Tension - target-driven or user-focused?

We have a constant juggling act to perform, balancing the needs of the individual with the needs of our corporate partners. Corporate targets demand that we move people on within 28 days, when there's a vacancy in a hostel we find someone to fill it. But individuals don't fit into neat categories, boxes, and sometimes everyone's got a reason, good in their eyes, for not going into a hostel. They don't want to pay £25 a week for food that they might not eat; they don't like the area; they've got bad history with a current resident; they think it'll be an awful place to live. Sometimes we agree with the person...and sometimes not. We have to identify who is genuine and who is just working the system and actually would be fine in the hostel. So it's not just the corporate targets and what the person wants, it's also trying to winkle out what really would be the best move for that person. We've all seen someone desperate to get their own flat, only to lose it within a few months, and then have arrears and anti social behaviour against their name. So sometimes when we push a person a particular way, we might just be right. And sometimes not. Balancing paternalism, wisdom, insight, the person's wishes and what they believe might just be possible - and what we know is possible. No wonder we sometimes get it wrong.