Human Resources Development – Better Structured and More Efficient

"Whenever employees deal directly with customers, i.e. in any service-provider company, these employees are the decisive factor for success," says Klaus Ziegler. That's why he and his wife, Rosemarie Amos-Ziegler, both owners of WGfS GmbH, are always looking for new ways to find excellent employees and, above all, to keep them in the company over the long term. For one, the company near Stuttgart offers its employees career prospects through systematic HR development. For another, corporate health management also plays a very important role – especially since the physical and psychological stress involved in nursing and caring for seniors is substantial. One third of all care givers in the industry are considered to be at risk of burnout. The company is investing a total of near 500,000 euros in the training of its 200 employees.

Last year, the technical inspection agency, TÜV Süd, awarded WGfS with the
German education prize for small and medium-sized service providers. According to the jury, this was in part due to the use of easySoft software, which has made many processes more systematic and efficient. "The quality of employee support has increased once again," agrees Nadiia Glock. For the past two years, the information manager has been responsible for internal
education and health management. She has recently put together the company's training brochure, which includes 125 further education courses, each with an average attendance of 20 employees. "That was complicated until now because we were working with different programs," explains the Ukrainian-born manager. With easySoft, she now has everything from a single source. Above all, she has been able to use the software to develop a uniform structure for advertizing each seminar. "This is much more attractive for the employees because they can quickly see what the course is about, who the instructor is and when and where it takes place," she adds happily.

One year on, the possibilities of the program are still far from exhausted. WGfS could save itself the cost of printing the training brochure in the future, since the Publish module would allow employees to find their training courses via an app and register online. This would save even more administrative work. "But that is still a long way off," laughs Nadiia Glock. Currently, two administrative staff as well as the seven care managers in the three WGfS homes also work with the software.

It is imperative that they be able to work with the program because the two annual employee reviews are always recorded in the system. One part of the review is dedicated to HR development: Does the current qualification status also correspond to the requirement profile according to legal requirements and current qualification certificates, or does the employee need further training? Which direction does the employee want to go career-wise? What are the necessary training steps? Care managers and care givers can then develop a detailed training plan. Whether intern or manager, every WGfS employee has such a personalized development plan. "Higher qualification levels achieve better care results for the residents and more job satisfaction for the employees," says Rosemarie Amos-Ziegler, explaining the extensive employee support.

Another part of the employee review is devoted to health satisfaction. Starting with their own BMI, nutrition and sleep and including working conditions, employees assess their current state of health on a scale. As a result, an administrative employee who often feels disturbed by a lot of inquiries may find that he or she can work from home to stay on track with a (deadline) task. In another example, a nurse who often feels stressed at work could take a relaxation course in order to be able to recognize sooner when tensions are rising and then find easy ways to deal with them while still on the job. Every employee can take part in yoga, mindfulness or fitness courses for twelve work hours per year. "We want to create an awareness in people's minds, and for many of them, the change is permanent because they are taking more and more responsibility for their own well-being," observes Mr. Ziegler. At 4.9 percent, the sickness rate is well below the industry average of seven percent.

WGfS has now been working with easySoft software for one year and when Klaus Ziegler and Nadiia Glock get together, their verdict fluctuates between "quite impressed" and "very, very satisfied". "We now have all master data in one program," states Mr. Ziegler. This saves them an incredible amount of time and avoids transfer errors. "Our employees come from 38 nations and have pretty complicated names for us Germans," he says, highlighting a very practical problem. In addition, there is a high percentage of young female employees.

Before, a change of address or a change of name after getting married meant having to make changes in multiple areas. These redundancies are also a thing of the past.
Soon, the interface between the master data and the software for the work schedules should be integrated, further streamlining the processes. "It's incredible what we can do with easySoft," says the 49-year-old nursing home operator. Their library with 400 reference books is spread over the three locations south of Stuttgart. Up to now, checking out books had to be recorded on paper, which was cumbersome and confusing. Today, one look at the program is enough for the person in charge to see where a certain book is and who has borrowed it.