The power of standardisation: employees can do what they are good at again
How do you ensure that in these chaotic times employees do not have to pay attention to peripheral issues and can continue to do what they are good at? The answer to this question lies in innovation and standardization using the right software. We helped a university hospital in the Netherlands with this step.
The legal department of the hospital in question draws up about eight hundred contracts per month. That takes an average of two hours per contract. A specific procedure is followed to ensure that the documents meet all requirements. We took a close look at this approach and devised a new set-up.
Fewer steps
We took the six steps back to four. For example, we said goodbye to one step: the legal department checked the documents, signaled that they were not in order, and sent them back to step one. The four hundred rejected documents then had to be modified and returned to the mill. With the help of our software, many building blocks in the document are now in order by default, which eliminates this verification step. The staff no longer have to worry about it. Compare it to manufacturing a chair: you don't have to check again and again whether the dimensions of the legs or the seat are correct. This is done once, after which the measurements are recorded. Each chair is then produced on the basis of the standardised measurements. That saves a lot of work.
What kind of documents do you want to create or not?
We also looked at the complexity of the documents. You can all work hard on a particular piece and think at the end of the day: that went well. Whereas: in fact, you have hours of work in it, without making any money for the organisation. To avoid this, we work with a schedule that reveals the different characteristics of the pieces. You can see at a glance whether documents are simple or complex, whether they need to be made single or in multiple and, finally, whether they are valuable to the organisation or not. This way, as an organisation, you can find out which documents you definitely do not want to create. In the case of the hospital: you don't want to draw up a hundred different contracts, but a basic contract that contains all the building blocks.
Result: from fourteen to one FTE
The result of our support: it only takes five minutes to draw up a contract. The legal department doesn't do an extra check and the administrative department doesn't do any unnecessary work. Previously, fourteen FTEs were needed to draw up employment contracts, now only one FTE. This means that thirteen FTEs are freed up for main issues. So these people can do what they are really good at.
The lesson
From this practical example, a general lesson can be distilled that not only benefits the hospital, but is useful for various organisations: however skilled the staff may be, it does not mean that an organisation as a whole will achieve better results as a result. These results only come about when the talent on board can focus on the most important work. And that's what enables standardisation of document creation using software. The lawyer comes up with a strong plea, the accountant submits annual accounts and the HR specialist thinks about a new personnel strategy instead of losing himself in drawing up contracts. So take the lead by using innovative software.
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