Why starting a change process with Accezz without a direct financial need? The approach of Bob de Geyter, financial director of General Hospital Monica, was therefore different: “No focus on the financial aspect, but on optimizing the work processes. How can we better balance workload and improve the quality of work? Are there any quick wins that we are missing?”
After a varied career in defence, in the financial world and in business, Bob made the switch to the non-profit sector. “In terms of size, AZ Monica is an above-average general hospital, with 2 campuses in Deurne and Antwerp center. A nice working environment. In a hospital you don't just look at profit optimisation. There is also eye for the social aspect. Even after a bad day, you know you've helped somebody,” says Bob.
There was no direct financial reason.
This was my second programme with Accezz, so I knew they would be able to help. In my first programme Accezz implemented the improvements, with a financial guarantee on the project costs. In the hospital, the setting was somewhat different. There was no direct financial reason. I wanted to optimize the work processes in the support departments. We started with an analysis of the personnel department, followed by the account department. We still mostly worked manually in anticipation of the new digitization and automation system. It makes no sense to do the entire implementation in a system that you know will be completely different next year. With Accezz we have initiated a number of changes that will have an effect even after those steps. After the analysis, recommendations were made during a workshop and the right tools were provided to work more efficiently, regardless of the circumstances. So we are going to make really big leaps forward.
Accezz as ally
At the start of such an analysis, you have always unrest among people. What will change and what does that mean for us? “We tried to frame this in advance. We will look at how we can work more efficiently. Paul Achenbach, Analyst/Consultant of Accezz, immediately told our team: I am here to help you. Feel free to indicate the things that you encounter yourself. And that worked well; the team eventually started to see him as a true ally. Always physically present on the work floor, always directly approachable. That worked well, there was a strong focus on practice and a team-oriented approach. We worked together on the improvements. So don't spend half a day on the job and then spend four and a half days behind the laptop working out how to do it. It really is a story you share and implement together,” says Bob.
We do more with the same people
Together with the department, the process and all disruptions were examined. What are the tasks taking a lot of time? Where can the workload be more evenly distributed? Where can time be made available? This created room to set up cost control for the hospital. The work is much more streamlined. By working more efficiently, we do more with the same people. The workload was very high, but due to the improvements no increase in the number of team members was necessary.
Not only the operational processes have improved, the team has also benefited greatly from the exercise. You will only make a change sustainable if the employees themselves also take a step. By holding weekly meetings in which bottlenecks are resolved and by planning and following up the following week, teamwork has been greatly improved. Organizing the work processes in a smarter way results in a higher quality of the working relationships. It's nice to see what evolution our entire team has gone through. A really nice result!
