Ekos Software skilled volunteers improved nonprofit processes to help further mission to provide critical education, employment and enrichment services to adults and children with disabilities.
When the LIFESPAN Human Resources team needed support to manage complex workflows associated with implementing their strategic plan, they reached out to Apparo for help. Through our Tech Therapy program, they were matched to volunteers Kaitlyn Jones and Greg Munson from Ekos Software who reviewed their existing processes and helped transition them to Microsoft Planner.
We met with Beth Brown, Learning & Development Sr. Coordinator of LIFESPAN, to learn about the significance of this work and its anticipated impact.
“We reached back out to Apparo because we had such a positive past experience. We needed help because the project management of our HR Team’s Strategic Initiatives was too cumbersome and unwieldy with the tools we were using— including paper, spreadsheets, and Word documents. Our HR work is complex. We are responsible for a workforce of more than 350 people. This is critical work because, especially in healthcare, recruiting and retaining people is harder than ever right now. I needed help to improve our internal workflows and communication.
“Our volunteers from Ekos were amazing! They listened to our questions and challenges and helped us identify that through Microsoft 365, we already had a tool, Planner, that we could use to address our issues, get on the same page, and move our information all into one place. Both Greg and Kaitlyn were so gracious and always willing to help with any question we had.
“I can’t say enough nice things about working with my volunteers at Ekos and Apparo. Everything was so easy and well organized. It was a great experience.”
Through process improvement, LIFESPAN HR team will save significant time and be well positioned to achieve their strategic plan goals.
They will have:
- Data organized and consolidated in one location
- Shift away from paper-based processes
- Ability to communicate and collaborate in real time
- Reduction of redundancies
- Documented workflows
- Task tracking across the team
- Transparency of progress towards goals
As a result, they will ensure quality service to the children and adults with disabilities that they serve.
“We are now better positioned to fulfill our strategic goals and vision: ‘To distinguish LIFESPAN Services as the Employer of Choice amongst North Carolina service providers for those with disabilities.’ When our employees have the resources they need and work-life balance, that translates to increased quality of service to the 1500+ individuals with disabilities that we support.”
We look forward to our upcoming Microsoft 365 Team Training work with LIFESPAN.