Savant Zorg & Ictivity

A custom digital workplace for Savant Zorg

For many years, Savant Zorg, which operates seven care locations and employs 1,800 staff members, depended on their intranet, Savantplein, for internal communication. However, this resulted in an overwhelming amount of information and confusion. To simplify work for healthcare professionals, they chose Workspace 365, bringing together all applications, information, and communication in one place.

6 min read | case study

Challenge

Savant Zorg realised that their old intranet was not effective. Healthcare professionals often had to search for relevant information and applications, wasting valuable time. Home care staff, in particular, were difficult to reach as they rarely used a computer. This led to frustration, inefficiency, and a lack of engagement with internal communication.

Solution

Together with partner Ictivity, we implemented a digital workplace fully tailored to the needs of each employee. Using a relevance matrix, they identified the essential information and tools for specific roles. For home care staff, a simplified mobile version of the workplace was developed, ensuring they have access to everything they need while on the go.

Result

The new digital workplace, Savantplein, ensures that employees see only relevant information and applications. This keeps everyone better informed and streamlines internal communication. Additionally, the digital workplace is future-ready, with next steps in place for a seamless preboarding experience for new employees.

With teams spread across various locations or working in home care, an intranet is a crucial tool for most healthcare organisations to keep employees engaged, informed, and inspired. However, in a sector where time is precious, it is essential that intranet content is relevant and adds value. As a care professional, navigating through irrelevant information is the last thing you have time for. Information should be easy to find and, above all, aligned with primary tasks.

Information overload

Savant Zorg operates seven nursing and care homes and provides home care in Helmond and the surrounding areas. To keep its 1,800 employees informed about company, department, and location news, Savant Zorg has used its intranet, Savantplein, for years. Important information was shared through Savantplein, but it wasn’t clear if it was reaching all care employees. As a result, additional communication was sometimes sent via email or the electronic patient record. This led to employees being overwhelmed with information and uncertainty about where to find what they needed.

Savant Zorg decided it was time for a change. The goal? To develop a single platform that combines all applications, information, and communication in one place, tailored to care employees' needs, making daily work easier.

Tailored to care employees

Together with our partner Ictivity, Workspace 365 was implemented as the digital workplace for the new Savantplein. Anne-Marie van den Hout, ICT advisor and data protection officer at Savant Zorg, explains how they combined the digital workplace and intranet into a personalised platform for every care employee.

“Savantplein needed to be a work accelerator. So, we researched what our care employees needed to ensure Savantplein better aligned with their experience. It quickly became clear that the digital workplace had to be more personalised. Instead of displaying all information and applications in one place, employees should only see what is relevant to their roles and tasks.”

Relevance matrix

To create a digital workplace that seamlessly fits the work of different care employees, we needed to engage with them directly. That’s why Savant employees participated in various working groups during the renewal process.

“We sat down with Ictivity and a cross-section of our organisation,” Anne-Marie explains. “Together, we completed Ictivity’s relevance matrix. This matrix provides detailed insights into which employees need which type of information and applications and when. We dedicated a lot of time to this, as Ictivity used it as the foundation for the technical setup of Workspace 365 as our new digital workplace.”

Technology versus needs

One significant enhancement from the earlier version of Savantplein is the inclusion of every employee. Home care workers, especially, had previously been overlooked.

“We couldn’t always reach them effectively because they rarely work at a computer,” Anne-Marie explains. “This made it difficult for them to keep up with Savantplein and company news. We wanted to find a solution for this.”
The answer: a simplified version of Workspace 365 that care employees can access via the mobile app. This is a great example of how technology and user needs come together.

Focus on people

The goal of the new Savantplein is to simplify the daily work of care employees so they can focus on providing care. To achieve this, it was crucial that employees knew how to use the platform effectively.

Anne-Marie: “With a change like this, adoption is key. That was one of the reasons we partnered with Ictivity – they focus not only on technology but, most importantly, on people.”

The launch of the new Savantplein and Workspace 365 was preceded by multiple communication rounds, e-learning, in-person and digital support sessions, and Ictivity’s eCoach for any questions after rollout.

Streamlined communication

The old version of Savantplein has been phased out, and the new Savantplein is now in use. “The response from care employees have been positive,” says Anne-Marie.

“I hear that they are happy with the new digital workplace. Employees log in, see relevant news and information, and use SSO to access applications relevant to their work and location. We have significantly streamlined internal communication. I expect that our employees, including home care staff, will now be better informed about what’s happening within the organisation. And that Savantplein will make their work easier.”

A recent survey also provided positive feedback. Employees expressed a desire for even more personalisation within Savantplein. We are working on this, as our goal has always been continuous improvement. That’s why we have a feedback button in Savantplein – because translating employee insights into improvements is our top priority.

Further development for happy care employees

Savant Zorg deliberately started with a standard version of Workspace 365, as it best met care employees' needs. Now that the foundation is in place, the focus is on further development.

We are working together to explore new Workspace 365 features that fit Savant Zorg.

A concrete example is using Workspace 365 for preboarding new employees. The idea is that as soon as they sign their contract, they can log into Savantplein to familiarise themselves with the organisation. We are currently finalising this with Ictivity.

Additionally, we are exploring the possibility of using Workspace 365 as the foundation for a partner portal. This would make digital collaboration with external (healthcare) partners much easier in the future.

Anne-Marie: “We are very interested in these developments because they improve our organisation. At the end of the day, it’s all about making our care employees happier and making their work easier.”

Key takeaways

A relevant digital workplace for every employee

The new digital workplace is tailored to individual care employees and their specific roles within the organisation. This ensures access to the information, news, and applications they need for their work.

Increased efficiency

With the new Savantplein, Savant Zorg’s care employees no longer waste valuable time searching for information or the right applications, enhancing work efficiency.

Better reach

With Workspace 365, Savant Zorg’s care employees receive the right information, ensuring that important news doesn’t get lost among irrelevant topics.

Adoption

In addition to designing the new digital workplace, great emphasis was placed on adoption, ensuring that care employees embraced the new Savantplein. Through various communication tools, training sessions, and an eCoach, employees were guided through the transition.

A strong foundation for future development

The new Savantplein provides a solid foundation for further development. Together with Savant Zorg and Ictivity, we are exploring new functionalities and applications to further enhance employees' work experience.

What is Workspace 365?

Workspace 365 isn’t just a platform – it simplifies the IT landscape. Helping you and your team to unlock the ultimate digital work focus, so you can concentrate on high-value tasks that truly make an impact.

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