At the City of Heerlen, they first encountered the SubsidieVolgSysteem (SVS) in 2015. The people who were working with it at that time eventually left, causing the system to be neglected for a while. Until grant specialist Marion Vogten-Heunen started working with it. To full satisfaction. “Colleagues should also be able to benefit from this.”
It was due to a reorganization a year and a half ago at the city office in Heerlen that Marion Vogten-Heunen and some of her colleagues started using SVS. She mentions that a small task force was set up to explore the capabilities of the system. “After the reorganization, I started working as a grant specialist. Soon after, we quickly reached out to the SVS team to familiarize ourselves with the system.”
Marion quickly saw the benefits of the system, she says. “The biggest advantage is the overview it provides. I store all the projects I manage in SVS, and I can quickly retrieve all amounts and other relevant data. This isn’t possible with Excel sheets.” With working in Excel, she explains, the overview is lacking. Moreover, according to her, there’s a chance that the project leader, not being involved with the project on a daily basis, might forget to keep it well documented. “In the projects I manage, the project leader applies for the grant; I do not. However, I do keep track of the application and provide interim reports. Compared to my previous method, this process is much more efficient.”
Even though Marion is now proficient with SVS, she appreciates having direct communication with the SVS team. “There are updates from time to time, but they don’t require an extra course. The explanations from SVS are clear, and if I do have a question, the lines of communication are very short. I get answers quickly.” She also found it beneficial that during a meeting last year, she could exchange experiences with colleagues from other local governments. “You learn something new from that.”
Marion and her colleagues from the initial working group have seen their observations over the past year and a half come to fruition, she notes. “With SVS, you save time and money, as mentioned, due to its overview and highly efficient way of working.” She would also like to see the system implemented in other departments. “Currently, I’m the only one using it. Yes, colleagues occasionally take a look and see the benefits too. That’s why we’d like to roll out SVS across the organization. We’ll discuss this with SVS. Whether they need to send someone to familiarize my colleagues with it, I don’t think so; I have enough knowledge now to get them acquainted with the system,” she concludes with a smile.
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