“I think it’s a great, clear way of working and would definitely recommend it to other housing associations”

Housing association Het Grootslag rents out and manages approximately 2800 social rental housing units in the Dutch municipalities of Drechterland, Medemblik and Hoorn. The association has been a customer of Sensus process management since 2014. This year, it is evaluating its process management system together with senior consultant Hans Bloemen. The collection process for rent arrears has been re-developed based on the processes guide developed by housing association sector organisations Aedes and CorpoNet. Gerard Degeling, who works in the Liveability team, talks about his experiences with Sensus BPM Online and working with the processes guide.

Consistent working method

Het Grootslag sees many benefits to efficient process management and Gerard is happy with the decision to go with Sensus BPM Online. “With a good process description you can see at a glance who is responsible for what, and both internal and external partners are clearly visible. That’s good for us, and it’s good for familiarising new hires. It also works well if you want to explain something or go through it together; with pictures and an explanation, that’s really all you need. We also see it as an advantage that as an organisation you are opting for one uniform working method and it’s not possible to overlook anything. I think that works very efficiently, and the time savings are huge. I also really like the collaboration with Hans Bloemen; there was a good rapport right off the bat. Hans tackles things and works it out from start to finish. He gives clear explanations and is knowledgeable.”

Making processes clear

An important topic at Het Grootslag is keeping process management up to date. On this topic, Gerard says, “That’s why we are re-examining our processes. It’s edifying to think more deeply about the various processes besides collection, such as neighbour nuisance, payments and legal proceedings. There are various situations that could possibly result in eviction, each requiring a specific approach. This way, in the case of rent arrears you can eventually move on to eviction. This process is fully described. But you also have evictions due to neighbour nuisance. Ultimately, the outcome is the same, but the process leading up to eviction is different. We are also thinking about this now.”

A strong foundation

Hans Bloemen introduced Aedes and CorpoNet’s processes guide, which includes a description of the rent arrears collection process. According to Gerard, the processes guide is perfect for use at Het Grootslag given that, in general, all housing associations have the same process flow. “You only see differences in the finer points and internal processes, and these we then supplement ourselves. By using the processes guide, we don’t have to start from scratch. It’s a good starting point and it saves a lot of time too. We were also able to tailor the processes and add useful information with the description tools. Of course you have to make sure that you don’t end up writing an entire book: then you miss the whole point of the exercise. It’s better to use short, strong, clear terms.”

Easy to evaluate