Why a New Case Management Software System Can NEVER Change Someone’s Behavior

When implementing new case management software - the best way to start is to take a hard look at employee behavior and identify what needs to change first.

Let me explain.

Change is hard. A new system brings a whole set of changes and process tweaks, for example which for some people is sometimes a slow process to adopt.

Changing behavior, however, is even harder. If your team isn’t doing things the right way now… no software in the world will make them change their behavior. Sure it can help, but it does not solve the problem of bad behavior.

When agencies purchase a new software system, they think that having the software provide alerts and reports - will change their staff and improve the quality of data for their agency. WRONG. Software can do a lot of things, but it cannot change the work ethic and behavior of staff.

Right now at your agency (believe it or not) you have three groups of staff.

Those who are great and you want to keep happy.
Those who are good and you want to make better.
Those you wish would leave because every day, week or every month you have to remind them to do their job.

This third group is the group that cost agencies time and money. We spend more time preventing these staff member from making mistakes instead of training them to do their job correctly. (I know… as a former Director at an agency in St. Louis – I’ve seen these types of issues first hand.)

For example - there are some that want their new software to alert their staff to do a treatment plan every 30 days, case note once a week and discharge summaries 30 days after termination/discharge. Spending thousands of dollars on designing and requesting a software system to perform these functions (programming dozens of workflow alerts, etc.) hoping these people will change and start behaving better... seems like a good idea. After all - if the software prompts them - this should fix their behavior.

News Flash

You will spend a lot of money to find out information you already know. These people are not good at their jobs and their behavior needs to change. Plus you are taking the money that you could use to reward the top groups and spending it on software that will give you answers to question that you already know. Over the last 4 years, I have been asked countless number of times, “Can your software tell me what reports are late, and who did them, and how many days are they past due?” Not once have I been asked, “Can your software tell me who is doing their job correctly so I can reward them?”

SOLUTION

Before you implement your new software, sit down with your team - from the CEO down to the PRN staff - that works one shift a month and tell them you are heading in a new direction. You are designing a system based on new tools and everyone is going to be part of the process. Explain to them if they are in the bottom third they have options. Change their behavior or their employment will be affected. Explain to them that you are going to design a new system to make the better group be the best to more clients, move the middle group to the top and eliminate the bottom group all together. Simply put, design your new system to keep your great people and improve the people you want to keep. Don’t worry about the others because their behavior is not what you want at your agency. In the end, you will have strong and positive behaviors to help guide your implementation. This alone will lead to a successful implementation.

If you're still nervous about implenting a new software, download this special report: