¶ Getting Better at What You Do
How do you get better at what you do ? Time management assistance .
AI .
Webinars , mentors , open platforms like Coursera Live and virtual Live training Live course , live training .
Live course , live training , live training .
Live training , live training , live training , live training , live training , live training , live training , live training . Whoa , that's a lot . So focus , communication , regulation and direction REA Audio . I'll give a little bit of background and then let you tell your background right ?
So I was fortunate enough to kind of do an update on the re-employability program for Woodruff Sawyer and got to meet some really , really nice and interesting and really engaged people .
While I was doing that and as I was doing kind of my debrief , I was looking through and I noticed some very interesting labels on your LinkedIn and that's what kind of caused me to reach out and as we talked I thought you know , it's so nice to see such a creative mind in the workers comp world and how you're working with your clients and we'll get into
that in a few minutes . But but , kiana , thank you so much , much for being with us and joining me today . So why don't you give a little bit of background about how you got involved with Woodruff Sawyer and some of that ?
Sure Well , Todd , it is my pleasure . Thank you so much for inviting me to the podcast . Can you believe I have 20 years of work comp experience ? I'm telling you , work comp keeps me young okay . So I spent the first 10 years of my career in workers' compensation as a claims examiner . I was a medical .
Only then , a lost time I spent time on a future medical desk , a settlement desk , and just between those collective experiences I learned so much what to do , what not to do , what works , what doesn't work . And then for the last 10 years of my career I spent on the broker site .
I worked at Epic Brokers for a little while and now I am here at Woodruff Sawyer doing senior claim consulting .
So do you mind sharing , like how did you originally get into workers' comp ?
Sure , it's a funny story . So I was at a well , I did retail management before for a major retailer . We won't talk about the name , retail management before for a major retailer , we won't talk about the name . But I was like I am so sick and tired of working weekends and overnights .
I was very young at that time and I was just thinking I need something different . So I actually went to a job fair I don't know if they even still have those anymore Like this was pre-LinkedIn , pre-all that you know . This was back in the day when you would fill out an application and turn it into personnel , right ?
So , I went to a job fair and this particular manager that worked for AIG at the time she says hey , I think you'd be a good medical only claim specialist . I didn't even know what it was . I said does that involve weekends ? She says no , it's an easy job . Here's the application . Go ahead and apply .
I applied , I had one interview and next thing I know I was on the desk . I didn't even know what workers comp was .
Right ? Well , it's funny because that's a very close story as to how the founder and CEO of re -employability . She was in retail . She didn't want to work weekends anymore and you know she ran into somebody that said , hey , how about you try insurance and workers' comp ? And here she is 25 years later .
So it's a great story for people that want to get out of that type of a routine . For some people it's great , and I know exactly how you feel . My first job was in radio .
I was in the promotions department and I worked every Saturday , every Sunday , all week long and made like no money at all and finally I just kind of gravitated towards sales and that eventually to workers' comp too . So anybody that might be listening , that might
¶ Kiana's Journey into Workers' Comp
be in a job like that , because there's a lot of opportunity in insurance . And when I was 20-some years old , if you had told me you're going to go work in workers' comp , I told you you were nuts . There was no way that I thought I'd be able to do , or even want to do that , right , right .
So what are some of the things that you experienced in your previous days or even now in the workers' comp world that maybe you didn't expect ?
days , or even now in the workers' comp world , that maybe you didn't expect . Great question , I would say , the changes since the pandemic . I am a very people person , right . I am so used to being on site with my clients , taking tours with them , I'm used to just really being side by side with them . As a consultant , I specialize in that .
I'm able to make recommendations , I'm able to see things from their purview . Well , when COVID happened , I had to really just kind of reimagine what my role looked like , and with that you kind of have a great resignation .
So a lot of folks that I worked with before I no longer worked with them , and then you had a different generation of the workforce come in , and so with that , one thing that I didn't expect is you know the amount of injuries that I saw during COVID , especially working from home . You'd be surprised .
Yeah , for sure .
And just the just the different , just how COVID just affected the industry in general . You know , with telemedicine I also noticed that , you know , usually withComp , the human resource department , manages it . There is an expansion in that . So there is a bit of a knowledge gap . That's another thing I did not anticipate .
So while I am consulting with clients and giving recommendations , I'm also teaching them as well also teaching them as well , and what I , what really drew me to want to have a conversation with you ? As I mentioned on your LinkedIn profile , are you kind of what what you had had put in there ?
Claim client ambassador Now , that's not your official title , is it ?
It's not so one of my beloved clients that's what they call me .
I have clients that call me a bunch of things and they're all great , but when he said client ambassador , I said whoa yeah you know , that makes a lot of sense because you know , um , we were talking a little bit before we started recording how much I'm sure your clients appreciate your energy and your creativeness , and and you came up with what you also have
listed on LinkedIn as the creator of Ask Q Work Comp
¶ Unexpected Changes in the Industry
Sessions . Tell us what Ask Q is and how did you come up with the idea ?
Sure , sure . Well , my name is Kiana . Everybody calls me Q inside the workplace , outside the workplace it's just a part of my brand . And I had a client that I was helping with a work comp program and she said to me wow , if I don't have a clue , I'll ask you . Then I had another client .
I was just doing a work comp 101 with them and again , this is a multi-generational workforce and at the end they were saying if I don't know what to do , ask Q .
