In late 2022, an Ohio police department found itself at a crisis point. Numerous employees who had been with the organization for years quit, claiming the work environment was hostile. One of the largest contributing factors was inconsistent discipline for employee misconduct.

While inconsistencies in case management might not seem like a big deal, they can result in hugely negative consequences. As with the police department, you could lose top employees who make your company great. Similarly, if your company earns a reputation for arbitrary discipline or policy enforcement, talented candidates won’t apply to your open positions. Finally, and most concerning, an employee who feels their case wasn’t handled properly could file a lawsuit or complaint (such as through the EEOC) against your organization, which could be costly.

In this guide, you’ll learn how purpose-built case management software helps you manage cases more consistently to reduce these and other risks.

Risks of Inconsistent Case Management

Handling each case on an ad hoc basis is not only chaotic and sloppy but can put your organization’s finances and reputation in real danger.

Inconsistencies increase your chances of:

• Liability: The inability to locate investigation documents makes it difficult to defend the organization’s process.
• Data breaches: Manually processing sensitive data increases the risk of lost information and security concerns.
• Reputation damage: Internal and external reputation is at risk when identical cases produce different resolutions.
• Slow resolution time: Burdensome case tracking causes cases to stay open longer than they should.

However, case management software streamlines your processes, ensuring data security and building a sense of trust with employees and the public.

Ways Inconsistent Processes Affect Your Investigations

Is your organization using spreadsheets, paper files or homegrown case management systems? There are likely inconsistencies in your case management methods. In fact, a recent Case IQ poll found that nearly 60 per cent of case managers have inconsistent processes.

If every department or team has its own way of doing things, or you just decide on how to tackle an incident on a whim, you put your company at risk of fines and lawsuits. In addition, taking the “willy-nilly” approach can negatively affect your workflow in these four ways:

1. Misplacing case information can be practically impossible to recover when needed.
2. Cases bottleneck when processes require management to triage or give instruction.
3. Managing a case without structure is difficult to navigate each scenario efficiently.
4. Similar scenarios are handled and resolved differently depending on the case manager.

In order to carry out thorough, timely investigations, you need a case management system that standardizes and centralizes your processes.

How Case Management Software Mitigates Risk With Improved Consistency

Case management software like Case IQ makes each investigative step, including intake, management and reporting, a consistent process. But how exactly can it reduce inconsistencies and reduce risk?

First, a centralized platform keeps all case information and documents in one place. You can craft templates, attach files to make sure nothing gets lost in the shuffle. Each case file also includes an audit trail of every action taken on the case to ensure you never misplace information and can show proof of your process.

Next, configurable case management forms and workflow features keep all team members on the same page. Form templates ensure you document case information and report consistently. To help you tackle reports in a fast and consistent way, case management software can integrate with your reporting mechanisms, or you can use email-to-case creation.

Worried about following a consistent timeline? Set rules and track SLAs to ensure cases get actioned. Unlimited user roles, workflow assignment and automated notifications inform your team members when they have an upcoming deadline.

Finally, standardized processes produce consistent results. Case management software lets you configure workflows to match your company’s processes to produce more consistent outcomes. Auto-assigned tasks and reminder emails keep the team on track, so no steps are missed or causing a bottleneck in the investigation.

Mitigating risk is limited when managing cases inconsistently. However, robust, purpose-built case management software lets you streamline your processes for more effective results while protecting your organization.