Emmaüs keeps wage costs under control with eBlox Budget
From daytime childcare to care for the elderly, Emmaüs in Antwerp provides medical services and care for all ages. The organisation has 24 facilities and employs 6,600 people altogether. "Wage costs account for 80% of our total budget", says HR staff member Ingrid Kerremans. "That's why an effective simulation tool is absolutely vital. With eBlox Budget, we can draw up the budget twice as fast."
SD Worx has been the regular payroll partner for Emmaüs since 2004. "All the members of the group use eBlox for payroll calculations. We were also looking for a tool to simulate wage costs for our mental health, general and elderly care divisions", HR staff member Ingrid Kerremans continues. "The majority of our employees work in these departments, totalling around 4,400. Tight finances make an annual budget indispensable."
SD Worx offered an efficient application to handle this. Ingrid: "They developed a custom application for us in 2005. It worked well for a long time, but after more than 12 years it was definitely past its prime", Ingrid recalls. "The programme required a certain level of technical knowledge to use and didn't always produce simulations easily. Doing the budget was inspiring more and more reluctance."
Bullseye
In 2017, SD Worx took the initiative to create a new simulation tool itself: eBlox Budget. "The various modules were replaced by a unified programme", Ingrid explains. "The optimised integration with the payroll remained, as did the tool's other benefits. Negative aspects were each eliminated one by one, however."
The new tool was a hit. "We were thrilled from the start", Ingrid confirms. "We were assigned a permanent contact person during the implementation and the subsequent testing. Open communications and solid guidance by SD Worx ensured optimal functioning of the application. After the trial period, we rolled out eBlox Budget for all our mental health, general and elderly care departments."
Three types of added value
So far, eBlox Budget has been the perfect tool for Ingrid and her colleagues. "Its added value is threefold. First, the user-friendliness. We were underway in only a few hours. Furthermore, we can perform the simulations either at an individual level, such as in the event of an exceptional wage increase, or at the group level a general pay indexation, for example. If we do encounter any difficulties, the help desk is quick to help out."
In addition, the well-thought-out dashboard has proved its usefulness time and time again. "The clear graphs and diagrams enable us to report to management efficiently."
Finally, eBlox Budget's speediness is an essential asset. "Just a few clicks suffice to create accurate salary budgets – a spectacular improvement that saves us 50% more time. Where before, two of us spent 80% of our time on simulations for three months, one person is now enough."
Payroll administration running smoothly
Thanks to eBlox Budget, months of stressful budgeting are a thing of the past at Emmaüs. Ingrid and her team now want to start using the tool to monitor actual wage costs as well. "That way, we can tell whether our budget is working out in practice at any time. We will also be rolling out eBlox HR shortly. The Performance and Development modules offer employees insight into their learning process and make it easy for them to sign up for training. In short: we found the right partner for a smooth payroll and personnel administration in SD Worx."
