The independent report, ‘Document Mayhem in the Netherlands and the Nordics’ conducted by Dynamic Markets on behalf of the Company, suggests that more employees from those countries save computer files with their own personalised names or suffixes, and routinely working on the wrong or out-of-date files. They are also almost twice as likely to call, or be called by a colleague whilst off sick or on holiday to track down computer file information.

Despite 88% of respondents at middle manager level or below in the Netherlands and Nordics needing to share computer files with work colleagues, 81% save those files with their own personalised file names or suffixes. 60% and 51% from the Netherlands and the Nordics respectively always do this, compared to just 34% in the Republic of Ireland, for example. Almost half (46%) of the Dutch and Nordic employees, compared to around one third (34%) of those in the UK and ROI have spent time working on the wrong or out-of-date version of a computer file because colleagues have not saved it correctly. A quarter (26%) think this has resulted in people in their organisation unknowingly presenting the wrong version of information to colleagues, management, suppliers and/or customers at least very six months, or more frequently. This compares to just 10% in the UK.

Furthermore, the problem of locating files doesn’t even stop when you are off sick or on holiday. Employees in the Netherlands and the Nordics (70%) are almost twice as likely as those in the UK and ROI (38%) to phone a colleague, customer or supplier to ask them to send a copy of a document or email because they could not find it on their computer system.

David Oates, Vice President for TOWER Software across EMEA explains, “Conversely, just 40% in the Netherlands and the Nordics finds this kind of file chasing extremely frustrating, compared to 67% in the UK and ROI. They also say it’s four to five times less likely to cause an argument or bad atmosphere among colleagues than it is in the UK and ROI. Perhaps, this is because the consequences of poor information management among Dutch and Nordic employees are perceived as less severe according to the research. Significantly fewer have to deal with the same regulatory, compliance and risk mitigation issues as their British counterparts.”

Indeed, almost half (46%) have to deal with regulatory issues compared to 73% in the UK and ROI, and 46% with compliance (72% in the UK and ROI). Just half (34%) of those in the Netherlands and Nordics compared against the UK and ROI (65%) are concerned with risk mitigation.

Oates continues, “Information management should be a corporate competency; from paper files, to email and computer-based documents. While not all employees feel the daily pressure of issues such as risk mitigation, compliance and regulation, the efficiency and cost-saving benefits of effective knowledge sharing is well documented. In some industries, such as the management of social care cases for example, it’s absolutely critical.”

About TOWER Software

TOWER Software is a global leader in the successful delivery and implementation of industrial strength Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions, delivering proven productivity enhancements and compliance policy management to our customers while helping them be prepared for e-discovery. Working closely with a range of customers across the globe to address their enterprise information management needs, TOWER Software has incorporated 22 years of real business experience into TRIM Context, its award-winning product. Extensive business rules have been assimilated into TRIM Context to create a configurable, “out-of-the-box” solution which enables organizations to achieve best-practice information management across the enterprise, while reducing implementation risk. TOWER Software, a privately held company, was founded in 1985 with the goal of addressing the enterprise information management needs of both public sector and private industry organizations with high accountability to regulatory authorities.

About the Research:

‘Document Mayhem in the Netherlands and the Nordics’ details quantitative research conducted by independent market research company, Dynamic Markets on behalf of TOWER Software. The sample covers an equal split of public and private sector organisations, with senior managers and general employees in organisations in the Netherlands and the Nordics. It also draws from a previously published report for the UK and the Republic of Ireland (ROI). 400 interviews were collected with organisations with 250 or more employees. All 400 respondents confirmed that the majority of employees at their organisation use a PC in their job. Respondents covered a wide variety of business functions, including sales, marketing, HR, finance, customer services, operations and purchasing and included senior management level executives.