Many injured workers are not able to return to their old job. Facing the prospect of job hunting in an entirely new industry can be intimidating for someone already struggling with injury. Some workers may become dissuaded or depressed, and drop out of the workforce entirely.

High quality rehabilitation and re-training programs can make an enormous difference in assisting people into different jobs. 

Alicia Payne, a public servant and researcher, believes open-ended, worker-directed re-training programs “turn something that could be a very depressing time for a lot of people into something positive”.

Payne’s research centered on the closure of Newcastle’s biggest employer, the BHP Steelworks. Eighteen hundred workers, mainly middle-aged men with over twenty years at the company, would be made redundant in an uncertain job market. 

What BHP did next was remarkable. Their team sat down personally with each employee and asked them “how can we help you?”

Their re-training program, known as Pathways, was directed by employee needs and desires. Rather than set a budget or strict guidelines for each worker, BHP helped each employee devise a personal plan for achieving their career goals.

If that ambition meant going to university, BHP covered fees, textbooks and paid study leave. If it meant starting their own business, BHP paid for training courses on business skills.

Ninety percent of participants in the program were employed when the factory finally closed in 2001.

The program saved the company money in the long-term as workers left for new positions without collecting severance packages or additional wages.

“You would think that would be a really expensive program,” Payne said. “But, it actually ended up paying for itself.”

Some key lessons for return to work include:

• A retraining program needs to consider the worker’s aspirations as well as their competencies.
  
  The BHP program sought to find re-training solutions that would fulfill the worker’s personal goals.
  
  Putting an injured worker into any available job is not a long-term solution. Employees who do not find their work engaging are unlikely to stay in the position long.
  
  Moreover, this negative experience may discourage the worker from trying again, leading them to drop out of employment permanently.
   
• Re-training is most effective as a multi-layered approach
  
  A major factor in the success of the BHP program was its multi-pronged assistance program.
  
  Apart from offering training, Pathways also provided career-building sessions to help workers plan out their future. Financial advisers were brought in to help workers adapt their budgets. Centrelink provided advice on workers’ entitlements. Pastoral care and counsellors helped workers cope emotionally.
  
  Each of these services prepared workers for the challenge of changing careers. Finding employment is much easier if a worker is in good mental health, with a solid understanding of their financial position and a reasonable career path planned out.
  
  A program that trains a worker for a new job can certainly be helpful. However, a program that also provides support, direction and confidence, as well as training and tools, provides a much greater likelihood of success.   
   
•  Innovation can lead to surprising outcomes
  
  The BHP program welcomed new ideas. One such idea was to train workers to fill vacancies for technical teachers through a partnership with the Department of Education and Newcastle University.
  
  Employees with tertiary qualifications were trained as teachers through a graduate program. Meanwhile, special arrangements were made for workers without degrees to recognise their industry experience as “prior learning”.
  
  Not only were 80 workers given guaranteed employment, but Recognition of Prior Learning came to be adopted by universities across the country.
  
  Positive change can occur when a program is flexible enough to accommodate innovation.
   
• Hope is key to retraining
  
  A key element of the program at BHP involved giving people hope. The workers were motivated to take on the challenge of re-training because they believed it would lead to better outcomes.
  
  This hope came in part from the number of opportunities available to workers, meaning they could pursue the path they believed would lead to success.
  
  It also stemmed from the company’s attitude towards the program. From the beginning, company documents identified “giving something back” and “making a difference” as key objectives of Pathways.
  
  As Payne said, “a lot of thought went into recognizing what a big part of people’s lives [the steelworks] was and recognizing that in their response. Not just leaving people out in the cold.” As an example, BHP funded an author to write a history of the steelworks which was presented to each employee.
  
  By being sensitive to worker’s emotions, BHP was seen as an ally by workers. This helped create hope. Payne said the attitude in the steelworks shifted from “how will I ever find a job?” to excitement about new opportunities.

Being left without a job due to injury changes a person’s entire life.  As BHP demonstrated, an individualized and flexible program can turn a career dead-end into a brand new start.