Solidaris moves from complex fragmentation to clear collaboration

The essence

Solidaris, Belgian socialist health insurance fund, has an extensive history dating back to the 1920s. Through the merging of various mutual insurance funds, there is a complex structure in which the former entities still each work in their own way. The IT infrastructure is also fragmented, which makes mutual collaboration and uniformity in documentation very difficult.

And so in 2019 Solidaris got to work on the implementation of a centralised approach and IT architecture. Jan Sabbe, Trusted Advisor at The Flow, has been helping them since 2020 with the WeLaunch project which, with the help of Microsoft 365, is to make that uniformisation possible. And after the name change in July 2022 (from De VoorZorg and Bond Moyson to Solidaris), the project is now more important than ever.

‍

‍

‍

Problem statement

Solidaris is a fairly complex organisation. There is the national federation, the “National Federation of Socialist Mutual Insurance Funds (NVSM)”, which brings together all the socialist health insurance funds of Belgium. Since 2022, those health insurance funds all operate under the name Solidaris, but each with their own operation. In total there are around 7500 employees who service some 3.2 million members. Due to the lack of a uniform and centralised approach, it is a challenge to collaborate across offices and departments.

Solidaris was convinced of a new approach and information architecture and turned to The Flow for project management, guidance and general advice.

‍

“In 2019 we started the preparations for the WeLaunch project, which stands for the internal digitalisation project with MS Office 365. Concretely, with it we wanted to implement and uniformise the whole range of Microsoft 365 within the organisation.”

Stijn Foselle, IT Infrastructure & Operations Manager at Solidaris.

‍

The main objective of the WeLaunch project is to facilitate and structure the collaboration between all departments (in Flanders and Wallonia) and the head office in Brussels. That benefits not only the internal operation but also the members of Solidaris.

Example: Every Solidaris department has its own folder structure with its own documents, even though they are largely the same. If there is a legislative change, every department has to adjust that themselves in the right document. Thanks to a uniform and centralised knowledge platform, that can be adjusted everywhere in one go.

Jan Sabbe, Trusted Advisor and project manager at The Flow: “You can imagine that it is quite complex to carry out that centralisation for so many departments and people. How do we organise that? How do we structure that information? And how do we ensure that the system can also handle regional differences and variations? A tough question, which we resolved with a lot of clear consultation.”

‍

‍

‍

Project flow of the WeLaunch project

The WeLaunch project at Solidaris is divided into three major phases. The starting point was always that Solidaris wanted to do as much as possible themselves, with advice and expertise from The Flow, and that it proceeded at the pace of the people. Stijn Foselle: “It is not for nothing that our slogan is ‘Everyone on board’, that also applies to our own people.”

The project runs across the entire organisation, both on the Flemish and Walloon sides. The 7500 employees are spread across hundreds of departments, each of which has to make the migration. At least 5 to 6 tracks run in parallel, but with a turnaround time of about two months per department, the project will certainly run until the end of 2024.

‍

‍

Phase 1: Technical preparation and migration

In the first phase of the project, the focus was on the technical preparation and determining the user adoption process, for which Jan was responsible as project manager. Technically, that was about migrating all user mailboxes and personal files to OneDrive, setting up multi-factor authentication, etc. In terms of user adoption, that was finding out and determining the digital maturity of the employees and tailoring the trainings to it.

Jan Sabbe, Trusted Advisor and project manager at The Flow: “This phase was quite intensive and required close collaboration with various departments and contact persons in each health insurance fund. For this I used the ADKAR methodology, an acronym for the five phases you go through in change management.”

‍

ADKAR METHODOLOGY
Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement.

Awareness
“We inform everyone of the change and focus on why the change is coming. You get that awareness by investing in communication, organising info and inspiration sessions, storytelling and motivating. I took on the coordination of that; the creation of all that content was with Solidaris itself.”

Desire
“We organised lunch sessions to show the result of the project, on the basis of success stories of earlier migrations. We first rolled out a few teams completely, as a test and as an example for others. Through testimonials from colleagues, you make others keen to get started too.”

Knowledge
“Solidaris works with a number of LMSs (learning platforms) on which we therefore developed the various learning tracks. As soon as it was time for a department to migrate, they followed a fully automated track – I’m quite proud of that! Concretely, the employees get a message when they are scheduled for migration, and which steps they have to go through when. There is also sufficient information for aftercare and training after the migration.”

Ability
The ability to learn new skills was actually included in the extensive learning platform that was developed. By combining exercises there with personal guidance for specific questions, the adjustment went very smoothly. We also set up an ambassador network that supported end users throughout all the changes.

Reinforcement
By expressing appreciation and compliments about how employees deal with the new change, you ensure that that change sticks and the need “for the old way” does not arise.

Phase 1 was successfully completed after about a year, with the result that all 7500 Solidaris employees have a centralised Microsoft account, have online access to all documentation and the historical differences have been resolved in the new M365 environment.

‍

‍

“There is a very good collaboration with The Flow […] We always communicate very openly and transparently, both about daily matters and certain challenges or things that are going less well.”

Stijn Fosselle, IT Infrastructure & Operations Manager at Solidaris

‍

‍

Phase 2: Collaboration and Structuring

In phase 2 – which is in full swing – we ensure that everyone can work securely in the Microsoft 365 environment. In addition to the implementation of multi-factor authentication, the focus is mainly on collaboration.

Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online and other Microsoft applications are introduced to improve communication and collaboration between different departments. Like many other companies during the COVID pandemic, Microsoft Teams was quickly rolled out or put into use, but unlike many other companies, Solidaris already had a vision for the further, more efficient use of it.

Jan Sabbe: “In this phase we look at the efficient and structured setup (and use) of Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online and other Microsoft applications that we activated in phase 1. You don’t want a proliferation of Teams channels or groups, or for every manager to implement their own structure. Solidaris goes for a uniform structure, with guidelines, that everyone can get on board with. I devise that structure together with all directors and managers. That is quite a tough challenge, because everyone does have their own view on it. It is my role to bring that together, give advice and reconcile it into a structure that is workable and desirable for everyone.”

On both the Flemish and Walloon sides, 2024 will be dedicated to bringing on board all departments and directorates.

‍

Phase 3: Process optimisation and Automation

While phase 2 is still in full swing, Solidaris is already looking ahead to phase 3. This phase will focus on process optimisation and automation. With all data available online, Solidaris will use Microsoft’s advanced features to simplify and automate administrative tasks, with a considerable increase in efficiency as a result.

Stijn Foselle: “We view phase 3 as a continuous process, that will keep running because technology and the M365 software also constantly change. Technology does not stand still – and neither do we want to.”

‍

‍

‍

Collaboration

In total there are around 40 to 50 people involved in the implementation of the WeLaunch project, but there is a core team of functional experts that works in a multidisciplinary way.

Jan Sabbe: “I am the overarching advisor and project manager, both on the Flemish and Walloon sides. Because what exists on the Flemish side has a complete copy on the Walloon side: two IT directors, two HR directors, etc. Literally everything goes to one environment, across the language border. I am the bridge between both sides: I listen to what everyone wants, give advice and bring everything together. In addition, there are technical experts who manage SharePoint, communication managers and change managers. Solidaris has also hired two full-time coaches, who will roll out the project approach that I helped define from my expertise and experience at other clients.”

“Such a team is ideal, because the communication lines between business and IT are very short. When the change manager notices a problem, IT can solve it immediately. If IT notices that they get a lot of questions around a certain topic, we can immediately adjust the training to it.”

Stijn Foselle: “There is a very good collaboration with The Flow, both with Jan and with Helga (Florentie, managing partner The Flow, ed.) and the other consultants. We always communicate very openly and transparently, both about daily matters and certain challenges or things that are going less well.”

‍

‍

Challenges

Just as with any project, here too there were some challenges and lessons learned.

For example, there was the technical complexity of migrating thousands of users to new systems, which required a lot of preparatory analysis and information architecture.

Another challenge was mainly the change management: Solidaris had to ensure that all employees understood and embraced the new systems, which is not always easy in such a large organisation. On top of that came the coronavirus pandemic, which meant that in the first phase everything went via e-learning.

Jan Sabbe: “It is not self-evident to learn something online. There are different ages, backgrounds, digital maturity, etc. Everyone also learns in a different way. That is why we always focused on the pace of the employees, so that everyone was certainly on board.”

“In the second phase we deliberately opt for a more personal approach, and two full-time M365 coaches were hired. They sit down next to the employees on site to explain everything. That is certainly an added value.”

‍

‍

Result

The most important success factor in this project was the commitment and determination of both The Flow’s team and Solidaris’ internal teams. The ability to work together, overcome challenges and pursue common goals has made this collaboration a success.

Jan Sabbe: “The feedback from the employees is generally very positive. The transparency, the easy retrieval of files thanks to the strong Microsoft search engine, and also the guidance are highly appreciated. That technical migration of those services actually proceeds frictionlessly. Afterwards everyone knows exactly where to search and how to work.”

‍

‍

‍

Future

In 2024, phase 2 starts on the Walloon side, with Maite Van Rampelbergh of The Flow designing and starting the communication campaign around change management. Think of explainer videos, content creation for newsletters, posters, internal communication, etc. The focus there is mainly on the ‘why’ of the change, and its result.

Stijn Foselle: “It would be great if, after phase 2, we could finally say goodbye to the old way of working and find ourselves in a fully modern workplace strategy. Phase 3 will play an important role in that, in which we can keep expanding with new tools in the Microsoft package with a view to efficiency and a pleasant workplace for everyone.”

Jan Sabbe: “For phase 3 we will mainly need Power Platform experts to implement everything, but also to really sit at the table as an advisor with Solidaris. So be sure to check our vacancies.“

‍

‍

Conclusion

The collaboration between The Flow and Solidaris is a great example of how a strong partnership and effective project management can lead to transformation and growth. Thanks to the commitment, expertise and dedication of everyone involved, Solidaris is now on its way to a modern, efficient information structure and modern workplace that enables the organisation to improve its services and fulfil its mission.

This project shows the importance of collaboration, communication and a clear vision in realising a modern workplace on a large scale. It shows that with the right people, processes and technologies, organisations can flourish, even in the most challenging circumstances. Because even then you can count on our expertise.

‍

Also want to optimise your workplace?

We’d be happy to sit down together!