Quiet times in comp an opportunity for collaboration in risk management: Panel

ORLANDO, Fla. — The stability of the workers’ compensation line has opened the door for risk managers and the insurance industry to improve partnerships to maintain the line’s successes, according to panelists who spoke Monday at the Workers’ Compensation Education Conference.

Focusing on risk managers, who may be charged with managing the constraints of tougher lines of insurance such as property, panelists said a less challenging clearing environment offers an opportunity to work better with brokers , insurers, third-party administrators and legal teams to develop strategies to maintain market stability.

“The challenge for us is to think about what we bring to help risk managers better manage their new and evolving risks, but also risk mitigation, as they deal with it every day,” he said. Kimberly George, Global Chief Brand Officer based in Chicago. officer, Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc.

“It’s time to determine (to) know today’s risk managers what their current buttons are, what their goals are, what their view of technology is, how they think about the culture of an injured worker and how they’re treated… If we’re not in those conversations, we’re not as effective partners as we need to be,” she said.

Mike Chang, CEO of North American corporate risk and brokerage for Willis Towers Watson PLC in New York, said working together in easy times prepares for the challenges ahead. “Because everything changes in hard times, when you can really see who your partner is. …What you put into it is what you get out of it.”

Mark Wilhelm, executive president of Safety National Casualty Corp, based in St. Louis and director of brokerage relations for Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., said companies often turn to insurers to help manage risk. “It pays so many dividends for risk managers and clients to let the carrier have those face-to-face meetings,” he said.

Better partnerships within organizations is another goal for maintaining stability in workers’ compensation, according to the panelists.

“I almost want to call it a marketing campaign; where we went from ‘no’ to ‘we know’ and involved all stakeholders, from C–suite for our sales people and our operations,” said Susan Shemanski, Jacksonville, Fla.-based vice president of risk, president of enterprise risk management for The Adecco Group, a staffing company. “We want to know what people are doing and give them advice on what they can put in place to really change this risk.”

Melora Copeland, director of insurance in Charlotte, North Carolina, for Compass Group USA Inc., a hospitality company, said that it’s common in organizations for “everybody to run away from risk management,” but that “we’re trying to put all around the world.–THE–board ideas.”

“We want to learn from our field operations teams what’s working, what’s not,” she said. “We use a system so we get live feedback from groups about claims or opportunities … We try to report them early so we hear about things and can mitigate other losses and find best practices. … We can all learn from each other.”