Omnia Wonen, a housing association with approximately 9,000 homes in 11 municipalities in the housing market regions of Amersfoort and Noord-Veluwe, has increased the adoption rate of applications and reduced the pressure on the internal help desk by centralizing information (1). Thanks to SelfGuide, employees work more efficiently and have faster access to current information, making it easier to onboard new employees.
Omnia Wonen is a housing association that is committed to quality and affordable housing in the Amersfoort and Noord-Veluwe regions. With a portfolio of approximately 9,000 homes, Omnia Wonen supports tenants and employees by investing in digital solutions such as SelfGuide, with which they optimize both services and internal processes.
Before Omnia Wonen centralized information, it was spread across various platforms. Employees had to search for the right data manually and in a time-consuming way, which reduced efficiency and increased the workload at the internal help desk. This scattered storage of information made it more difficult to get started, because new employees had to search for what they needed longer. Victor Wildschut, I&A Team Leader, states:
“The switch showed that the adoption rate at Omnia Wonen was very low. After going live, people were still longing for the old, familiar way of working because colleagues were used to the old ERP system”
Omnia Wonen chose SelfGuide to make all relevant information available in one central location. This gives employees quick and easy access to current data and relieves the pressure on the help desk. This system makes it possible to access step-by-step instructions, including visual support, directly from the dashboard in the ERP system. Victor Wildschut explains:
“We paid a lot of attention to communicating with the organization, for example through monthly briefings about the progress of the migration.”
Employees now have a central source that enables them to work more efficiently and independently. This not only increases productivity, but also reduces dependency on the help desk. The platform also plays an important role in onboarding, because new employees have quick access to all the necessary information. Victor Wildschut notes:
“After a release, we notice that employees are able to work independently more and more quickly, partly thanks to the visual instructions in SelfGuide. This step-by-step support ensures that they find answers quickly, and thanks to SelfGuide's easy customizability, process owners can easily add updates with new screenshots when changes occur. This way, the information always remains up to date and immediately applicable.”
To ensure the quality and timeliness of the instructions in SelfGuide, Omnia Wonen reserves time by default for process owners to check and update the instructions. This structural maintenance ensures that employees always have access to the latest and relevant information, which improves both the efficiency and reliability of the system. Victor Wildschut explains:
“The centralization of process information does require time and energy from the process owners. That is why we usually block time with the process owners to get started with this. The amount of time varies by function and process, but think of one or two days per month.”
Omnia Wonen continues to invest in digital accessibility and wants to further automate and develop self-service options in the future. This offers employees the opportunity to independently find information, specifically focused on their job. This contributes to a more efficient onboarding process and higher employee satisfaction. Wildschut explains:
“We are working to provide each employee with a dashboard access to the processes within SelfGuide that are relevant to his or her job. This makes onboarding new colleagues a lot easier and more efficient.”
(1) Wildschut, Victor. Centralization of information increases adoption rate and reduces pressure on the internal help desk, Corporation Guide.
