Dutch homecare provider improves quality, productivity and employee satisfaction
The Client
Omring, a large homecare provider in the Netherlands
Care is provided for essential personal care and clinical tasks – Assistance with tasks such as meal preparation, companionship and shopping is provided by other organisations, as is usual in the Netherlands
Workers are on guaranteed hours contracts are used: Zero-hour contracts are prohibited in the Netherlands
A large number of contract types were used for the varying number of hours required by the carers
Carers are paid for client contact time and travelling time only
Challenges
Perceived shortage of care staff and difficulty coping with workload
Staff were dissatisfied with work patterns
Uneven distribution of workload, fragmented shift patterns, a lot of travelling
Some shifts were too short, while others were too long and fragmented
Poor work/life balance – Not many free days for carers
Decentralised planning was time consuming and inefficient. Quality of planning was inconsistent between teams. Planning was generally basic and not focused on quality or efficiency
Approach & findings
Starting in a pilot area with 125 workers, Strategic Optimisation was performed with R² to model alternative scenarios and ways of working – A collaborative approach was used to involve all levels of the organisation as well as clients and works council in the review and decision-making process to develop a solution accepted by all
Integrated teams were in use but were operating inefficiently – Scenarios were modelled to demonstrate the benefit of changing mix of skills and share of responsibilities within teams
Team sizes and boundaries were limiting quality and productivity – Strategic Optimisation showed that merging some teams had a significant impact on productivity and travelling
Care plans had been created based on time-task and organisational habit – Large portion of visits had fixed or very small time-windows and had negative impact on productivity. Scenarios were modelled to demonstrate the effect of giving additional time flexibility to some visits
Changes made
Team areas redefined. Some teams/regions merged
Skill levels and share of responsibilities in integrated teams was adjusted
Care plans updated: additional time flexibility given to some visits where appropriate
Standardised 5, 6 and 8 hour work shifts introduced and matched to demand
Benefits
Unpopular work patterns eliminated:
More compact work patterns with less unused waiting time
Staff got to have days off: 25% fewer staff needed each day
Travelling between visits (time as well as well as distance) reduced by 45%
Travelling to/from home reduced by 25%
Time spent on planning reduced by 85%
Capacity to take on additional clients
Improved quality and stability
Staff, works council and clients supported the changes
