RTW success sounds like this
The following is a letter (with the names removed to protect privacy) from the employee of a large Melbourne company to the claims officer at his workplace. Reading it, it seems it could be - but isn't - just so simple to have brilliant RTW outcomes every time...
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I am writing to you as I have just returned to work after many months on WorkCover. The purpose of the letter is to thank you for the way that everything was handled from the day I received the injury. I was pleasantly surprised and relieved to find that everyone involved in the whole process – the doctor, surgeon, plant manager and of course yourself – put my complete and successful recovery as the prime objective during the many months I was off work. Further, that I was not financially disadvantaged one dollar as a consequence of my injury. There was never any pressure applied or inferred from anyone in respect to lost time, the costs incurred by [the company] or the bona-fides of the injury. The doctor told me last week that out of about 30 similar injuries he has been involved with in the last 12 months, my recovery has been easily the most successful. This is due, in no small part, to the support be it practical, financial or psychological that was given to me by all of the above people under your leadership and I cannot thank you enough. |
How would it be if letters like these were commonplace – better still, if the sorts of situations like the one described in this letter were so commonplace that people didn't even think to write letters, they simply expected a positive, collaborative effort to help with return to work after an on-the-job injury.
The letter, shared with us by a touched and proud manager, is a thing of beauty in an area of work that is often acrimonious, hostile and anything but collaborative. It is a light that we should all let flicker in our minds if ever we doubt the human benefits of communication, collaboration and support.
These are benefits easily translatable into financial ones.
‘Discretionary effort' is effort that no amount of training, persuading or incentivising can elicit. It's called ‘discretionary' effort, meaning that little bit extra, because a worker will only use it if they want to.
An employee like the one who wrote this letter can return to work with all the strength and support of the workplace at all levels, and the surgeon and other medical providers. Compare this to the worker returning to a hostile environment, where they're not shown respect or credibility.
Who do you think will have a more successful return to work outcome?
An employee treated like the one who wrote this letter will not only return to work faster than otherwise; they will return with more enthusiasm and a new-found sense of loyalty towards their workplace. The likelihood of an increase in their discretionary effort is strong. If a job isn't quite finished at knock-off time they might stay around twenty minutes longer just to get the job done, rather than bolting out the door as soon as the clock strikes five. The employee cares, because they know they are cared about.
Spending the time and money to support an employee through a return to work creates results that continue to pay off for a long time afterwards.