Influence of Records Management Policies on Service Delivery in County Governments: A Case of County Government of Isiolo

Abstract

The “purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of records management policies on service delivery in County Governments, a case of County Government of Isiolo. Records management policy is essential to records management and helps protect the organization from the negative effects of poor service delivery. The study was carried out at the county government of Isiolo headquarters and included respondents from departments of records registry, human resources, finance, audit, supply chain management and ICT. The specific objectives were to: Determine the influence of records creation and capture policy on service delivery; assess the influence of records storage and security policy on service delivery; Evaluate the influence of records retention and disposal policy on service delivery, and propose a records management framework. The study used a descriptive research design and a mixed-method approach incorporating qualitative and quantitative techniques. Both conceptual and empirical literature were reviewed based on findings and comments on existing research, publications and journals by other scholars. Data collection was necessitated by obtaining research authorization letters from relevant institutions. Structured questionnaires and interview schedules were pretested to determine validity and reliability and thereafter employed to collect data. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy for records creation and capture policy, records storage and security policy, records retention and disposal policy, records management framework and service delivery were 0.634, 0.671, 0.783, 0.735 and 0.652, respectively, thus, construct validity was achieved. On the other hand, Cronbach's alpha value of 0.753, 0.758, 0.766, 0.708, and 0.702 was established for Records creation and capture policy, records storage and security policy, records retention and disposal policy, records management framework and service delivery, respectively. The target population comprised 242 employees at the county headquarters and distributed among the six departments that deal with records directly or indirectly. Stratified sampling technique was used to classify employees into strata. Yamane's simplified formula was used to obtain a sample size of 151 respondents proportionately distributed per department using a random sampling technique. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of IBM–SPSS (Version 23), presented in a table and interpreted in mean, frequencies, percentages, and standard deviation. Qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. Ordinal regression analysis was used to estimate the model. Comparative analysis methods like generalized linear models were further used to investigate the relationship between service delivery and Records Management Policies. The results of this study will assist county government policymakers, records professionals, and researchers by giving insights into the implementation of record management policies in influencing service delivery. The findings revealed an Exp(B), which is the antilog of a regression coefficient (B) in parameter estimate table showed how a change in a predictor affects the outcome in an understandable way. The outcome of 1.912, 2.105, 1.818 and 1.820 for records creation and capture policy, records storage and security policy, records retention and disposal policy, and records management framework, respectively were positively realized, suggesting an increasing probability of being in a higher level of service delivery as values on record creation and capture policy, records storage and security policy, records retention and disposal policy, and records management framework increase. The study concluded that records management policies influenced service delivery in the County Government of Isiolo. The study also recommends adequate consideration and full implementation of records creation and capture policy, records storage and security policy, records retention and disposal policy and records management framework by the County Government of Isiolo to ensure enhanced service delivery. This research is expected to strengthen records management in Isiolo County through adoption and implementation of the proposed framework, thereby improving service delivery.”