Anton Jan Wouters (Wooncompas): Map your processes and be in control as a housing association
Anton Jan Wouters (Wooncompas): Map your processes and be in control as a housing association
As a housing association you want to be in control, have insight into the risks you run, and take the right control measures. But how do you ensure this and what are the bottom-line gains for you as an organisation? CorporatieGids.nl posed this question to Anton Jan Wouters, Group Controller at housing association Wooncompas.
Gaining insight starts with describing processes, Anton Jan explains. “That helps us with training new employees, for example, which is especially great during the Covid pandemic given that they have to be trained remotely. What’s more, writing process descriptions forces us to think about how things work and they show whether employees really understand this. This sometimes leads to surprising observations. For example, the month-end closing process initially consisted of two steps: the month is over, and I close it. But what emerged during the discussions about this was that there is much more to it, and now we have a better understanding of what is happening. And lastly, it also helps with accountability, giving the auditor better insight into the control measures we take.”
Specific way of writing
According to Anton Jan, there are two approaches to mapping processes. “You can have it done by the process owners themselves – which requires knowledge and expertise from a large group – or make use of a small team specialised in writing process descriptions. Writing process descriptions is not something everyone can do equally well. It requires a specific way of writing that does not get bogged down in a swamp of work instructions. Work instructions are much too detailed for this purpose and also too susceptible to change. We came up with the idea of facilitating the link to work instructions using a hyperlink in Sensus BPM Online, our software for process management.”
Making information transparent
Wooncompas has recorded its processes in “a sort of flow chart”, explains Anton Jan. “It describes what the input is in each process, who is involved in the process, what the output is and which processes are linked. The use of software is indispensable for this, and for us that’s Sensus BPM Online. This forces us to make certain information transparent, like who the process owner is, what the objective of the process is, and the structure of the process, for example. This provides insight and gives a helicopter view of how it all correlates.” In Power BI we have developed dashboards that allow process owners to see the status of their risks at a glance.
Risk and control measures
According to Anton Jan, it is then important to link risks and control measures to this. “We asked each process owner what risks they see in ‘their process’ and how they have arranged their risk management. You try to sum that up as specifically as possible so that it becomes measurable. We have made an overview of this in Sensus BPM Online, linked to the processes.”
In control statements
“We are also working on arriving at ‘in control statements’. This means that we ask every process owner whether they can demonstrate that they are in control. This is only possible if you know what the risks are and to what extent properly functioning control measures have been implemented. With the forecasts of the probability and impact of risks, we as an organisation can set priorities in terms of risk management.” The dashboards mentioned above are very useful as a source of information for this.
External and internal changes
Although the processes at housing associations in general are relatively static, this does not mean that they do not change. Anton Jan explains, “For instance, external influences like further automation and digitalisation and the development of hybrid working means processes or certain process steps change continuously. Take working from home, for example: this requires more personal security measures and perhaps a different sequence of process steps. In addition to these kinds of external developments, internal changes, such as the lean design of processes, can also be a trigger. In recent years, housing associations have made an enormous effort to professionalise, and that trend is set to continue in the coming years. Good process descriptions and a link to risks and control measures are then essential to always remain in control.”
Source: CorporatieMedia, Photo: Wooncompas
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“In recent years, housing associations have made an enormous effort to professionalise and that trend is set to continue in the coming years. Good process descriptions and a link to risks and control measures are then essential to always remain in control.”
