Pet Adoption Agency Transitions to Modern Workplace

About the Firm

This non-profit pet adoption agency operates nation-wide and GadellNet worked closely with the Missouri chapter. Their nearly 100-year history with St. Louis makes them a top animal adoption agency in the area. Their mission to save as many pets as possible is met with a mix of full-time and part-time employees as well as many volunteers. They rely on fostering their pets to operate.

Challenge

During the wake of COVID-19, they needed to quickly modernize communications to staff, volunteers, donors, and adopters. The local chapter could not let operational changes get in the way of providing adoption services to hundreds of people per year in the region. Fundamental to their mission, they also operate a vet clinic and provide important education and outreach services in the community they serve

Streamlining operations through modernization communications meant this adoption center could keep employees and adopters safe through policy communication, avoid confusion, increase efficiency, improve vet notes, reduce paperwork, and ultimately adopt out and treat more pets.  

They had a cumbersome communication process: 

  • Staff had mixed duties – some employees were on computers all day and some without access to computers while working on the front line  
  • Their email platform was unreliable  
  • They used inconsistent text messaging to communicate with one another 
  • Other critical communications were lost or missed in long email chains  
  • Using multiple software and conferencing solutions not integrated with any of their other platforms  
Solution

This organization wanted to streamline their operations to be able to find more pets permanent homes: 

  • Communication through one channel was important to them  
  • Desire to have one platform for calls and chats 
  • Accessibility of meetings  
  • Recall information easily and allow frontline workers access to all files, securely. 

GadellNet took the client through a three-phased approach to realizing the potential of their modern workplace: Ready, plan, and execute.   

The execution of the Modern Workplace included launching Microsoft Office 365 and employee training. This organization had some staff that would need to understand the mobile app more than the desktop app. GadellNet was able to tailor the training in order to meet these needs and get the organization of the ground with the many benefits of Microsoft Teams.  

For this client, success looks like simplicity. They wanted a no-frills way to ensure their people and processes could be streamlined. The Microsoft Modern Workplace was able to provide that.  

Impact Made

This non-profit was able to streamline its communication and gain some much-needed processes and controls. Through these changes, the team is better able to manage tasks, stay aligned, and ultimately help more animals because the internal and client experiences are both massively improved.

Key wins include:

  • Deployed an on-the-go platform that streamlined and secured communication  
  • Increased technology utilization across the team  
  • Improved notetaking experiences and accessibility for medical staff 
  • Transformed customer experience  
  • Created opportunity for the organization to manage remote workforce while maintaining core services 
  • Assisting in the adoption of about 4,000 pets per year

I am not an IT expert, but GadellNet makes this process really easy.” – Director of Operations, Pet Adoption Agency