Requirement 6: The functions and business activities of an organisation must be identified and documented, including any functions contracted out.

Organisations should undertake an analysis of their significant business activities and functions that document:

• core business functions
• the records identified for creation in each business process, and the information
  which needs to be captured as a record
• the contextual links between records
• the requirements for retrieving, using and transmitting records between business
  processes and users.

Functions are high level business activities, such as, ‘Policy’, ‘Strategic Planning’, ‘Financial Management’, ‘Legal Services’, ‘Human Resources’.

Business activity is any group of activities and/or processes undertaken by an organisation to produce a product and/or service, and/or in pursuit of its normal prudent business practice.

Business activity analysis should include all recorded information in any form (including data in computer systems) that is created or received and maintained by an organisation, or individual in their organisational role, in the transaction of business or
the conduct of affairs, and kept as evidence of such activity.

This process is the basis for the development of a business classification scheme, metadata schema requirements, retention and disposal scheduling and ensures business continuity and vital records identification.

 Requirement 7: Records of business
decisions and transactions must be created.

Records should be made of all facets of an organisation’s business activity. Recordkeeping should not be selective, so that only some parts of the business are well documented, however identifying high-risk business processes is an important factor. Recordkeeping should take place in all technological environments in which the
organisation carries out its business. Records involving the making of decisions or the transaction of business are fundamental evidence of business activity. Such records may include:

• inwards and outwards communications, such as, electronic messages, faxes, letters, Short Message Service (SMS)
• documents on shared workspaces, personal/shared drives, project logs,
  client databases
• minutes or file notes of meetings or telephone conversations
• contracts, variations and agreements.

Records include not only those records in organisations’ ‘formal’ recordkeeping
systems, but also those outside the recognised recordkeeping systems (such as business information systems, database applications, personal folders, shared drives, web activities, instant messaging). All records of business activity should be identified, regardless of their format. If the information has evidential value, it needs to be
considered and managed by organisations.

For further guidance see Fact sheet: Make a Record .

Requirement 8: All records of business activity must be captured routinely into
an organisation-wide recordkeeping
framework.

Routine capture of records means that the process of identification and capture should be a normal part of the business activity. It should be done in a timely manner, ideally as an output of the business process.

Routine capture of records into the recordkeeping framework will:

• ensure information is available to everyone who has a legitimate business need and the right to use it
• ensure records of core business activity are retained in a timely manner
• reduce risk of loss of key business records and their content
• provide access to the most up-to-date records of business activity for improved
  business decision-making.

For further information on what constitutes a recordkeeping framework, see Recordkeeping Framework, section 3.4.

Requirement 9: Staff must receive
appropriate, and regular, training
for organisational recordkeeping
responsibilities.

All staff should receive training (whether provided internally or externally) to help them meet the recordkeeping responsibilities of their regular business activity. This may take the form of induction training with periodic refresher courses for new staff and a programme of refresher training for existing staff members or ongoing support training from the records management unit. The level of training will be contingent on the level
of recordkeeping responsibility. Basic recordkeeping training may consist of:

• legislative recordkeeping responsibilities, including record creation and identification
• the organisations’ authorised disposal practices and processes
• basic direction on records classification to allow efficient search and retrieval
• attribution of essential contextual and records management information (i.e.
  metadata, file numbering).

The training programme should be an organisation-wide programme that will explain policies, procedures and processes in a context that ensures staff understand what they need to do and why.

Records managers, or equivalents, should have the relevant training and/or experience to carry out their duties effectively. There may, however, be a need for organisations to supplement existing skill sets, by enlisting specialist expertise to help in the development of a recordkeeping framework. Organisations may consider developing an ongoing
communication programme on recordkeeping to maintain awareness and knowledge.