The Permeation of Leadership in Workers' Compensation

Can one person make a difference in the workers’ compensation industry? Let us go ask an injured worker who has had a success story in their journey to recovery. We can also ask an injured worker who has not had a successful story in their journey to recovery. Now look at the families and friends who surround these individuals. Lastly, go look in the mirror. What part do you play on this spectrum?

When I first entered the space to talk about workers’ recovery, a risk manager approached me at one of our industry conferences to tell me a story from their childhood. When they were six years old, their father sustained a back injury when he fell off a roof at work. They proceeded to tell me about what it was like to see their father, a once strong and happy man, incapacitated and using alcohol as a coping mechanism throughout his injury. He struggled with rehabilitation, medications, and ultimately never got off the couch. He died before he could see them graduate from high school. At this point of the child’s life, they vowed to never have that happen to anyone on their watch and thus, became a risk manager to help manage the risks associated with the industry in which their father was injured. I found this story heartbreaking and incredible because it showcased the ripple effect an injury can have. It also showcased how the support, or lack thereof, impacts not only the injured worker, but their family. This person vowed to never allow this situation to happen to another six-year-old on their watch ever again. I ask you again, can one person make a difference in the workers’ compensation industry?

The Power of One

It takes one person to take a genuine interest in another to impact a life. A single person with a willingness to show up, do the right thing, and communicate with an injured worker can make a difference. We not only operate in a space where human beings are injured, they are also vulnerable and have a lack of control on what comes next. Fear is a normal feeling in our industry because there is so much unknown at every corner. How do we combat this?

Contributing to the greater good is a deep and fundamental human need. We can create this dynamic each day we show up to come to work in the workers’ compensation industry. When an employer representative or an adjuster brings a voice of care, compassion, understanding, coupled with a vision of healing that an injured worker can follow, surprising things can happen. This not only impacts the injured worker and their livelihood, but it also impacts the organizational culture of the employer…and it can change an industry.

We have the power to give those injured workers’ who lack a voice the power to feel seen, heard, acknowledged, and valued. This starts from taking the time to express compassion, empathy, and understanding not only towards the injured worker, but with our adjusting teams as well. We simply need leadership to offer a clear path and a vision for a more positive future for all.

The Power of Skill Building

The way we train adjusters is a disgrace to humanity at large. We train based upon statutes and jurisdictional requirements, which is important to operate, but these are rules and regulations versus the actual skills needed to formulate effective communication plans to drive meaningful change. All to frequently, adjusters are taught to operate between the rules and regulations of the jurisdiction in which they operate. Many times, these compliance related tasks can be automated and taken off the adjusting desk so the adjusters can do what is truly needed in the workers compensation space, build human connection with injured workers. While it is important to understand the rules and regulations of this industry, those should be the foundational building blocks in which we start to create the key differentiators between adjusters, insurance companies, and third-party administrators.

We all operate under the same rules and regulations. What makes the difference in organizations is the empathy, emotional intelligence, customer-centricity, and consumable communication methods utilized by people helping people. Being upfront about what an injured worker qualifies for under a specific jurisdiction should be the bare minimum. How they do it… with care, compassion, concern, empathy, and authenticity should be the driving factors in what separates programs.

The industry has historically focused on the importance of technical skill and building upon technical efficiency to which adjusters are promoted into leadership, being fantastic on checking boxes, passing an audit, and reciting jurisdictional statute… but lacking the emotional intelligence and capacity to lead. We promoted the wrong people and we have historically focused on the wrong factors. If you do not believe me, check the talent gap within our space…and then go talk to Millennials and Generation Z prospects about our space. They will tell you exactly what you think and a lack of branding and effective leadership stems at the root of thriving organizations with a capacity to attract, retain, and develop people. People who help PEOPLE -- injured people who had an unforeseen circumstance occur while at work resulting in what could seemingly be the worst moment of their life.

The Power of Emotional Intelligence

I once had a leader, excuse me, a manager, who marked every email high importance. Easy to decipher what matters when they are all high importance, right? This leader had been promoted based upon technical skill. There was a lack of emotional intelligence and seeking to understand perspective because this leader was so black and white, not focusing on the details of what matters most in this space, the power of human connection. It showed in the work produced by our team, the rate of turnover, and the lack of camaraderie established between injured workers, employers, and our adjusting team. If you have been in the claims space for any period, you have probably worked for someone who operates in this mind frame.

When we take the time to seek to understand and look deeper at issues, taking the time to understand the perspective of an injured worker as well as the WHY, amazing things can happen. For example, if we take the very much needed time on the front end of a workers’ injury, bringing this person (and the family) along with us as a team approach to understanding what benefits they qualify for, how the benefits are calculated, when they are issued, in what format they are issued, and how the medical healing process will work amazing things can happen. When we are proactive in communication by calling before an injured worker needs something, checking in to see how someone is doing while informing them a benefit check has been issued, thankfulness occurs versus resentment for the lack of communication. Oh, and please do not forget to issue the indemnity benefit.

Approaching workers’ compensation with empathy and understanding starts from the top down of any organization. What does your organizational culture look like? I bet we can tell from your workers’ compensation program. This does not only mean on the employer side but also on the insurance carrier and third-party administrator side as well. How we treat one another matters. Exercising care, compassion, concern, and meaningful communication matters. If the pandemic taught us anything, it was the power of human connection. This starts by leading by example on the claims adjusting (people helping) side to then flow over to how adjusters treat injured workers.

The Power Behind the WHY

The adjusting desk is one of the most powerful positions. While it can feel thankless, this position creates opportunity, cultivates hope, and offers solutions to restore an injured human to a functional contributing member of society. We help injured humans get back to work, and more importantly, back to LIFE. In this position, we can single-handedly change the trajectory of someone’s life. I want to repeat that so it sinks in…every time you interact with someone in workers’ compensation, you are impacting the healing process of an injured human, changing the trajectory of someone’s LIFE. Return the phone call timely. The livelihood of another person depends on it.

As adjusters, we cannot change how an employer will respond, but we can encourage the leader of the injured worker to be an active participant in the recovery process. We can encourage the direct leader of the injured worker to communicate, texting or calling to check in to see how their TEAM MEMBER is doing. We cannot change the wages or statutory indemnity benefit calculation, but we can make sure benefits are issued TIMELY and, in a manner, easy for the injured worker to secure. We cannot change the mileage rate, but we can make sure to inform the injured worker about the qualification of mileage to and from medical appointments. If the injured worker is unable to secure transportation, we can secure it for them, so they are able to actively participate in their healing and recovery process. We can listen to the fears the injured worker may have to alleviate the unknown components that could cause anxiety. We can check in to make sure things are going smoothly for the injured worker because if something is wrong, we need to know to be able to fix it.

The Power of What Comes Next

We can make every day better for one another. We can encourage adjusters to do the right thing. We can encourage cutting through red tape and unnecessary check boxes. We can take the mundane clerical work from the adjusting desks and automate the processes to encourage time to be spent connecting with injured workers. Spending the extra time establishing trust, transparency, and empathy is the needed focus of how we train, encourage, and develop our adjusting teams. It is too bad so many organizations fail to lead with these important components.

It really is that simple. Make good things happen for people. Restore the livelihood of people. Do the right thing. Lead by example. Listen. Help. Learn.

You simply must WANT to make good things happen… I leave you with one last question: Do you?

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