Why People Get Stuck in Bad Systems (Aged Care Deep Dive)
Walk any corridor in aged care right now and you’ll hear it — the missing voices.
People aren’t leaving because they stopped caring; they’re leaving because the system keeps making caring harder to sustain.
If you read Stop Optimising Leaders. Start Creating Them., think of this as part two.
That essay explored why leadership modules stall under pressure; this one looks at why the pressure exists at all … and what keeps good people stuck in systems that no longer serve them.
We like to believe people leave bad systems quickly.
Mostly, they don’t. They learn the workarounds, brace for the spill, and keep the place running.
Over time, the coping becomes the job.
In aged care, that stickiness shows up as decision delays that feel normal, collaboration that eats whole days, agency dependence that frays belonging, and measures that quietly hijack meaning.
This isn’t a motivation problem. It’s design.
Seven Less-Obvious Traps That Keep Good People Stuck
Below are the recurring traps I see across reform-heavy environments and what happens when you finally have the space to address them.
You don’t need to fix them this quarter. There’s too much noise, too many moving parts, and not enough week left.
But naming them matters (because when the noise settles, you’ll already know where to start).
1. Decision latency makes resignation feel rational
When choices take too long, staff stop escalating; they routinise workarounds. Leaders aren’t indifferent. They’re saturated. Decision volume has risen across sectors; the cognitive load pushes choices down, out, or indefinitely forward.
In one national provider, I helped design emergency communication protocols for more than 2,000 frontline staff. Decision loops were our biggest risk. Once we made approvals visible and time-bound, people stopped waiting and started acting.
When reform fatigue eases:
Make decision-making transparent and time-bound so work doesn’t stall in limbo.
Each week, you track:
Median age of open decisions → how long the average item has been waiting.
% of decisions closed within 48 hours → how reliable your process is.
Work-in-progress (WIP) limit → cap how many open decisions a team can have (e.g. 15 at once).
When staff can see that decisions move, they re-engage sooner and stop creating unofficial workarounds. It’s about restoring momentum and trust.
2. It’s not only “shortage”; it’s the collaboration tax
We call it short staffing. Often, it’s over-collaboration in disguise: too many handoffs, CCs, recurring “alignment” calls, and parallel updates. Research shows collaborative time has ballooned in many organisations, leaving little for actual work. The result is calendar bloat and emotional exhaustion.
The fix:
Run a “hot-90” audit on one unit (shadow the busiest ninety minutes, list the frictions, remove three this week), and apply a meeting hangover check to every recurring meeting: “Did this create energy for your next two hours? Yes or No.” If a series scores under 60% twice, cancel or redesign it.
3. Normalisation of deviance (how workarounds become the way)
Workarounds that once saved a crisis become permanent.
In aged care, that might mean borrowed staff, compressed documentation, or stretched medication rounds. Not because people don’t care, but because the system forced them to improvise.
When reform fatigue eases:
Make escalation simpler than deviation.
As a part of continuous improvement, start teaching/sharing a three-line ask: What I see. What I fear. What I need approved now.
Commit to a ten-minute reply norm (yes/no/alternative + why). Track median time-to-decision and repeat escalations on the same issue.
4. Agency dependence erodes belonging
Agency and subcontracting plug holes and weaken tacit coordination (that quiet knowing of how a colleague thinks or how a resident reacts).
Belonging is a performance advantage we rarely measure. Continuity (knowing how a colleague thinks, where things live, how a resident reacts) is a performance advantage hidden inside belonging. When faces change nightly, that tacit coordination disappears, and the work feels heavier even if headcount looks right.
The fix:
We always try to avoid agency or casual staff. To help this, create a clear, short pathway that helps the best of them become part of your permanent team.
How it looks in practice:
Day 30: Every high-performing agency or casual worker gets a buddy and a short intro to your service’s routines and values.
Day 60: They’re given a provisional role preview (a conversation about what a permanent position would look like).
Day 90: Offer conversion (e.g. part-time or permanent shift line) with a small retention bonus or recognition.
You then track:
Conversion rate (how many casuals join permanently).
Continuity feedback (do residents/clients report seeing familiar faces more often?).
This reduces turnover, rebuilds belonging, and lowers agency costs, because people are more likely to stay when they feel known and valued.
5. Metric myopia: when the measure becomes the meaning
Indicators matter; they’re also proxies. Australia’s quality indicator program has expanded, and new workforce turnover indicators are helpful signals.
But if your dashboard is tidy while staff complete forms in hot windows, you’re optimising the wrong thing.
When reform fatigue eases:
Publish a paperwork kill-list (five forms never to complete during surge periods) and
(where possible) move evidence capture out of peak.
The goal is not less evidence; it’s better-timed evidence that doesn’t cannibalise care.
6. Work design shifted under your feet
Pandemic aftershocks, mandated care minutes, and constant audits changed the shape of work.
Fragmentation killed flow. When every shift ends with open loops, staff conclude (rationally) that the system won’t let them do good work here
The fix:
Counter by building micro-progress into every role. Start a weekly wins roll-call (one visible step forward per person, shared in under five minutes).
Add micro-promotions inside thirty days: small, structured increases in responsibility or recognition that show growth now, like trialling a new roster area, co-leading a project, or mentoring a peer.
Pair them with quick pay nudges or public recognition to prove development still happens, even while reform drags on.
People don’t need a pep talk; they need proof the week can move.
7. Early churn is a loop, not a blip
Early departures break trust, increase onboarding load, and invite more agency use (which repeats the cycle).
Churn doesn’t just cost recruitment dollars; it breaks familiarity, spikes orientation load, and forces more agency. Which erodes belonging and invites more workarounds.
When reform fatigue eases:
Install a Week-9 stay check: a 10-minute conversation, one fix delivered within 72 hours, and a follow-up.
Measure Week-12 retention. Progress + belonging is how people decide to stay.
Why You Don’t Need Another Plan (Yet)
Aged care reform isn’t slowing down, but your people’s capacity already has.
You don’t need another transformation plan this side of Christmas.
Write down what you’d fix first if you had a clear week. Then rest.
When February comes, we’ll start together.
The 2026 Waitlist Is Now Open
Most providers won’t have headspace to rebuild until the new year.
That’s why the waitlist for the 2026 Public Mentoring Cohort is open now.
Join early so your leaders have something ready when the noise finally breaks.
🔹 Join the 2026 Public Mentoring Cohort. Starting in March 2026. For leaders, coordinators, and managers ready to create cultures of connection. Not more compliance. Get on the waitlist today →
The system will still be there in February. Make sure your leaders are too.
References and Further Reading
AIHW – Aged Care Provider Workforce Survey (2023) and related summaries: workforce composition, use of agency and subcontractors, client-to-staff signals.
AIHW – Measuring quality in aged care; Residential Aged Care Quality Indicators Annual Report 2023–24; QI program resources (workforce turnover indicator context).
Australian Ageing Agenda (2024): Staff leave in their thousands, data shows – reporting AIHW Quality Indicator data showing that 10 073 aged-care staff ceased working at their residential service between July and September 2023.
Department of Health and Aged Care – Aged Care Transition-to-Practice (program overview).
Harvard Business Review – The Power of Small Wins (Amabile & Kramer); Collaborative Overload (Cross, Rebele & Grant); The Hidden Toll of Microstress; Leading an Exhausted Workforce.
Diane Vaughan – Normalisation of Deviance (organisational safety concept, applied to healthcare and high-reliability environments).