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Develop tomorrow's technology today
The Company
In 1989, students Holger Wolff, Volker Maiborn, and two other fellow students founded a company. Their vision: to create an organization that offers tomorrow's technology today, always putting people at the center. And they succeeded: The company has locations in Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Tunis, and Valencia, among others, where a total of 900 tech professionals work. They research, identify tech trends, work on visionary IT topics, and develop software that is as individual as the people who use it – the spectrum ranges from a sophisticated travel app for a tourism group to the web interface for the new HMI (Human Machine Interface) of a renowned robot manufacturer.
All HR matters – including travel expense reporting and benefits – are managed by the Employee Service Center. The team, led by Nicola Wiencke and Sabine Maiborn, consists of ten employees.
MaibornWolff and Circula have been collaborating since 2021. Both companies share a strong service orientation and a high level of commitment to developing and implementing the best solutions for their customers.
"When we had to replace our existing travel expense management solution, it quickly became clear that we wanted to introduce a modern tool. Circula offered the best solution for us." Nicola Wiencke, Head of Employee Service Center
Seeking a Modern Travel Expense Reporting Process
The Motivation and Initial Situation
MaibornWolff stands for the development of excellent, sophisticated, and customized software that offers the best possible solutions for clients, and for a corporate culture that puts people at its center. Whether customers, partners, or employees – communication on equal terms is a core value of the company. MaibornWolff also applies its high standards for software within its own company: it should make employees' work lives as easy as possible.
The collaboration with Circula began with the search for a new travel expense reporting tool. This became necessary when DATEV announced it would discontinue "Reisekosten classic," the solution previously used by MaibornWolff, at the end of 2021. The usual process before that was as follows: Employees used an in-house developed tool to submit their receipts digitally via the DocuWare document management system, which offers interfaces to DATEV. Employees of the Employee Service Center at MaibornWolff accessed the receipt information and created the travel expense reports for their colleagues.
Generally, both the employees submitting receipts and Nicola Wiencke were satisfied with the existing process. However, during the search for a solution to replace "Reisekosten classic," it quickly became apparent that the two-step process, where receipts were submitted and then recorded again later, was no longer up-to-date. Against this background, Nicola Wiencke looked at a number of possible tools and tested several – both from the perspective of the administrators and the employees. Among them was the Circula solution, which DATEV had recommended for replacing "Reisekosten classic."
"Our employees have high expectations for apps – after all, they develop them themselves and know what matters. Circula impressed with its user-friendliness." Nicola Wiencke, Head of Employee Service Center
User-friendly tool sought to handle specific requirements
The Challenge
The existing two-stage travel expense reporting process was to be replaced by a digital end-to-end solution. A key requirement for the tool to be implemented was its usability. It had to meet the high standards of employees who develop apps themselves and therefore place great importance on ease of use.
Furthermore, the new solution had to be able to meet accounting requirements. Since MaibornWolff works with DATEV for financial and payroll accounting, a solution was required that already had the appropriate interface. In addition, it should reflect the IT service provider's internal processes as accurately as possible. This is because at MaibornWolff, bookings do not differentiate between hotel, flight, or taxi receipts. Instead, the Employee Service Center staff, as is common in the industry, consider the entire trip. Specifically, they assign them to categories such as "internal trip," "training trip," or "project trip," and for the latter, they differentiate whether it is billed to clients. The ability to reflect this approach in the new solution was therefore a crucial selection criterion.
However, for MaibornWolff, not only a technically convincing tool mattered, but also the collaboration with the solution provider. After all, the company places people at the center of its corporate culture and attaches great importance to communication on an equal footing.
After a thorough review and evaluation of various solutions, the decision was made in favor of Circula: The travel expense and expense management tool met all required criteria. The user-friendliness of the solution, available as an app for Android and iOS devices and on the web, convinced the demanding tech specialists. The specific requirements for internal billing processes could be accommodated, and the necessary interfaces to DATEV were already in place.
"The Circula employees are consistently friendly, authentic, helpful, and immediately available for questions. Not only does the solution fit, but so does the human element." Nicola Wiencke, Head of Employee Service Center
A complete success, both technically and personally
Implementation and Results
A year before its final shutdown, DATEV had announced the discontinuation of "Reisekosten classic" for the end of 2021. After a careful selection process, Circula was chosen in summer 2021 as MaibornWolff's partner for the new travel expense and expense management solution and was rolled out in October 2021. The entire Employee Service Center team experienced the implementation process very positively, reports Nicola Wiencke: "We all greatly appreciate the friendly, helpful nature of Circula's employees, their competence, and customer orientation. This high level of service orientation is truly exceptional."
Just as the human element was convincing, so too was the technical implementation. In short, efficient meetings, the implementation status quo was reviewed and the next steps discussed. Close coordination ensured that all necessary steps were implemented on time.
The new clear and consistent solution meets the expectations of both the Employee Service Center management and the users: The estimated time savings through automation amount to several hundred hours since the solution's introduction. 93 percent of employees have used the Circula solution so far, with approximately 350 actively using Circula each month. They are particularly impressed that they now have an overview of the processing status and history of their submissions and receive feedback on their reimbursements. Satisfaction is also reflected in the high recommendation rate – Circula achieved an excellent Net Promoter Score of 63 percent among surveyed MaibornWolff employees.
Due to the very positive experiences regarding implementation and the convincing user-friendliness and compatibility of the Circula platform, MaibornWolff has decided to expand the collaboration. MaibornWolff will also implement the travel expense and expense management solution at its Spanish locations in the future – naturally, taking into account the local rules and requirements.
"Instead of having to deal with various local transport providers, we have introduced a uniform, flexible solution with Circula's mobility budget, which has been very well received." Nicola Wiencke, Head of Employee Service Center
A continuing success story
Mobility Budget
In autumn 2022, MaibornWolff also opted for the mobility budget from the Circula portfolio. It was introduced along with other benefits as part of a revision of the salary structure and overall strategy. This allowed the company to meet its employees' requests to offer a corresponding benefit. The Circula offer was an attractive alternative to the traditional job ticket, which was not convincing for several reasons: it was limited to public transport, and each transport association at the company's German locations has different regulations, entailing high administrative effort. Circula is different: employees can conveniently use the mobility budget via the existing app and choose any mode of transport – from bicycles to cars or taxis to the subway – to suit their needs, both for business and private use. Thanks to the tax advantage offered by the mobility budget, it is an attractive benefit in addition to salary. Approximately 500 of the 800 employees in Germany use the offer monthly.
