The client’s perspective
To keep up with a substantial real estate boom, a local county government sought to replace an antiquated virtual mainframe property tax system with a streamlined, cloud-based platform that offers enhanced security, flexibility, and connectivity.
Property values were at an all-time high and data showed that new construction activity had picked up significantly. This county government handled the valuation, administration, and collection of property taxes for more than 750,000 residential and commercial parcels, amounting to nearly $6 billion in property taxes, or 45% of the county’s overall revenue. Meanwhile, their current property tax system was built in the 1970s—when the county was about half its current population size. The system couldn’t keep up with the growth, much less provide an enriched customer service experience.
A new view
The county leadership team came to Eagle Hill already understanding how critical it was to acknowledge, plan for, and address this change early on and in a holistic way. However, a change of such magnitude required serious change management expertise. Even though the benefits of a new system were clear, the change for the user is tremendous. Some people get excited about becoming more modern while others become understandably nervous or anxious. And when the comfortable and familiar disappear, we must help employees become skilled in navigating the new system and embrace the new way of working.
Impressed with Eagle Hill’s philosophy and disciplined approach to change at a transformational scale, the county government asked Eagle Hill to drive the new technology adoption and enablement in a way that would realize the new systems’ desired benefits.
Unconventional consulting–and breakthrough results
We started from a place where influential leaders and change champions had begun to spread awareness of the initiative and the need for change to their departments and teams. We then jumped into design and execution of a strategy—combining elements of traditional and Agile change management—to walk in step with the technology development team and create the right type of change support for the users.
Just as the county implemented the first functionality release, COVID-19 hit, and users were suddenly dealing with a shift to remote work, the introduction of a new collaboration platform (MS Teams), and all the personal worries, concerns, and constraints associated with the pandemic. We were cognizant of the dangers of change fatigue and modified our approach so as not to lose ground while still caring about the individual experience. We created new resources, peer support systems, and channels of communication appropriate for a virtual working environment.
One valuable resource that we had put in place before COVID was a network of change ambassadors who helped influence system adoption. We worked closely with them as the situation evolved, adapting our own approach to keep what was in the best interest of their people foremost, always. The county appreciated how we worked as partners during these times. We walked alongside them, shifting priorities as needed and bringing in innovations to make them successful for the long haul.
One client team member told us that they love Eagle Hill’s “can-do attitude, energy and professionalism” and another one admired how we “grow others by osmosis.”
The new technology system aims to improve collaboration between departments and enable the county to provide faster, more effective services to its taxpayers. The benefits are clear: better integration, reduced errors, increased efficiency, tighter security, and enhanced customer service. With the new system, the county now has:
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A single system of record
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Reduced manual data entry
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An adaptable system that can be configured to ensure compliance with policy and legislative updates
