Hi Terrance,

I have no survey.  There might be something in ARMA's library or archives
and Cohasset Associates might have some surveys.  This could help you by
showing what is common.

What gets complicated is that this becomes a bit of a political football.
Setting aside the political environment at your company, your desire should
be to be placed organizationally where you receive the support most relative
to your department's role in the company.  More and more legal departments
have adopted Records Management groups possibly because the environment for
Information Management Compliance has become much more centric to litigation
with the changes to the FRCP last December.  Even years before those
amendments, when the Sedona Conference began discussing electronic records
as a part of their complex litigation forum, more legal journals were
writing articles about the changes which were coming.  There's certainly
more evidence which makes a strong case for reporting to the Legal group.
With regard to the Compliance group, some compliance groups are staffed by
at least an attorney at the lead and report to legal.  In others the
compliance area may have grown directly from the financial area of the
company.

I report to our legal group and overall this has been the best situation
I've seen in general.  It's not without some hitches.  Some legal groups
have not had the administrative background for the kinds of wars that
implementing a strong Records program requires.  Because of this,
functionally the legal group may not want the headache.

I keep seeing this question come down to whether solid Records Management is
a foundational consideration to the company in best practice or an
administrative necessity.  Those hero companies who have made it a
foundational consideration from the top down (and there are a few and more
coming) almost certainly see the sense of Records Management reporting to
Legal.  Of course Records Management can function from many places in the
organizational structures, but the real question is how is the Records
department treated when push comes to shove in organizational decisions.
Does your HR department have the pull in the company to support you in a
decision which is outside the reach of HR.  Depending on the true power
structure your HR executive may very well be able to.

Always work on your relationships, watch for opportunities to bring the
knowledge you have of the best practices of records management to the table
and let the organization learn if you have to.  You'll hopefully get placed
properly when everyone understands the current landscape.

Tom  


-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Worthington, Terrance
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 10:56 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Records Department

Good Morning,

 

I had a meeting with upper management to discuss some of the initiatives
we are going to push for the coming year.  During the meeting the topic
of where Records Management should be placed (i.e. Compliance, HR or
Legal) came up and let's say it was quite contentious.

 

Currently we reside in HR but I feel as well as they do, we belong in
Compliance.

 

My question to the group is do anyone have a survey that they are
willing to share that would help strengthen my case that we belong in
Compliance or Legal.

 

You can respond directly or though the listserv.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

Regards,

 

Terrance Worthington

Records Administrator

TIAA-CREF

750 Third Ave

New York, NY 10017

212-916-5757 office

916-538-4660 blackberry

[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> 

 


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