Solving Complex Problems needs a Whole-system Lens

In healthcare, there is widespread awareness that persistent challenges like absenteeism, compliance risk, and operational inefficiency are rarely caused by a single factor. Leaders often see the symptoms: increasing sick leave, staffing pressures, and resource strain. But addressing the root causes can be far more complex. That’s exactly why these challenges tend to remain persistent.

It's increasingly understood these systemic issues rarely sit within one department. They're woven through policies, processes, environments, training, data, and culture and they manifest differently depending on the lens through which they're viewed. HR may see burnout, for example. Finance sees cost overruns. Compliance sees regulatory exposure. Facilities sees a strain on infrastructure.

All the same issue, just experienced in different ways.

That’s why healthcare leaders are increasingly turning to cross-functional assessments: structured diagnostics that bring together insights from across the organisation to reveal hidden connections, clarify priorities, and support more coordinated decision-making around persistent challenges like absenteeism.

Patient diagnosis is a useful metaphor here. Healthcare providers don’t rush from presenting symptoms to treatment. First, history is gathered, context understood, tests conducted, and the underlying condition identified. Only then can a tailored treatment or intervention plan be recommended.

Organisational health works in much the same way.

A collaborative approach to a shared challenge

Leaders in hospitals and aged care are acutely aware of these challenges, often juggling rising care demands with constrained budgets, workforce shortages, and complex compliance obligations. They’re not short on insight or intent. What's missing is a structured way to bring those insights together, to move from recognising the symptoms of absenteeism to figuring out a solution.

Cross-functional assessments help organisations to:

• Surface interdependencies between functions that might otherwise be missed
• Establish a shared language and understanding across leadership teams
• Collect and structure data across the organisation
• Make sense of fragmented data to inform targeted action
• Validate assumptions and build a stronger case for change
• Determine CapEx, OpEx and other related budget metrics to facilitate change 

In a sector where operational resilience, staff wellbeing and regulatory accountability are all under pressure, this kind of alignment isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s essential.

The critical role of data in solving absenteeism

Data is central to any improvement effort; we can’t improve what we can’t measure, but it’s also one of the industry’s biggest challenges. In many healthcare settings, data related to absenteeism and operational performance is scattered across systems: rostering platforms, HR files, incident reports, asset management systems, infrastructure logs, finance and ERP systems, and manual records.

This fragmented landscape makes it hard to track patterns, identify risks early, and prioritise investments. Worse, inability to access relevant data can itself become a risk indicator, highlighting a lack of visibility or oversight in key areas.

In Australia, this is increasingly under scrutiny. The federal government’s National Digital Health Strategy sets clear expectations around how healthcare providers should collect, use and share data to improve care outcomes. In aged care, introduction of Aged Care Data and Digital Strategy (2024-2029) Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, and the Digital Transformation Tech Fund, reinforces this  push toward better data governance, transparency, and responsiveness to patient, residents, carers, and general workforce needs.

Cross-functional assessments are a critical part of building data maturity. They help organisations:    

• Identify key metrics that are currently missing or underutilised
• Highlight process or system gaps that limit effective reporting
• Provide a baseline for tracking future improvement
• Support compliance with national and sector-specific mandates

Even identifying the absence of data, such as missing training records or gaps in staff health tracking, can be a valuable outcome, pointing to where systems need attention. It’s like that old saying: you don’t know what you don’t know.

From insight to action

The goal of a cross-functional assessment is not just to gather information, but to turn it into practical, organisation-wide action. One of the most valuable outcomes is the clarity it brings: leaders can see the problem more completely, and move more decisively.

Here are a few real-life examples from some of our recent assessments:

• Infrastructure insights: One aged care provider discovered that poor air quality in staff rooms was contributing to higher rates of short-term illness. Upgrading their HVAC system and implementing UV-C disinfection cycles to neutralise pathogens in the air and on hard surfaces created a healthier environment and reduced the need for agency staff.
• Workforce wellbeing: A common theme uncovered was a lack of early interventions for stress and fatigue. Staff often didn’t feel confident reporting mental strain until it resulted in time off. Implementing regular pulse surveys, better communication, and clearer wellbeing pathways helped reduce reactive absences and support long-term engagement.
• Waste and sustainability: Surprisingly, one provider realised that excessive PPE use, while well-intentioned, was contributing to staff discomfort and environmental waste. Updating infection control procedures not only reduced waste (including single use plastics and chemicals) but helped staff feel more supported and trusted.
• Policy and training adjustments: Several organisations identified inconsistencies in how lifting techniques were trained and applied between full-time and casual staff. This was leading to preventable injuries and avoidable absences, issues that were corrected through revised policies and targeted retraining.

These improvements don’t just reduce absenteeism. They boost morale, support compliance, and free up resources for care delivery. All of which creates a healthy organisational cycle: happier workers lead to fewer absences, which leads to better patient outcomes, which leads to better compliance.

Building alignment across the organisation

One of the most powerful aspects of a structured assessment is the way it brings departments together. Often, leaders are already aware of the issues affecting their function, but they haven’t had the opportunity to connect the dots across the organisation. Cross-functional assessments provide that all-important bird’s eye view.

And when those connections are made, the case for action becomes clearer. A facilities issue may be driving rostering challenges. A compliance pressure may be eased by changes to staff training. A wellbeing initiative may have financial, operational and risk benefits that don’t manifest immediately.

This clarity supports not only faster decision-making, but better decision-making. It builds stronger business cases, helping leaders justify their investment and demonstrate returns across multiple fronts.

A trusted partner in complexity

Honeywell’s Workplace and Facilities Assessment is one example of how this approach works in practice. It’s a tailored, cross-functional diagnostic process, designed to help healthcare organisations better understand the drivers of absenteeism and operational strain. It combines structured data collection, stakeholder workshops and gap analysis across key functions including HR, Risk, Facilities, Finance, Sustainability/ESG, and more.

The result is a clear set of actionable insights that support both immediate interventions and longer-term strategic planning.

A practical way forward

There’s no single fix for absenteeism. No silver bullet. But there are ways to get clarity: about what’s driving staff absences, what’s within your control, and where to focus your efforts.

In a sector under constant pressure, healthcare leaders deserve tools that help them act confidently and collaboratively. Cross-functional assessments are one of those tools. They’re designed to work with your teams, within your context, and alongside your strategic goals.

Because when it comes to complex challenges, the smartest way forward is the same as it’s ever been: together.