(Part 3 of the Series “Getting Started with WorkCompEdge”)
Okay – because you’re a dedicated reader, you already know to use the Getting Started with WorkCompEdge survey and the WorkCompEdge proposal report in ModMaster to help your company or client decide which work comp issues – and WorkCompEdge modules, if you’re a member – your company should focus on first.

We admit – our training videos may not be quite as exciting as a rock concert. But they’re another way we can help you rock with WorkCompEdge! Visit our training videos now

So you’ve utilized the survey and/or the report, identified the topic(s) which most need your attention, and now you’re chomping at the bit, as we say in this part of the country, to get started with a specific module in WorkCompEdge. (Or, if you’re still not a WorkCompEdge user, you’re curious to see what you would do next.) But how do you know what to do within the module? And how do you know that you’re not overlooking some wonderful features we envisioned and painstakingly labored to include on the site? If you’re asking such questions, then you’re ready for

Step 3 – Watch our introductory videos

As you’ve hopefully noticed by now, there are videos all over WorkCompEdge. Our spokesperson Holly starts talking as soon as you hit the site, and each of the 15 modules has its own vignette which illustrates the concepts of that module. But for this step, I’m talking about a couple of different videos, both narrated by the one, the only, the legendary Tim Coomer, our CEO.

When you have 9 minutes, watch the Introduction to WorkCompEdge video for an overview of the site’s navigation, module components, goals and more.

When you have 90 minutes, watch the WorkCompEdge Quick Tour. Yes, we realize that a 90 minute quick tour is a bit of a misnomer. But what can we do? Tim’s the boss. At this very moment, for example, he’s blasting circa 1987 Guns N’ Roses from his corner office and there’s not a thing any of us can do about it. So, he calls this video a quick tour, we all call it a quick tour. Seriously, as you might expect, this video goes much more in-depth and includes an overview of each of the 15 modules.

If you don’t have many minutes at all, you can still view these videos a segment at a time. They both have menu options so you can click to the parts that interest you most – or watch a little while, then come back and click in to where you left off.

Finally, this is a good time for me to mention that there are other videos to help you with specific workbooks associated with several of the modules in WorkCompEdge. Don’t miss them on the WorkCompEdge WebHelp page at www.specificsoftware.com/wcehelp/. All these videos are another way we can help you rock with WorkCompEdge.

More in this series “Getting Started with WorkCompEdge: Part 1 Part 2

http://www.SpecificSoftware.com
http://www.WorkCompEdge.com

(Part 2 of the Series “Getting Started with WorkCompEdge”)

In last week’s blog I talked about tackling work comp issues “bird by bird,” so it seems only natural that this week we should move, in some fashion, to a discussion of cats, as in, “there’s more than one way to skin a cat.” This common idiom certainly applies to the many ways you could decide which work comp issues – and WorkCompEdge modules, if you’re a member – your company should focus on first.

Print a copy of the Getting Started with WorkCompEdge survey and consult with other staff before you complete it online. Don’t worry if you’re not very sure of how to answer all the questions – it’s meant to be an intuitive guide to identifying the work comp issues you should focus on first.

As we discussed in the last blog, the WorkCompEdge proposal report in ModMaster provides an excellent first step – and analytical method – for determining where to start making improvements to your company’s or client’s work comp picture. But we also think there’s merit in a more intuitive approach, so that brings me to

Step 2 – Answer some key questions about your company’s operations in our Getting Started with WorkCompEdge survey.

This survey, located at www.specificsoftware.com/wce/survey.htm
, consists of 19 questions to help a company assess its work comp strengths and weaknesses. Each “question” is really a statement with which you can strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree, or indicate neutrality. All questions have a ranking of importance which we’ve predetermined, but your positive or negative answers will, of course, further impact that ranking. Leaving a question blank is the same as a neutral response.

OK, now for the tricky part. Depending on the size and structure of your company, it may be difficult for one person to immediately answer all 19 of these questions. We have two suggestions:

1. Print a copy of the survey and consult with staff including the controller, insurance or risk manager, safety team leader, human resource personnel, and CEO to get these questions answered before you complete the survey online.
2. Don’t worry if you’re not very sure of how to answer all the questions. This is meant to be a more intuitive approach than the WorkCompEdge proposal report, so just give your gut response and move on.

When you submit the survey (using the button at the bottom of the survey page), results will be shown as a prioritized list of the WorkCompEdge modules. Whether or not you’re a WorkCompEdge member, you’re welcome to use the survey as a guide to determining the work comp issues that most need attention in your company. Give it a try – you’ll be the cat’s meow!

http://www.WorkCompEdge.com
http://www.SpecificSoftware.com

(Part 1 of the Series “Getting Started with WorkCompEdge”)

Although I originally joined Specific Software as the programmer for ModMaster, nowadays I write words more often than I write code here at work. After I write and edit usage instructions, marketing pieces, educational information, web pages and endless emails – I then do the unthinkable, to some: I go home and write for fun. In all its forms – novel, memoir, poetry, etc. – I’m addicted to the written word.
How does this relate to you and work comp, you might ask? Well, one of my favorite books about writing is Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. Believe it or not, some of the lessons in this book easily transfer to the process of improving your work comp picture. Bird by Bird got its title from an episode that Lamott relates in the book: when her brother was 10, he had to write a report on birds. He’d put it off and put if off, and now it was due the very next day. Lamott writes,

…he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”

Bird by bird. Doesn’t any big project – whether it’s writing a whole book, building a high-rise condo or planning to host the Olympics – loom large and unwieldly until you start breaking it into pieces? I hope that making changes to improve your work comp picture doesn’t feel quite as overwhelming as those tasks, but let’s face it: as the sheer number of modules (15) on the WorkCompEdge site attests, there are a lot of places you could start. How do you decide where?

Whether you’re an employer or an insurance professional, here’s what you need to do:

Step 1 – Start by learning what the mod can tell you

You probably already know that the mod is a number somewhere around 1.0, more or less, and that less is better. You hopefully know that the higher your mod is, the more you are going to pay in workers comp premium. If you’re in an industry like construction, you know that you may not be eligible to win contracts unless your mod is at least 1.0. But an analysis of your mod, which your insurance agent can do in our ModMaster software, will show you information such as:

• Your controllable mod – the amount of mod points you could save if you had no losses – and the corresponding money you could be saving on premium
• How much money you could be saving in premium for every point you trim from the mod
• How the number and severity of your losses compare to standards for your industry
• How your losses are trending, and therefore what you may anticipate for your future mod(s)

The strong WorkCompEdge Proposal report from ModMaster will show you or your client the top 5 or 6 areas of concern to prioritize when evaluating work comp improvement opportunities.

These factors and more are presented in the new, handy-dandy WorkCompEdge Proposal report in ModMaster, which then goes on to do some analytical behind-the-scenes crunching of that data to present the top 5 or 6 areas of concern that you should consider first. For example, if your analysis shows that loss severity is an issue, then this report is going to recommend you look at the Clock Is Ticking, Expedite Return-to-Work and Before and After an Injury modules first. If you have a frequency issue, it’s going to steer you towards the safety modules. If your mod is already great – either at or very near the minimum possible mod – then it’s going to steer you toward optimizing your costs through modules like Avoid Low Bid Mentality, Wellness, and others.

Here’s a sample of the WorkCompEdge proposal report in ModMaster. If you’re an agent, be sure to run it for your clients. If you’re an employer, be sure to ask for it from your agent. It’s a great way to decide – based on analytical data – which “bird” deserves your attention first.

http://www.WorkCompEdge.com

http://www.SpecificSoftware.com