Setting up & evaluating workplace rehabilitation
SETTING UP AND EVALUATING WORKPLACE REHABILITATION
On January 11 AIRMIC held the first of a series of monthly meetings to discuss workplace rehabilitation and absence management.
How do you set up a rehabilitation programme at work and can you measure its cost-effectiveness? Those were the two main questions under the microscope at the first of the monthly lunchtime meetings organised by the Rehabilitation and Absence Management group.
The guest speaker was Nancy Hempstead, Head of Healthcare, EMEA at Crawford & Company. When she moved from the NHS to the private sector she was expecting to find a higher standard of employee care, yet the reality disappointed her. She found instead a gulf between the fine words of some senior managers and their attitude towards staff.
The rhetoric does not always match the reality, when it is said that staff are the companies’ greatest asset.
The wide-ranging and lively discussion was punctuated by many contributions from her audience based on their own experiences. Hempstead identified a number of factors in successful workplace rehabilitation programme and absence management. Among them:
- The need for early intervention;
- The importance of one person having ownership of rehabilitation;
- Buy-in from top management;
- The role of strong processes;
- The value of good data.
Hempstead admitted to being “flabbergasted” by the time some claims take to reach the stage of considering rehabilitation. In a recent review of vocational rehabilitation cases 86% were referred between one and three years following the accident. Of those 68% were supported in retraining, and in returning to work.
Yet, although late rehabilitation is generally better than none, “early intervention is the thing”. You should be considering the reason for employee absence on day one and actively managing the process.
The result is more likely to be positive and, of course, you get the benefits of a quicker return to work. What’s more, in her experience, the likelihood of a claim drops to about 10% if you apply early rehabilitation.
It needs to be clear who has responsibility for absence and/or rehabilitation in any organisation. This may seem a statement of the obvious, but many fall short in this respect, with different departments treating it like a game of ‘pass the parcel’.
Crucial to the understanding of proactive absence management and rehabilitation is an appreciation that it is just one aspect of joined up (risk) management. This leads to the inevitable conclusion that it requires genuine commitment from the top. Indeed, said Hempstead, the attitude towards rehabilitation is a sign of a good employer. “Do you feel valued as an individual? Do you feel the business supports you?”
Many employers lack well-defined processes for identifying and then responding to absence and rehabilitation, if policies and procedures are in place they need to be monitored, these are often either lacking or, if they exist, ignored within the organisation.
Absence should be logged from the moment someone goes off sick, with clearly defined lines of responsibility for follow up, return to work interviews, and escalation if rehabilitation is likely to be required. After that, there should be a well-understood process that takes into account who is managing the rehabilitation, the focus being getting the employee safely back to work.
Whilst intervention is often unnecessary (you don’t follow someone up just because they’ve been off for a short time with a bad cold) all absences need to be monitored. Some organisations use “triggers” or ‘red flags’ for referrals; these involve identifying potential developments that would indicate the need to consider further action.
Sometimes this action could just be a phone call to the individual’s home to enquire how they are. Many managers are reluctant in case it seems like harassment but, handled sensitively, such interest can have a beneficial effect. It is quite possible that the call could make all the difference, giving your colleague the confidence and motivation to return.
Once the person does comes back, don’t forget the return-to-work interview. This can be an excellent tool for picking up the wider causes of absence. For example, the individual may have problems at home, and you might be able to provide practical help or support. The interview also acts as a deterrent to malingerers. To be fully effective, though, it needs to take place on the day of return.
Another aspect of many firms that has surprised Nancy Hempstead is the lack of even basic data to support absence management: simple things like when people first went sick, the reasons, the actions taken, time off and any follow-up. Yet this kind of information can be valuable in building up a profile, both of the individual and the organisation as a whole.
Can you measure the cost-effectiveness of rehabilitation?
And, of course, data is a vital component in any assessment of whether an absence management or rehabilitation programme has been cost-effective. This is the big question that often explains why senior management are often unwilling to make a wholehearted commitment to rehabilitation.
In fact, there is a substantial and growing body of evidence that firms do benefit their bottom lines from rehabilitation programmes. Much of this is anecdotal, based on the experiences of individual employers (see, for example, AIRMIC’s two workplace rehabilitation booklets, which can be downloaded from airmic.com). Indeed, one member of the audience said that his company had, at a very conservative estimate, saved £4.5 million in their programme’s first year.
Then there is the comprehensive research carried out by Greenstreet Berman on behalf of the Association of British Insurers, which found that UK employers could save £4 billion p.a. through the greater use of rehabilitation. And that excludes the softer benefits such as greater staff motivation and loyalty, improved continuity and better customer relations.
Above all, said Hempstead, the reaction of firms and their employees that had introduced absence management or rehabilitation schemes. Was that it is another positive management tool to support a successful business.
The talk received an enthusiastic response from those who took part, all of whom actively participated in the discussion. There will be further rehabilitation and absence management events on the second Monday of every month until June, starting at midday.
Nancy Hempstead can be contacted via nancy.hempstead@crawco.co.uk
The Rehabilitation and Absence Management group is chaired by Iain Hovell of Rentokil. It meets from 12.00 pm – 2.00 pm on the second Monday of each month.
For further information, contact Robert Coleman, Robert.coleman@airmic.co.uk, 020 7680 3085.
