The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a global ecumenical organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It brings together 356 member churches representing the major Christian traditions across the world, working on issues that span theology, advocacy, and inter-religious dialogue. Its work is carried out from offices in Geneva, New York, Jerusalem, and Nairobi, with additional colleagues working remotely from Africa and Latin America.
We interviewed Laurent Veyrat-Durebex, HR Manager at the World Council of Churches, who shared how Teamflect helped the WCC retire its paper-based performance review process, digitalize a core HR workflow across four continents, and meaningfully improve participation rates, without HR having to chase staff for completions.
“It was all on paper. We were using a Word document that was not user-friendly, not easy to use. It was a lot of work for the HR department.”
Laurent Veyrat-Durebex — HR Manager, World Council of Churches
For years, the WCC's performance review process lived inside a Word document that wasn't built for the task. Forms moved between staff, managers, and HR by email or by hand. Versions diverged. Filing was manual. And for a four-person HR team serving staff across four continents, the administrative weight of running an annual review cycle was significant.
The shift began when the organization started a broader move toward digital tools. As part of that, the WCC's in-house IT team set out to find a digital home for performance reviews.
That parallel adoption of Microsoft Teams made Teamflect a natural fit. After a trial period, the WCC adopted Teamflect, choosing it specifically because of how it integrated into the Microsoft environment the organization was already moving into.
“Teamflect has strengthened the performance review process and made it easier for people. It is fully customizable so we can adjust it to our needs.”
What stood out to Laurent during implementation wasn't a single feature, it was how flexible the tool was. The WCC could shape Teamflect around its existing process rather than re-engineering its review approach to fit a tool. Question types could be customized such as open-ended, rating-scale, free-text, and the form itself could be tailored to the WCC's needs.
“With Teamflect, we do not have to remind employees 10 times or 20 times to complete the performance review.”
The clearest signal that the transition had worked came in the second performance review cycle. Where the paper-based process had required constant reminders from HR, the digitalized process saw staff engaging with reviews on their own, opening them, completing them, and submitting them without needing a follow-up email.
“It has increased the number of people who completed the performance review. This is really an added value.”
For an HR team serving a globally distributed workforce, that improvement isn't only a culture win buy a workload win as well. Time previously spent chasing completions is time the team can now spend on the work performance reviews actually exist to enable.
“We can evolve with the tool. It offers the very basics, and we can develop and increase our use over time.”
The review module was the WCC's entry point. But over the past year, the team has steadily expanded Teamflect's footprint.
“We started to use it for performance review, and then we have increased the use of the system.”
Inside the HR department itself, Teamflect now hosts the team's meetings, summarizing agendas, allocating tasks across the four-person team, and keeping the department's work coordinated. The feedback module is in regular use. The recognition module has been tested and is on the roadmap for fuller deployment. Goal-setting, which the WCC deliberately didn't introduce on day one, is now built into the review cycle as an organizational obligation.
“Excellent. Really excellent. It's amazing. The customer team is helpful and responds very quickly to any question.”
For Laurent, one of the most defining parts of the Teamflect experience hasn't been the software but the people behind it. The WCC works with several HR-related vendors across time management, absences, and other functions. Teamflect's support stands apart.
“I can see the difference with other tools we are using in the HR department. It's well above any other service we have.”
Laurent describes being able to book a 10- or 30-minute meeting easily, to ask a question and get a fast response, to get the right insight on the tool without navigating a ticketing queue. For a small HR team that doesn't have time to chase support, that responsiveness is a real operational advantage.
“I would definitely recommend Teamflect because it is fully integrated in Teams. For those who are using Teams, it's very user-friendly.”
Asked whether he would recommend Teamflect to other organizations, Laurent's answer was unambiguous. His reasons grouped around three things — the Microsoft Teams integration that made adoption easy, the flexibility that let the WCC shape the tool to its needs, and the ability to grow into the platform over time.
For the World Council of Churches, a 356-church global network represented across four continents, finding a performance management tool that fits the way the organization actually works has been a quiet but real transformation. Reviews that once lived on paper, in a Word document that nobody enjoyed using, now live where the work already happens: inside Microsoft Teams. The HR team's job has gotten lighter. The completion rate has gone up. And the foundation is in place for the WCC to keep expanding its use of the platform as its needs evolve.
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