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Company, Operations, Process Management, Strategy, Training

Change Management | The How and Why

By on

August 15, 2017

- Company, Operations, Process Management, Strategy, Training

Your organization is growing. You see more patients, you have more staff.  The processes you followed up until this point are old and outdated. Your software needs to be updated. New policies will be implemented.  Change is coming. This is good news. This is your organization evolving and staying on the cutting edge of your industry.

The idea of change does not come easy for many people. We become accustomed to our routines. We feel comfortable using the software we’ve always used, no matter how slow or inefficient it is.  This is human nature.  As leaders, we must not only communicate to our staff of an impending change, but we must make them part of the process.  This is known as change management.


Change ManagementWhat is Change Management

Change management is a widely used term referring to everything that is done to prepare, coach, and support our teams in making any type of change.

How uncomfortable would an employee feel if they received a memo at work saying ‘effective immediately, we will now be using our brand new EMR. Please refer to the user manual for any questions’? That is a nightmare scenario for most people, and it happens all the time.

Proper change management will eliminate those situations.  The concept is pretty simple, the execution is the hard part.  There are many models of change management. Most of them have the same fundamental components.


4 Steps of Change Management:

1. Identify the need for a change
2. Plan and prepare for the change
3. Implement the change
4. Monitor the change, and look for opportunities for more change

What is often left out of these models is the perspective of your employees. To make a change, and make the change effective, your employees need to be part of this process from start to finish. They must be communicated to every step of the way, but more importantly, they need to buy in to what you are doing.  They have to understand why something is being done. When they understand the why, it makes the how that much easier.  A communication plan, timeline, and written procedures must be put in place before something new is implemented. If not, your new whatever may be flawed from the start.

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Company, Customer Service

Train Your Front Line Employees

By on

July 26, 2017

- Company, Customer Service

Front line employees (employees that interact with your customers on a daily basis) simply are not given enough training, or the tools they need to achieve ultimate success. Organizations tend to train and spend more time working with higher level employees-managers, directors, etc. There is a fundamental flaw in this practice. Everywhere you go, you read or hear about customer service and providing an exceptional client experience. This should be every organization’s goal, so why then is so little investment put in to our receptionists, billers, intake specialists, and other customer facing employees? 

Here are a few reasons why….

Front line employees3 Reasons Companies Neglect The Importance Of Front Line Employees:

  1. Managers think these jobs are easy and require little training and development.
  2. High turnover in these jobs cause organizations to hire quickly, and get the new employees up and running prior to having a robust and dynamic orientation.
  3. Organizations simply do not have a strong training program implemented, nor do they have efficient standard operating procedures in place for employees to learn from.

Here’s the truth….

3 Reasons To Invest Your Time In Your Front Line Employees:

  1. These jobs are difficult, and require training specifically in the technology you use, customer service, and what your organization’s vision is, and what the goals are. Without this knowledge and understanding, these good employees may not see the importance in what they do.
  2. Turnover is cyclical, and will continue if employees are not trained properly. When a new employee starts, give them the amount of training and attention they need. Other workers can man the ship while your new employee is becoming proficient in your systems. Take your time with them, and you will see positive results. Rush them, and it will have negative effects that trickle down throughout your organization.
  3. Spend time to create a training program that teaches your employees how you want them to be at work. Your SOP’s should be step by step instructions that a new employee can follow with minimal help to complete a process. Have an SOP written for every process or task you want somebody to complete.  This will eliminate bottlenecks, and make it easier for managers to manage their employees.

Invest your time and training in your front line employees. You will see a happier work force, and a happier customer base.  When you do this, you are separating your organization from the one’s down the road.

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