No Business As Usual For Agents in Workers’ Compensation

It may be the perfect storm that will change the workers’ compensation landscape for decades. Individually, the forces are daunting, but put together the impact could be industry changing. Health care reform, evidence-based guidelines, the push for federal intervention, skyrocketing medical costs, obesity, cost shifting pressures, changing demographics, telecommuting, 24/7 virtual workplaces, off the job injuries and international exposures all hover ominously overhead.

Whether revolutionary or transitional, many of the changes will be out of our control, shaped by the winds of political fortune and the forces of economic change. That’s not to say that insurance agencies should not look towards the future to find new ways to help employers prepare for tomorrow. While agents may lack a crystal ball, employers expect them to be nimble and possess the knowledge and capacity to respond quickly to changing business conditions. Quite clearly, the greatest workers’ compensation challenge for agencies is their ability to adapt in the years ahead.

There are two indisputable factors that drive this need.

First, technology is ubiquitous causing seismic shifts in the way we live and work. Agencies must not only be technologically savvy and operate in new ways, but they must also hone their processes to meet the constantly evolving needs of their clients.

The workers’ compensation sphere is now so complex that agencies must offer hyper-targeted skills, such as risk management, claims control, medical management, return-to-work specialists, wellness, FMLA and ADA coordination, subrogation, OSHA guidance and more, with these services driving sales. The list is both long and growing. Agencies that can transform information into insights and value for the employers will emerge as the leaders.

A second factor is the continued melding of workers’ compensation with the “people” side of business. While for years efforts necessarily focused on safety, it became apparent that safe working conditions alone were inadequate for meeting the challenges of today’s workforce. New initiatives emerged, extending agencies’ reach to employee training, return-to-work and evidence-based medical care.

All this suggests that in the years ahead, this movement will take on new directions as agencies and employers recognize and work through the relationship and convergence of workers’ compensation, employee benefits and wellness.

Corporate silos that have separated risk management from benefits management are breaking down. Agencies that offer a broad range of skills and integrated knowledge will be able to compete.

Given the headwinds, “business as usual” is not an option for the successful insurance agency. Survival, let alone growth, demands agility, a culture of collaboration both inside and outside the agency, reduction of silo-based information, increased business intelligence, enhanced risk management and flexible solutions.

Diamond is managing director and co-founder of the Institute of WorkComp Professionals (IWCP) of Asheville, N.C., (www.workcompprofessionals.com). WCP’s sister organization, the Institute of Benefits & Wellness Advisors, certifies insurance professionals to apply the concepts of risk management to benefits. He can be contacted at 828-274-0959 or preston@workcompprofessionals.com; www.workcompprofessionals.com.