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How do you improve both process-efficiency and the working environment in one of Sweden’s largest organisations? For Vattenfall, the answer was to implement a new system for managing sickness absence, enabling employees, managers, payroll and rehabilitation teams to work together.
11 500 employees and the need for a shared way of working
Vattenfall is one of Europe’s largest energy companies, generating, distributing and selling electricity and heat across several European markets. With around 11 500 employees in Sweden alone, the organisation manages a wide range of processes related to sickness absence, rehabilitation and employee health.
The work primarily revolves around four processes: sickness absence, short-term absence, alcohol and drug-related cases, and early signs of ill health. These processes require clear procedures for follow-up and documentation, while also allowing several key stakeholders to work with the same information.
To create a more consistent way of working, Vattenfall therefore needed to bring information, documentation and follow-up together in one shared system.
“The aim was to automate these processes and bring all the information together in a GDPR-compliant system,” says Jan Canehav, consultant and Xpert Suite system administrator at Vattenfall.
Challenges with information stored in several different places
Previously, much of the administration was handled manually. Sickness notifications were registered digitally and passed on to payroll, but the subsequent work involving follow-up, documentation and rehabilitation was spread across different people and tools.
“Managers had their own documents, the rehabilitation teams had theirs, and sickness absence reports were retrieved from the payroll system to track who was absent and for how long,” Jan explains.
When information was stored in several different places, it became difficult to maintain a complete overview. Documentation and sensitive data had to be handled manually, shared between individuals and saved in the correct location at every stage. This resulted in time-consuming administration and created a risk that information could be misplaced or made visible to people without the appropriate access rights.
The manual handovers also made it more difficult to see what had been completed, what remained to be done and who was responsible for the next step.
“This was something Vattenfall wanted to address. The organisation wanted to move away from manual administration, which was taking up unnecessary time, and find a system that could bring all the processes together in one place,” says Jan.
The opportunity to create a safer and more integrated process
By digitalising and automating its sickness absence processes, Vattenfall saw an opportunity to create clearer workflows, reduce administration and allow managers, payroll and rehabilitation teams to work together using the same information.
With predefined process steps and automated reminders, the right action could be taken at the right time, for example when a medical certificate needed to be uploaded or a follow-up meeting carried out.
Greater control over the process could also reduce the work associated with payroll-related overpayments. When sickness absence is not registered or followed up correctly, employees may receive incorrect salary payments that then need to be adjusted retrospectively. With reminders and clearer follow-up, such situations could be identified earlier.
At the same time, the solution had to meet Vattenfall’s stringent requirements for information security and GDPR compliance. Sensitive data needed to be accessible to the right people while remaining protected from unauthorised access.
A potential solution was already being used within the Group. Xpert Suite was in place in Vattenfall’s Dutch operations. Developed by Otherside at Work, the platform combines automated workflows, intelligent insights and full regulatory compliance. Its purpose is to help HR teams and managers take a proactive approach to employee wellbeing. For the Swedish organisation, transitioning to Xpert Suite was therefore a natural next step.
Xpert Suite brought workflows, documentation and communication together
Xpert Suite is built around processes and workflows. When an employee reports sick, a case is created automatically and then follows the required steps throughout the period of absence.
Managers can, for example, receive reminders when a medical certificate needs to be uploaded or when follow-up action is required. Because the process is already built into the system, the work can begin immediately.
“I would say that starting a process is faster than it was before. As soon as a notification is submitted, the process begins immediately,” says Jan.
For Vattenfall, the ability to keep all documentation within the same case was particularly important. Medical certificates, meeting notes and other documents can be uploaded directly to the system and linked to the relevant process. Communication can also take place securely within Xpert Suite.
“One of the really useful features in Xpert Suite is the messaging function. You can send a message directly to, for example, a manager or HR within the system, which makes communication much more secure than email,” says Jan.
Security was a key consideration when Vattenfall Sweden set out to implement a system for managing sickness absence. Xpert Suite was already being used within Vattenfall’s operations in the Netherlands, and because the solution met the organisation’s stringent requirements for information security and GDPR compliance, the Swedish organisation also chose to implement the system.
Xpert Suite operates in accordance with established security standards such as ISO-27001 and SOC2. Users log in through single sign-on, while access to cases, documents and shared information is controlled through individual permissions.
“You only see the information you are authorised to access, which is extremely important from a security perspective,” Jan adds.
Better visibility and less administration in day-to-day work
With Xpert Suite, managers, payroll and rehabilitation teams can now work together in one shared system. Information and documentation are brought together within the same case, where all relevant functions can follow the process based on their access rights.
This creates a consistent way of working, reduces the need for manual handovers and makes it easier to see what has been completed, what remains to be done and who is responsible for the next step. Automated reminders and greater control have also made it easier to identify errors in time and reduced the work associated with payroll-related overpayments.
“But the greatest advantages are that sickness absence data is now easily accessible and can be handled securely. That is the most important aspect, in my opinion,” says Jan.
According to Anna Gruffman, VP Health and Safety at Vattenfall Sweden, the positive effects are also clearly noticeable in day-to-day work:
“Users are experiencing a significant improvement in their daily work. Xpert Suite increases efficiency and is user-friendly, while also providing HR with reliable insights and greater control over the sickness absence process.”
A close partnership focused on continued development
For Vattenfall, it has been important to maintain a close dialogue with Otherside at Work, both in terms of support and continued development. This is particularly valuable because Xpert Suite is a sophisticated system with extensive opportunities to adapt working methods and processes to the organisation’s needs.
“It’s an advanced system, and that’s one of its key strengths,” says Jan.
He continues:
“I have worked with similar systems before, and I know they can always be developed further. Whenever we have wanted to make changes, I have found the team at Otherside at Work to be very responsive. That is why I think the collaboration has worked extremely well.”
Security goes beyond certifications
Choosing software that handles sensitive personal data comes with great responsibility. If you want to know which questions to ask to look beyond certifications, feel free to contact us. We’re happy to share how we approach security and show you how we put our security measures to the test in practice, every single day.