More insight and fewer workload spikes thanks to a smartly designed HR and payroll system.
From 100 to 220 employees in one year
More than two years after the temporary closure of the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, the Boijmans Van Beuningen Depot opened in November 2021. This unique Rotterdam building marks a period of change and growth for the organization.
In a short time, new departments such as Public Affairs were set up, a Hospitality and Events Department was established, and new positions such as depot guide were created. A number of existing departments were expanded. In the process, the number of employees increased by more than 100 to a total of 220. With so much change, it is essential that the HRM system and payroll administration be flexible and adaptable. Lianne Timmer (HR adviser) and Katja Troost (HR employee), together with Head of HR Anneke Staal, explain how they ended up with AFAS and Salure.
Choice of Salure and AFAS
Lianne: “In January 1, 2020, we switched to AFAS. We were working with another system before that, but we were not completely satisfied with it. Then we started looking at other museums and talked to many different parties and explored systems. In the end we chose AFAS, because AFAS really is the future. AFAS is much further ahead in digitization and automation than other systems. Our finance department switched to AFAS a year after the HR department. They too indicate that the system offers many more possibilities than the system they worked with before.”
It has to be said that setting up AFAS was more complicated than expected, Anneke adds. “You really need a specialist to set up and manage AFAS. But in the long run, of course, you win that time back once something is automated. That’s why we hired a functional manager to maintain the workflows.”
Anneke, Lianne and Katja
Choice of Salure and AFAS
The biggest advantage of AFAS is the insight, says the team. Anneke: “We can now make reports with management information. We want to do more with this in the future. With AFAS you can very easily make links with another system to get even better insight. For example, it will be interesting when you can relate personnel deployment in the hospitality industry to sales. Then you can manage that. This kind of dashboard would mean a lot to our entire business.
Employees at the depot are also happy with AFAS because they can now quickly view their files digitally, submit leave requests via AFAS, and the claims process has been digitized. Anneke: “And for the managers it is a lot easier to save the performance reviews digitally. That saves a lot of closet space. It gives everyone much more insight.”
In the process, getting real-time information also means less peak workload in payroll, Lianne says. “Previously, employees would submit claims on a receipt, which we then had to collect and enter. Many things can now be handled automatically during the month via workflows. You then only have to check it. That saves a lot of time. You still have a peak in payroll, but the work is a lot more evenly distributed than before.”
Payroll outsourcing
After Salure supported the AFAS implementation, the museum decided to use Salure for payroll as well. Anneke explains this choice: “Payroll processing is a profession in its own right. You need professionals with the right knowledge. Especially if you want to guarantee the continuity of the department. You are vulnerable if only one person is responsible for the entire payroll processing. That is why we have been outsourcing this to Salure since 2020.
The collaboration with Salure is also a real collaboration, Anneke says. “Actually, it’s a kind of triumvirate. Katja enters all the mutations; then Lianne checks that everything is correct and complete. Then it goes on to Liza who checks and initiates the salary run so we can pay out.”
Extension
In this, Lianne in particular has a lot of contact with Liza, payroll specialist at Salure. At least once a week they do call, Lianne says. “It is a very pleasant cooperation. Liza switches quickly, you can always ask questions and if she doesn’t have time, she calls back quickly. She really is an extension of our organization.”
Liza can identify well with that: “We are well matched. For example, Lianne knows an awful lot about the museum collective bargaining agreement. We complement each other well in this respect. I also always enjoy figuring things out with Lianne and making sure the system works well.”
A good example: in November 2021, a BV was established for the hospitality & events department. A different collective bargaining agreement applies to it than to the museum. So in a short time a lot of personnel and a new collective labor agreement were added, to which the salary administration had to be adjusted. A fun and educational challenge, Liza recalls. “The hospitality collective labor agreement was new for both of us and not the easiest collective labor agreement. You both learn a lot from this. These kinds of issues are exactly what makes the cooperation very fun.”
Anneke concludes, “What I also really like about the cooperation is that Salure is open to feedback and acts on it. I find that very strong, especially for an organization that is growing fast. Salure really thinks along with you and looks beyond the standard of AFAS. You are heard as a customer and that inspires confidence.”
About the Boijmans Van Beuningen Depot
Museums typically exhibit only 5% to 10% of their collection. Most of the art is stored in depots that the public cannot access. So when the Boijmans Van Beuningen became the first museum to open its depot doors to the public in November 2021, it attracted a lot of international attention. In the depot, visitors can see for the first time all 150,000 pieces of art and how art is stored, restored, transported and packaged. The magnificent addition to the Rotterdam skyline is a great success: in front of the building, Boijmans already received its 100,000th visitor in May 2022.
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