Performance management practice in brief: Gemeinnützige Werkstätten Oldenburg e.V.
Complex requirements and ever-changing legislation present social care organisations with particular challenges in their financial planning. Sophisticated accounting and financing models are called for, the focus being primarily on staff deployment as the main cost factor. In its HR management, Gemeinnützige Werkstätten Oldenburg e.V. (GWO) counts on modern corporate performance management with a professional solution. The workshop, which is recognised as a training provider for people with disabilities, is thus able to keep an eye on compliance with the staffing ratio specified in the regional framework agreement at all times, to identify any surpluses or shortfalls, and to make quick adjustments when necessary. In this interview, Claudia Scholz, Head of Administration at GWO, says: "We can now retrieve data evaluations that were previously produced just once or twice a year whenever we like."
What was your starting point?
Scholz: In our sector, staffing ratios are stipulated in contracts with various service providers. These need to be regularly monitored to ensure that, for instance, we are not too overstaffed. We did this first and foremost in Excel, which is a lot of work, especially with our size and our organisational hierarchy. We could only do this once or maybe twice a year, even though these data are of paramount importance for HR management.
What were the highlights?
I'm impressed at how quickly you can obtain information – once the structure has been built – i.e. at the touch of a button. We're now able to analyse data every month that we could previously only evaluate sporadically because of all the effort involved. This enables an efficient weak point analysis and allows us to identify potential savings.
What lessons have you learned?
It's absolutely essential to think carefully about the structures beforehand and to check whether they make sense. Why do I need a particular KPI? Does it provide a gain in knowledge that would ultimately make the investment in it pay off? It's important to bear in mind at the outset how many staff and how much time the project will require. In order to benefit from more time and greater transparency afterwards, you will need to make an investment first.
About Gemeinnützige Werkstätten Oldenburg and the project
Topics: cost management, financial planning, reporting, analysis
Sector: social services
Turnover: € 20 m
Employees: 300
Users: 3
Pre-systems: MICOS solutions (payroll, care, financials)
Implementation: VRG MICOS GmbH
