Talent spotlight: Kerryn Stewartson - Head of Workplace Rehabilitation
'It comes down to being passionately committed to achieving your result'
Kerryn Stewartson is a trailblazer. As Head of Workplace Rehabilitation, she has revolutionised the system which enables injured workers to return to work, setting a new industry standard and supporting injured workers throughout the process. With plenty of accomplishments under her belt, we decided a deep dive was in order and sat down with Kerryn to learn more.
Kerryn started with Edmen in 2008 as the Return to Work Coordinator. In that time she worked to successfully reduce the claims premium from $2 million down to $500,000. In 2017 she moved into the National Manager role with PeopleIN and, armed with her knowledge from Edmen, reduced the AWX claims premium from $1.4 million down to $410,000.
Of her key achievements, Kerryn says embedding solid processes and making sure that clients are clear on the processes are pillars of success. Using innovative concepts such as host-client kits featuring flow charts depicting the return to work process ensured the messaging was engaging and assisted to embed the process.
"There are a lot of companies that do things, but not to the degree and detail that we go to".
Encompassing a start to finish mentality is key to management of a workplace accident Kerryn says.
Establishing strong relationships with key stakeholders such as doctors, providers and physios was integral to improve the process. ‘Making sure that we had a good network of doctors and providers to support our injured workers. As opposed to any old GP’ ensured a supportive network of health care professionals.
Another key element in improving the process was upskilling front line staff. As they field calls from injured employees, training in how to be as supportive as possible on the phone plays a pivotal role ‘show them, love, show them care, show them that they’re valued’ ‘The first conversation that they have sets the tone for where a workers comp claim can go’
It is this instinct to show care and the ability to innovate that sets Kerryn’s work apart, but she’s under no illusions of an easy ride ‘a lot of blood sweat and tears’ went into it she says, which is precisely her advice for internal talent keen to grow within the business
"If I didn’t have passion, drive and commitment - it wasn’t going to happen".
Kerryn says it ‘comes down to being passionately committed to achieving your result’
Looking ahead, Kerryn is keen to support other PeopleIN businesses to reduce their claim costs such as working with WA’s Techforce to support the onboarding processes and get everyone up to speed sooner.
Of the return to work process, Kerryn says ‘it’s a super easy process, it’s just a matter of embedding it and people living by it’ and as she says, it will continue to evolve with growth, but with new platforms to explore, the injury and incident management system can only continue to improve.
After all, at the core of everything Kerryn does is a simple mantra ‘just take care of your people’.
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