With an extensive digitization process, software specialist Teal Partners prepared the staffing agency Actief Interim for the crisis that no one had expected. At the end of last year, Actief still didn't have a digital flow for documents, but now operational tasks are handled through computers. During the lockdown, this transformation proved to be visionary.
Nine months ago, the digital landscape of Actief Interim was relatively outdated. Bruno Tollebeke, the CEO of the company, was looking for a partner to brainstorm on how to do things differently. The choice fell on Teal Partners. The two companies drew up a plan together, sitting in the CEO's attic, to put Actief back on the digital map. It was the beginning of a strong collaboration.
The digital transformation at Actief Interim proved to be visionary during the coronavirus crisis.
The digitization challenge of Actief was very ambitious. According to Koen Denies, Founding Partner at Teal Partners, the approach was threefold. First, they had to optimize the digital experience for candidates. "We also wanted to focus on building a strong relationship between candidate and consultant, and limit the operational aspect. The third aspect was to promote good collaboration between companies, consultants, and candidates."
"Especially the document flow of the consultants was a challenge," says Sören Seels, Digital Solutions Manager at the staffing agency. "If you express our old system in time, it was a disaster." Therefore, the efficiency gain had to strengthen the consultants of Actief. By thinking from a human perspective, the digital landscape was redesigned. "We found each other in the human aspect," says Koen Denies of Teal Partners.
"We are in a candidate market," Seels continues. "To attract good people, we need to focus on personal contact. A digital experience for candidates is also part of that." The importance of that aspect was magnified by the lockdown. Consultants and candidates had to be able to communicate smoothly from a distance. However, the old system was not prepared for that digitization. "During the crisis, we realized what our limitations were in that area."
In mid-May, Teal Partners' solution went live. The system immediately made a big difference for Actief's consultants. The digitization process proved to be visionary during the coronavirus crisis. "Now we can do video interviews, send digital invitations, and have documents signed through the computer. This way, the candidate can simply start without coming to the office."
Initially, Actief Interim's intention was to buy off-the-shelf products. However, the underlying system also had to be prepared for a modular approach. "It had to be modular, it had to be in the cloud, and above all, we wanted to be able to draw fun things in the future," says Seels. In the meantime, we have a portal for our candidates and consultants, and in September, there will also be a portal for employers."
Denies has meanwhile observed the shift towards a modular approach in the IT ecosystem at various companies. "Many customers want to buy a specific tool for a challenge, but they want to be able to change the tool in the future. Then, of course, you have to look at the entire ecosystem," says Denies. The ownership that companies have over the direction the ecosystem is taking is something he sees in every sector.
Teal Partners and Actief still have many plans for the future. The smooth collaboration between the two companies and the shared informal approach was crucial. "A portal where employers can view their invoices and consult reports, or offering pool lists of candidates. These are things we are looking at for the future. And that will certainly be done in consultation with Teal," concludes Seels.
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