We’ve all heard the stories about the customers and clients approaching government ministries to access records only to be told that the file is lost.
Today, there is an effort being made to stop that from happening. At Samoa Stationery and Books at Togāfu’afu’a yesterday morning, File Corp Records Business Manager, Glennis Bates conducted a training on how to set up an efficient system for all ministries to be able to retrieve lost files and documents without having to spend money.
“I am over here for the fifth time with Samoa Stationery and Books to assist with the management side of the business,” she said.
“We have many ministries here that need to have effective and efficient filing systems.”
So what’s the easiest way to find a lost file?
Don't lose it in the first place.
“This particular training session is basically how to set up an efficient system.
“We have many ministries with documentation they have lost, misplaced files - this will help them retrieve their files a lot quicker which will save the ministries a lot of money on the long term.”
Efficient filing systems are very important for every country, she said.
“Documentation is so vital to any ministry and any company, and it’s been able to retrieve them in issues like litigation,” she said.
“This is just to make it easier for them to retrieve that documentation.”
She said that computers had a part to play but that hard copies were essential as well.
“We do computerise but if you don’t have the paper documentation flow done correctly, a computerised system is not going to help with that.
“So step one is getting your paper documentation in place.”
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Efficiency gains were a main aim of the training session, she indicated.
“What I hope to get from the participants today is a better understanding of what we call lateral filing and how to index and classify their files to make it more efficient for them to retrieve that document they are looking for.”
The training session is for three days.
“Also during my time here, I will be visiting the ministries just to see what they currently have and where I can suggest they can change their system to make it more efficient.
“We’re going to see a lot of ministries with their current system and, where we can, look at making it more effective for them and I guess that is a big part of my visit here.”
Different ministries had different needs, she said. “It depends on the needs at the moment and how urgent the needs are, and having a look on different ways and what they can do to classified their different files to make it more efficient.
“Many of the ministries are way ahead in this aspect, but it’s not just looking at their current documentation it’s looking at their intentions urgently and what should be archived, what should be marked inactive, right down to what should be shredded not kept.”
Now in her fifth visit, is the message sinking in?
“As far as I’m concerned, because I have a passion for records management, it is vital to any company to have a sound records management system.
“If you don’t or if you can’t find your documentation, if you put that back to a dollar value of what the salaries are of each person that’s looking for misplaced or lost files, you quantify that out to a week, month or a year it is costing the ministries and corporation a lot of money.”
Recognition of the need for records management needed to come from the top, she said, not just workers.
“They can go back with that knowledge and report back to management, but we do have management that come along.
We have CEO’s and financial controllers because it is an important part that they realise that they need to have a sound records management system.”
Owner and Managing Director, Fiti Leung Wai said the training is important to them and also other businesses.
“To have sound records management system and to look after it well, to make it easier for them to find records, and to find documentation that they are looking for to save time, and also save them money if they have this system in their work place.”
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