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Survey findings 2021

Thank you to the Coordinators who completed our annual Return to Work Coordinator Survey in February. Your responses provided us with great insight regarding your views on our existing supports and services. More importantly though, your feedback has allowed us to identify areas for improvement and has directly informed our skill building program for 2021-22, enabling us to better meet your education needs.

What we learned

More about South Australian Return to Work Coordinators

Whilst majority of Return to Work Coordinators surveyed operate within the registered scheme (claims managed by Gallagher Bassett or Employers Mutual Limited), at least a quarter of survey responses were received from Coordinators who operate within the self-insured environment. Half of the survey participants had been undertaking the role for over seven years, but with many new Coordinators being trained weekly, a significant proportion of Return to Work Coordinators are still developing knowledge and building confidence within the role. This means that we need to continue to work hard at ensuring that our services are accessible and meeting the needs of varying skill sets.

What supports and services you are accessing the most

Almost 80% of you have accessed the tools and resources available on the ReturnToWorkSA website and over half have utilised their free Return to Work Matters subscription. Access to support from our Employer Education Advisor has doubled, which tells us that Coordinators are hearing our message that we are here to help!

You provided feedback that the ReturnToWorkSA website wasn’t the easiest to navigate and has prompted us to review what’s on our website, which will be updated in the coming months to help you find what you need.

The usefulness of our services

You rated support from our Employer Education Advisor and Mentally Healthy Workplaces Consultant as most useful, this included those who had organised a tailored education session for their managers and leaders. Whilst Coordinators were very complimentary and genuine in their appreciation for the supports available, we did learn that we could improve on some things as well.

You provided feedback that the Return to Work Coordinator email newsletters could include more relevant content. You told us that you miss our faces in Adelaide and within regional South Australia, and that you were keen to attend more in-person workshops and events.

This feedback has been particularly useful in our planning for 2021-22 and has prompted us to re-think the way we communicate with Coordinators in our email newsletter. We’re also planning our return to regional South Australia, which was severely impacted due to COVID-19.

Your skill gaps and what you wanted to see in our future skill building program

We asked you about your knowledge and skills in recovery and return to work and mentally healthy workplaces.

You told us that you already have sufficient understanding and practical knowledge about the role of ReturnToWorkSA, how to support your injured worker, and how to lodge a claim. You told us you needed greater access to information around management of psychological injury, the claims dispute process and how to build relationships with your claims agent. With regards to mentally healthy workplaces, over half of you told us that you understand what it is and the role that managers and leaders play, but needed greater support in understanding and managing psychosocial hazards and risks, and how to develop a workplace wellbeing program.

We recognise that our skill building program is accessed by many Return to Work Coordinators and that, overall, Coordinators obtain great benefit from the range of workshops offered. Our priority remains providing Coordinators with access to relevant and quality training and education.

To see what 2021-22 looks like and some of the exciting workshop additions, see our full calendar.

What’s changing in 2021-22

Your feedback has helped us shape our program for 2021-22. So what’s new and what’s returning?

  1. Statement of Attendance – all workshop participants who attend a workshop  in full will receive a Statement of Attendance. We appreciate that you are busy and that attending a workshop is an investment in time. A Statement of attendance allows you to demonstrate your engagement and show that you have been active in keeping up to date with all things return to work and mentally healthy workplaces.
  2. Dates will be released every two months – We noticed that registrations (and attendances) tend to drop off when registrations open three months in advance. To avoid planning to far ahead, we will be releasing new dates and workshops via a dedicated bi-monthly ‘upcoming workshops’ email to all Return to Work Coordinators showcasing our upcoming workshops for the following two months. This also means that our Return to Work Coordinator email newsletter will no longer include workshops and will be used as a forum to feature new resources and topical articles (this Email Newsletter being the only exception).
  3. Online and face-to-face offerings will continue – You keep telling us that you miss our faces, but the convenience of online learning is not something you are willing to give up – and you won’t have to! Online workshops will remain an ongoing feature for many of our workshops, but we recognise that online doesn’t suit all topics, so you will continue to see a mix of online and face-to-face workshops throughout 2021-22.
  4. Our fundamental program will remain…fundamental – We will continue to offer our  four fundamental workshops eight times a year. This is to cater for an increase in new Return to Work Coordinators wanting to upskill, but also those experienced Coordinators who are keen to refresh on key strategies and principles.
  5. Two heads are better than one! – With so many workshops scheduled for 2021-22 and so many Return to Work Coordinators reaching out for support, we have recruited a new Employer Education Advisor. Jo Snape comes to us with a recent background in mobile claims management and has been a certified Return to Work Coordinator since 2014. Click here learn more about Jo and why she’s excited to join the Employer Education team.