The fact that smart document management boosts business seems to have passed many managers by.
A new survey shows low knowledge and little interest in document management among managers in Sweden, especially those over 40. A common reason is that document management is not seen as a strategic issue. Ways sees it as its mission to help more people discover the value of next-generation document management.
Last winter, document management experts Ways conducted a YouGov survey* to gauge attitudes and knowledge about document management among Swedish managers. The survey shows that interest in document management is generally low among managers and that attitudes differ between younger and older people.
Difference in attitude between younger and older managers
The different views and attitudes towards document management between younger and older managers are reflected in the results of most of the survey questions, including the following;
- 35% of managers under 40 say that interest in document management would increase if they saw the reliability of a document increase. Only 6% of older people agree.
- Positive effects on productivity interest older managers more than younger ones.
27% of those over 40 think this would increase interest. Among younger people, the figure is 17%.
- Document management leading to reduced business risk (documents lost, contracts missed to be renegotiated) is seen as an important criterion by 30% of younger managers. To compare with
15 per cent of the older.
- 17% of younger managers say that something that would interest them is if the legal risk (mishandling of sensitive information) is reduced. This compares to 8% of the older.
- 33% of older managers would take more interest in document management if they saw positive effects in terms of a more flexible way of working. The figure among younger managers is 30%.
- When asked in multiple-choice questions about the factors behind poor document management, 20% of managers 40+ said it could be due to a lack of interest from the organisation. 17% of younger people agree with this.
*The survey on managers’ views on document management was conducted by YouGov, on behalf of Ways, on 4-8 November 2021 among 500 managers (men and women aged 18-65) in Swedish companies.