies, and could be deleted. In addition, staff who were not record owners could consider their copy exempt from a public records request.

The next step was to identify and build a repository for records that could apply retention rules as well as protect confidential information. This repository became the “go to” location for public records requests and help ensured that the public received the official record.

The Result

The client was able to reduce its risk exposure by only sending public records in response to a public records request and confidential or protected information was secured from unauthorized access. They were also able to reduce the amount of redundant physical and electronic records.

About Kaizen InfoSource

Kaizen InfoSource is a Records and Information Management and Information Governance consultancy in California, with headquarters in Los Angeles, and offices in Campbell, CA and Chattanooga, TN. Kaizen’s team of consultants has over 60 years of experience in providing strategic, practical approaches to designing business process solutions, utilizing technology and developing information governance which provides a measurable return-on-investment for its clients. Kaizen has extensive experience with working with both the private sector and government organizations.

For Further Information Contact:
Helen Streck
(805)231-3026
[email protected]
www.2kaizen.com