Workers who were hurt or made ill on the job need time to get up to speed. Good programs help employees ease back into full productivity without reinjury.
They take time to develop. But, their success is a product of trial and error. However, companies that design effective programs are never sorry that they did. Boosting productivity, morale and the bottom line always pays off. Keeping accidents and injuries to a minimum keeps premiums in line.
Effective RTW programs also limit fraudulent and abusive claims. Along the same lines, private investigation is rarely called for when employees get back to work quickly. Even a little productivity is better than none, and retaining good workers saves a fortune in hiring and training costs. Continuing to earn income — even if wages are temporarily reduced for light-duty — keeps food on the table. There are also physical and psychological benefits. Private investigation usually exposes injured workers who attempt to cheat the system, but it sometimes reveals just how isolating and depressing a serious injury can be.
Experts agree that returning to work, even on a limited basis, speeds recovery. The hardest part is getting started, but employers who drag their feet could soon find themselves out of business. The best programs are a valued part of the company culture just like teamwork or work-life balance. Time and financial resources are invested in safety. Training is thorough and unrushed. Safety is the first item on the agenda of every meeting.
Safety is a condition of employment, and there are consequences for violating rules. Workers are comfortable pointing out unsafe conditions or behavior. New companies identify jobs, equipment, or workspaces with high potential for injury.
Older companies review their history to pinpoint the most common injuries and find out how they occurred. The RTW team brainstorms about ways to protect workers in those positions. Certain jobs may be modified. Programs are designed to ensure that organizations can tap into this vast capital asset potential by providing supportive conditions to women returning to work.
As with everything else, there are challenges that need to be overcome with RTW initiatives. Designing such programs requires immense thought, structure and the ability to follow through on them. Here is a look at five key considerations when designing an RTW program:. Focus on inclusion: Diversity is not to be celebrated on a specific day in the year, rather through giving opportunities to the right candidates to create an inclusive workforce.
Enable the right ecosystem: For an RTW initiative to be successful, a return to work employee and others in the same team must be treated equally regardless of which program umbrella they come under.
There are so many thoughts and anxieties when one returns to work. The program must include modules for onboarding, coaching, mentorship, training, networking and hand-holding. Areas must be identified, where this can be done successfully rather than throwing return to work candidates with people in the deep end of the pool.
Give people time to settle into their roles; train where necessary; and provide them adequate breathing space with a longer onboarding time to enable them to perform at their full potential. Position it right: Another crucial factor for the success of such programs is to position them appropriately.
The idea is to not make this unfriendly for men and make existing employees feel marginalized. RTW has to be positioned and communicated internally as a talent model, wherein the incoming employees will not be treated any differently and will be an integral part of the team, eventually transitioned to hold equal responsibilities, as per the demands of the role.
This ensures that people view the program positively, adding to its sustainability and longevity. The effect is stronger for men than for women, likely due to occupational differences between the two groups, and are robust across different specifications. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that these programs are cost effective for large employers.
More work is needed to determine whether these programs could be adopted successfully by smaller firms. RAND working papers are intended to share researchers' latest findings and to solicit informal peer review.
They have been approved for circulation by RAND but may not have been formally edited or peer reviewed. The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis.
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