There is a number of work that can only be done in specific locations, epidemic here, epidemic there. However, thanks to digitalisation, even a district heating provider has a number of options to enable at least some of its employees to perform their tasks remotely. While on-site work in thermal power plants cannot be completely eliminated, a significant part of background processes, such as document management, can be solved remotely without any further ado. Magdolna Solcz-Ujvári, a document management and digitization expert at FŐTÁV Nonprofit Zrt., Introduces Computerworld readers to some interesting lessons
Magdolna Solcz-Ujvári: Of course we did not start from scratch, the automation of our processes, electronic we started driving as early as 2010. Since then, we have moved forward with more or less interruptions. The pandemic made clear the direction of progress and forced a shift. We were lucky because we had some parameterization options that we could implement with few resources. A good example of this is reducing prints. It was already intended not to print incoming emails as well as inquiries received through the office gate. This has accelerated as a result of the pandemic, to our great relief, so that these documents have not had to be printed for the last good year.
CW: In what other areas have you managed to get rid of paper
Magdolna Solcz-Ujvári: At the beginning of the quarantine situation, it caused a serious problem when it was necessary to sign a manager to settle a matter, such as arranging an appointment with the signatory, involving a courier service and I could list. Although it would have been more difficult in the past, we have now come to a decision: we have introduced electronic signatures among senior executives. Incidentally, our current quick steps were also helped by the fact that the e-government system officially launched in Hungary on January 1, 2018, which affects Főtáv as a public utility service provider, so we are obliged to provide electronic administration. We have been monitoring the developments and we have seen that the system is evolving very actively, resulting in a reduction in paper-based administration and the automation of more and more repetitive processes. We are already winking at RPA (Robotic Process Automation). First, we want to review the processes and clarify where software bots might come into play. Some of the work is already in progress
CW: In what areas would software robots be used?
Magdolna Solcz-Ujvári: We are primarily thinking about the automation of data cleaning, the development of processes supporting collection, and the replacement of monotonous tasks with software robots. In this way, we could entrust our staff with other tasks, even those that increase competitiveness, and thus make their work more efficient.
CW: What percentage of their staff were able to work remotely?
Magdolna Solcz-Ujvári: Our total number of employees, including our mental and physical employees, is currently about 800 people. . Half of our intellectual staff knew or could perform about 90 percent of their tasks from home. We were also helped in this by using the content and workflow management module of our accredited electronic records management system. In addition to the records management processes, you can find here, among other things, our contract repository, the approval of our procurement processes, the account authorization process, the study repository and other workflows that support the corporate process. In total, we have already diverted 50-60 percent of our processes to electronic channels, so by the end of last year we managed to ensure that most of our tasks and administration would run smoothly even in the changed circumstances. This, of course, required other measures in terms of infrastructure, personal customer service offices and the back office area. We had to get a larger quantity of notebooks so that our colleagues could work from home as well. Those who did not have access to a portable device could take their desktops home. We suspended our personal customer service offices in accordance with the restrictions, and we were able to continue to employ our personal customer service colleagues who previously worked there by telephone or other administrative tasks – to name just a few changes.
CW: How did the employees respond to the changed situation
Magdolna Solcz-Ujvári: we were in the fortunate position of being able to build the infrastructure quickly. Notebooks arrived, helpdesk staff handed out devices to provide network access, and it was already possible to work from home. It made things easier for everyone. After a while, a questionnaire was prepared, in which HR asked colleagues about the experiences and effects of the home office. Seventy-two percent of respondents said they did their job more efficiently at home than in the office. Most of the others had a harder time living telecommuting because their children were also at home, studying at home, and in need of help. A large percentage of respondents reported pleasant, smooth working days, and only 7% felt that working from home was stressful and the pace of work was strained.
CW: What feedback did customers receive about pandemic administration? ?
Magdolna Solcz-Ujvári: I don’t know about negative feedback. In addition to telephone and e-mail contact, there is the possibility of online administration. In our experience, residential consumers are also increasingly using the opportunities offered by e-government. As it is mandatory for businesses to use the company gateway, this opportunity was inherently available to our business customers. Although we were forced to temporarily close our personal customer service offices at the time of the epidemic, they cannot be closed. Many people in the population still demand personal administration.
CW: Did the employees of Főtáv have the right qualifications and knowledge to work from home?
Magdolna Solcz-Ujvári: There were areas where education had to be organized. Here, for example, is the approval of invoices, which took place electronically in our ELO records management system. During the pandemic, we had an ELO upgrade that required trainings to be held entirely online. It is clear that the employees’ IT knowledge and attitude towards software have improved a lot. In fact, today, with the exception of signing contracts, all processes can be done electronically, and we have prepared our staff for this. We plan to expand the range of electronic signatures already introduced for senior executives, so we will first extend it to outgoing correspondence, other documents, and later to contracts. This would virtually eliminate the storage of papers. I would like to emphasize that without the positive attitude of the workers, we would not have been able to take these steps and implement the changed, improved systems so effectively.
CW: Are there any setbacks expected after the pandemic, or are unbroken digital transformations planned?
Magdolna Solcz-Ujvári: What we have managed to divert to the electronic path will remain, and we will even electronicize new processes in the near future. . Such is the case with design review, which is currently being parameterized. I see that colleagues have caught on to the taste of digitization, with more and more people coming to us with newer and newer electronization proposals for corporate processes. Recently, we conducted a survey to increase efficiency. We examined who had a task for how long. We’ve gathered a lot of data and made different dashboards out of it. The data filtered from the survey shed light on the operation of the processes and the impact of digitization
CW: What percentage of their invoices are issued electronically
Magdolna Solcz-Ujvári: We have approximately 245 thousand consumers. We issue an average of this number of invoices per month, of which 44,000 are electronic. Last spring, at the beginning of the pandemic period, our customer service staff tried to persuade customers to switch to electronic invoicing and, in this context, to abandon paper invoicing. They achieved partial results, some switched, but some have since changed their minds and returned to the traditional solution. However, this does not bother us, as we know the world of the future is digitized, information can be accessed and shared online.
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