Workers Compensation & Risk Specialists

Minimising People risk to optimise Business performance

If you're a leader in a small to medium-sized business, it can feel like the legal and Employee Relations systems are stacked against you, particularly if you’ve had experience with Workers Compensation claims or the Fair Work Commission.  

And with the 2020 ‘Respect at Work’ report, 2022’s ‘Directors Positive Duties’, changes to WHS legislation, and employees emboldened by AI, managing what we now call psychosocial risk across all aspects of the workplace can now feel like a quicksand of legal, cultural, safety and business performance considerations.  

The truth is, by the time you’re at a Workers Comp or Fair Work investigation or claim, your business has likely missed some simple, key opportunities to manage this better. 

The issues on your plate often start with managers trying to quickly solve a problem without seeking support, avoiding conversations that need to happen, or not having them at all.  Or basic training that didn’t happen, supporting documents that don’t exist, aren’t fit for purpose, or all three!   

The good news is that there’s a few key things business owners and leaders can do to minimise their risks, meet compliance regulations, and build manager skills, but like any business investment worth making, they take time and money to build the baseline capability.   But who’s got time for all that?

So where’s the best bang for your buck?

• Just-in-time coaching for key staff
• Employment agreements (contracts) and relevant policies that reflect current legislation
• Targeted training for all staff about the issues most likely to impact your business.

Managers don’t need to be lawyers, but they do need to know the basics – those “Management Fundamentals” about how to give clear, early feedback, how to document conversations, how to help create constructive, trust-based, achievement-oriented cultures, plus how to separate and deal with performance (activity) from misconduct (behaviour) issues, and how to sensitively deal with physical and mental health challenges amongst their teams. 

It’s vital you have an “Appropriate Workplace Behaviour” policy in place, with regular training for employees and managers, and which teaches how to raise and deal with grievances.  

These capabilities take time to build, and you don;t need to retain an employment lawyer to answer all your questions, as most don’t require a lawyer's fee to answer.  Cheap HR helpdesk subscriptions can offer basic 'vanilla' advice, but they don’t understand the history and goals, or the cultural and financial drivers of your organisation to offer the practical, tailored, actionable advice you need.   

This is where ‘Fractional HR’ support comes in.  This is about having as-needs access to a senior HR Professional, who works to understand you and your business, and provides proactive guidance and support before potential and live people issues become claims.   This could be concerns about performance, absences, interpersonal conflict, sensitively dealing with re-organisations, and providing the right training and documents for your needs. 

Ryan Atkins has over 20 years as an HR Director, and has worked with Nick and  the Workers Risk team, firstly as a client, and now as a partner, for over 15 years. He's already helped a number of clients minimise the impact of active cases while coaching them to become more proactive in managing ongoing people risk.   

If this sounds like something that would free you and your leaders up to work on building your business, contact us to set up an exploratory call.