Thursday September 26, 2024

Adopting new technologies within an organization can be daunting. For many organizations, particularly in industries like healthcare, manufacturing, or logistics, workforce management is central to operational success. However, for any new technology to be fully embraced, organizations must strategically approach the transition using well-established change management principles. 

This blog will walk through some key Change Management best practices outlined by experts from Compass Business Solutions on how to ensure the successful transition and adoption of new technology within a complex organization. 

Understanding the Need for Change

The first step in any successful transformation is to clearly understand why change is necessary. For organizations considering a new shift filling solution like Vocantas, it’s essential to identify specific pain points that the solution will address. For example, many healthcare organizations struggle with last-minute shift vacancies, resulting in understaffing, high overtime costs, or an overreliance on expensive agency workers. 

By clearly outlining how these challenges affect both staff and the organization, leadership can create a compelling case for adopting a more automated, efficient shift-filling system. Vocantas provides solutions that directly address these pain points by simplifying the process of filling shifts, reducing time to staff, and ensuring better staff satisfaction by giving employees greater flexibility. 

Change management principle: Create urgency 

Creating urgency involves illustrating the inefficiencies in the current system. For example, demonstrating how manual processes are leading to over-scheduling, chronic staffing gaps, or even compromising patient care in healthcare settings can help leadership and staff understand the importance of integrating an automated solution like Vocantas. 

This sense of urgency should be coupled with clearly defined objectives that Vocantas will help meet—whether that’s improving employee satisfaction, reducing no-call no-show rates, or cutting down on overtime costs.

Building a Cross-functional Change Team

Implementing new technology requires leadership, but equally important is the formation of a cross-functional change team. When adopting new solutions, it’s critical that this team is composed of representatives from multiple departments like : human resources, schedulers, IT, department managers, and front-line staff. 

This ensures that every angle of the organization is considered during the implementation process. HR and staffing managers can highlight the current challenges with manual shift-filling, IT can address technical integration with existing systems (such as UKG, ADP, Dayforce, or Infor), and department heads can provide feedback from the operational side of things. 

Change management principle: Create a guiding coalition
 

This guiding coalition is essential for driving the project forward. Their role is to advocate for the change, ensure the solution is implemented effectively, and address any obstacles that arise during the integration process. With Vocantas’ solutions, which are designed to integrate with various workforce management platforms, IT teams will play a crucial role in ensuring a smooth technical transition. At the same time, department managers will need to communicate how the new system affects daily operations, ensuring there’s no misalignment between the leadership’s vision and the staff’s experience.

Communicating the Vision for Change

Any significant organizational change requires clear and consistent communication. A well-communicated vision is necessary to help employees and stakeholders understand how a new technology solution will benefit both the organization and individuals. Communication should not just focus on the technical aspects of the integration between new and existing systems but also highlight how this new tool will positively impact employees’ work-life balance and improve their overall work experience. 

Change management principle: Develop and communicate a vision
 

Vocantas’ Automated Shift Filling streamlines communication between staff and managers, making it easier for employees to accept shifts via text, phone, or app, and for managers to fill open slots quickly. Leaders should articulate this vision through various channels—team meetings, email campaigns, and training sessions—showing employees that this isn’t just a top-down initiative but one that aims to solve real challenges they face daily. 

Additionally, highlight how integrating Vocantas into current workflows can create more balanced staffing, reduce burnout, and improve employee satisfaction, which, in industries like healthcare, directly correlates with better patient care.

Empowering Employees to Embrace Change

The success of any new technology hinges on its adoption by the people who will use it daily. With Vocantas, this means both front-line staff who receive automated shift notifications and the managers who are responsible for staffing. Therefore, employees need to feel empowered, supported, and prepared to use the new system effectively. 

Change management principle: Empower broad-based action
 

Providing comprehensive training is crucial for empowering staff to use new solutions confidently. For example, employees should be trained on how to respond to automated notifications, how to interact with the system to set their preferences, and how this new tool makes their scheduling experience smoother. On the other hand, managers should be trained on how to effectively use analytics and reporting features to optimize staffing decisions in real-time. 

It’s also essential to create an environment where feedback is encouraged. If employees encounter challenges, they should feel empowered to voice their concerns and have them addressed promptly.

Creating Short-term Wins

Change can often feel overwhelming, especially when it involves new technology. To maintain momentum, it’s important to set and celebrate short-term wins that demonstrate the benefits of the new system. These small victories build confidence and show the organization that the investment is already paying off. 

Change management principle: Generate short-term wins
 

For example, within the first few weeks, managers may notice reduced time spent on manually filling shifts or an increase in employee shift acceptance rates. These small, measurable improvements should be communicated across the organization. Recognizing these wins boosts morale, ensures ongoing buy-in, and helps maintain enthusiasm for the larger changes ahead.

Consolidating Gains and Maintaining Momentum

Once the initial excitement of the new technology implementation fades, it’s crucial to continue pushing forward to embed the changes into the organization’s culture and processes. It’s common for organizations to fall back on old practices, especially when employees feel overwhelmed by the pace of change. 

Change management principle: Consolidate gains and produce more change 

This step involves continually refining the system based on feedback, expanding its use where appropriate, and ensuring that early successes are built upon. Organizations can use data from the Vocantas platform to make more informed staffing decisions, refining their workforce management practices based on real-time insights. 

For instance, an organization might initially roll out Vocantas in one department before expanding it organization-wide. Over time, this phased approach allows the team to troubleshoot any integration issues and adapt the solution to meet the unique needs of different departments.

Anchoring the Change in Organizational Culture

The final step in successful change management is ensuring the adoption of the new tool becomes part of the organization’s long-term culture. This means embedding the new tools into daily routines, making them a non-negotiable part of the workforce management workflow. 

Change management principle: Anchor new approaches in the culture 

To ensure the long-term success of a system like Vocantas, ongoing training and support should be provided. Additionally, leadership must continue to promote the benefits of the system and encourage its use. Celebrating continued success stories—such as improved staffing outcomes, better employee retention, and reduced costs—reinforces the idea that Vocantas is now an integral part of the organization’s operational strategy. 

Conclusion: A Roadmap to Successful  Adoption 

Adopting a new system like Vocantas’ Automated Shift Filling can provide immense benefits, but the transition must be managed carefully to ensure success. By following change management principles—creating urgency, building a guiding team, communicating a clear vision, empowering employees, celebrating short-term wins, consolidating gains, and anchoring changes in the culture—organizations can ensure that Vocantas becomes a seamless part of their workforce management practices. 

The end result is a more efficient, flexible, and empowered workforce, ready to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. 

Looking to learn more about change management. Click here to access the Change Management webinar hosted by Compass Business Solutions.