Companies generally don’t differ in how they use a CRM system. A sales or marketing department uses it to manage customer relationships and track the journey from lead to prospect to customer. It is, in essence, a marketing and sales tool. But there’s another way. Alistar transformed Groep Weerwerk’s Microsoft 365 Customer Engagement CRM System into a tool for client registration and case management. This makes the software indispensable for tracking their clients. Because at Weerwerk, it’s about people, not products.
Market gap
The Weerwerk Group grew out of De Sleutel, a nonprofit organization in the healthcare sector that focuses on drug addiction. “We noticed that there were few job opportunities for people with a history of drug use,” Joachim Maertens recalls. Joachim leads the IT project at Weerwerk. “They often had gaps in their résumés due to drug use or hospitalization, and their experiences in the workplace weren’t always positive. So we created job opportunities for them ourselves, through what was then called a sheltered workshop.”
Meanwhile, Groep Weerwerk’s target audience has become much broader. “Some of our people struggle with addiction, have served time in prison, or have a physical or mental disability. Or, for other sociocultural reasons, they are far removed from the regular job market. “What they have in common is that they find it difficult to break into the private job market.”
The goal is the regular labor market
The main goal of the companies within the Weerwerk Group is to help employees transition to the regular job market. “People who come to us often start on our own worksite. They go through a program after which they can start working at a private company, although we also have people who continue to work with us. Every company wants to retain its best employees. But for us, every employee who leaves is a success.” The focus of our own companies is on landscaping and renovation services or temporary manual labor that is difficult to automate, such as repackaging products.
“Our group has about 300 employees spread across the various companies,” explains Joachim. “Weerwerk, Buurt & Co, Tot Uw Dienst, and Weerkracht focus on customized solutions, the local service economy, professional activation, and coaching.”
That makes a cross-company IT project difficult. “Four companies, three sites. Each with its own—sometimes specialized—software and way of working. Often with specific reporting requirements to the government. That’s certainly difficult to coordinate, but we had to do it.”
Specific needs, standard software package
“Our first challenge was financial,” says Joachim. “Fulfilling our obligations to the government always took a lot of time. That’s because every agency—and sometimes even every department—used its own software. Data transfer? That meant Excel spreadsheets. Emails. Paper.”
“We also ran into problems with personal registration. When someone comes to us for an intake interview, we record their work history, along with the obstacles they face in the job market. We then draw up a personalized development plan. We used specialized software called ‘Herman’ for that. When that was shut down, we were in deep trouble.”
Expertise was the deciding factor
Finding the right replacement turned out to be no easy task. “We weren’t looking for the right software package, but rather the right implementation partner,” Joachim explains. “We evaluated about ten providers, each offering a wide range of software packages. A demo of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement ”Alistar was what convinced us. Partly because, after our experience with Herman, we didn’t want to work with software that automatically tied us to a single implementer. And because Alistar had experience in our industry.“ Alistar has worked on IT projects for clients including De Sleutel, Group Intro, Unia, Plan Belgium, and the Tabor Group. Microsoft’s Nonprofit Program was also a deciding factor. ”Through that program, costs for a group like ours drop dramatically,” says Joachim.
At Groep Weerwerk, [name] is replacing Dynamics 365 CE In other words, specialized software for personnel registration and personal development projects. That requires a significant amount of customization, but the flexible Microsoft software lends itself well to that. “The software suite had to be able to handle regional reporting differences between provinces and the varying needs within the four companies. Yet it also had to be uniform enough to ensure the smooth flow of data exchange between departments.” And, of course, there’s also the fact that Groep Weerwerk Dynamics 365 CE used for something it wasn't actually designed for.
A Flexible CE Package
Dynamics 365 CE essentially tracks your customers' buyer journey. In short, it contains all the information about your customers and prospects. However, Groep Weerwerk uses the software in a completely different way.
“When someone comes to us for an intake interview, we record all the details in CE: personal information, work history, and any history of drug use or incarceration. We then draw up a personal development plan. We refer the person to one of our companies, with a set of tasks and, if applicable, an end date. Once the program is completed, the individual is either referred to the regular job market or placed in a new program. In this way, we help our clients gradually build positive work experiences, with increasing responsibility. All of this is recorded in CE,” says Joachim.
“We also ‘track’ employee growth and determine their position on the career ladder: formal economy, local economy, IBO…” Security is also important. “Sensitive information is always involved. Certain employees have access to certain parts of the software, while others do not. Our people are also assigned a mentor. Each of those features was custom-built.”
Project is paying off
That also comes with a few drawbacks. “It takes a while for our employees to get the hang of it. And any issues are specific to the project, which means explaining them to help desk staff can sometimes take a bit of time. We also ran into a few problems during the year-end closing. We’re now working with Alistar to iron out those kinks in the software. Despite the benefits, this isn’t a finished process yet.” But that doesn’t have to be an obstacle. After all, guiding people through new work environments is their specialty.
Wondering how we can help your business, too?
