Nearly all government employees believe it is important to handle government information carefully. Yet, in practice, things don’t always go as they should, according to research by Leerhuis Informatiehuishouding (Learning Centre for Information Management) among nearly 1,800 government employees.
A full 97% of those surveyed consider it important to handle government information thoughtfully. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean employees store, share, and retrieve information appropriately. In particular, ingrained habits and work pressures can hinder good information behaviour.
Turning knowledge into action
The research shows that knowledge and motivation alone aren’t enough to change behaviour. Employees manage information more effectively when they feel personally responsible for making it easy to find. Confidence in their own skills helps too, as does storing information centrally, especially when it becomes a regular habit.
The researchers therefore argue that organisations should not focus solely on awareness and knowledge transfer. It is equally important to make the desired behaviour easy to adopt, for example, by aligning it with existing work routines and by providing employees with practical support.
Different roles, different approaches
The same approach does not work for every employee. The research highlights differences among groups, including managers, information professionals and ICT staff. For each group, it clarifies the barriers employees face and what helps them improve their information behaviour. The results provide organisations with a starting point for driving behaviour change more effectively, helping them tailor measures to employees’ everyday practices.
Practical tools
Behaviour Change Group conducted the research on behalf of the Leerhuis Informatiehuishouding. They presented the results in The Hague on 26 October 2026.
The Leerhuis has incorporated the key insights into a summary and two practical handouts, 1 for information management professionals and 1 for managers. Additional tools and learning activities will follow soon.
The summary and handouts are available via Leerhuis Informatiehuishouding’s website (Dutch). Here, you can also request the full (Dutch-language) research report.