And I was like this kind again , a knowledge gap , with just different workforces , retiring the great resignation things of that nature , and just trying to figure out how to get certain clients up to speed , because what happens is the claims aren't a point right , they're always processing . But claims aren't a point right , they're always processing .
So again , just trying to figure out what is going to work best . How can I teach ? I love teaching . And what's going to make them feel comfortable . So ask you , sessions are essentially where I can take an external client , an internal client , anything that they have a question about , I'm the subject matter expert .
If I don't know , I'll go ahead and ask others . I just want the clients to stay away from that AI realm , right .
Yeah .
That's very dangerous , especially with WordComp , and this is really a session , so it's their session , whatever they have on their mind , whatever they want to learn more about , and also I always tell them what is to your advantage . Ok , so I know that certain organizations have certain goals , they have certain metrics .
Let's get , let's put this in an ask you session and you are empowered to go for it .
Why do you think that AI is dangerous in workers' comp right now ?
Oh my goodness , Well work comp is very nuanced , right . I don't just handle California , I handle all states , and I think what tends to happen , what I'm seeing in certain generations is AI is their first tool . Instead of asking me a person that has 20 years of experience I've been around the world once . I've seen it twice . Nothing has caught me by surprise .
It's just dangerous because , yeah , there are some truths , but how does it relate to your actual situation ? That's the gap . So that's why I'm here . Yeah , there's no context .
Right , I think that's such a big deal . I mean , that's a good lesson for not just work comp . You know all the conversations I think that people are having online and even in person now .
Even in person now , they lack so much context , which is why I love doing this podcast , because it allows us to bring some context to some things that that are kind of happening in the workers comp world right now and just having a little further discussion and really getting to know the people that are involved . And
¶ The Creation of "Ask Q" Sessions
that's again what impressed me so much when we started talking was your ability to really bring creativity into the job that you do .
I know that that's , in most cases , not the first word that comes to somebody's mind when they think of a work insurance broker Right , but you've gone above and beyond for your clients to be creative and helping them to learn , because you're such a good teacher . To be creative and helping them to learn because you're such a good teacher .
One of the things that we were talking about was a game that you created for one of your clients at their request in order to help teach them about work comp .
Can you tell us about that ? Sure , so this is a big reemployability client .
I just want to plug them there .
I was asked to go to an HR summit . Usually claim consultants aren't even invited , I think because of my jovial personality and just working with the client for so long . They were like hey Q , we have 50 HR professionals . They were like hey Q , we have 50 HR professionals .
Some are here in America , some are in other countries , some are in other states , other grids , other territories . How can we get everyone together on one page and what's a fun way that they can learn work comp ? And I was working with the work comp manager .
We were thinking about a few things and then I'm like we should play Family Feud and when I tell you the excitement and the amount of adults that were wanting to get the right answer and hogging the buzzer and just asking questions , like even when they would get a question right , it would be a but what if this scenario and what if that scenario ?
So that's what I did for them and it worked out so well . They want me to come back , of course , but we're going to play a different game . I was just trying to think of what else we could do to play a different game . I was just trying to think of what else we could do , but it was not to brag .
But they said that the work comp session was the most memorable . You know when people are having fun they forget that they're learning .
Yeah no doubt I have .
I've given so many presentations with re-employability , both in person and through teams and through Zoom calls , and I would always rather be face to face because I feel like you know whether we're doing a refresher for you know 50 or 100 adjusters , just to re familiarize them with what our program is and the benefits to their clients , just to re-familiarize them
with what our program is and the benefits to their clients . Much rather do that in person , because I feel like there's just you can look at somebody , you know they're not off feeding their dog if you're doing it on a team's call , right .
But to engage with a game is so creative in such a way , like you said , to make it memorable , and that's how people are going to remember and they're going to remember you and they're going to remember what you're telling them . So did you get much pushback internally or how was that taken ?
Because obviously I mean all , all organizations within workers comp for the most part are more of a straight-laced , conservative type of business . Right , it's insurance . So I would imagine coming to somebody and saying , hey , we're going to play Fun Feud or Family Feud for this big client . What happened ? How did that ?
get accepted . So it's interesting . I think the question was well , why would they want a workers comp person there ? Cause work comp people are never at , uh , hr summits . It's usually benefits , or you know , I was the only person invited time . Okay , um , did I get pushback ? No , but I got . Well , q are you sure you know ?
Is this really what the client wants ? And I was like , yes , this is what the client wants . And again , after you know , I
¶ Workers' Comp Family Feud Game
presented everything to my manager , the account executive . They were excited . No one could go with me that day , so I went up there by myself , I bought prizes . And when I tell you , even when I do go on the campus of this particular client , they still remember the stuff that I said last year and I'm like I don't even remember .
And then you know , one thing I leave them with is , if you don't know what to do , ask you , pick up the phone and call me . Right , won't remember everything . I don't want you to remember everything . So , um , that's one thing that they did walk away with well , we stylized your game for re-employability and I suckered .
I mean , I asked a few people from uh re-employability to join us to try a couple questions of the way that you put this together . Um , with some re-employability to join us to try a couple questions of the way that you put this together with some reemployability questions . So how about we give that a shot and see how it goes ?
Sure , sure , all right , all right , all right . Are you guys ready to play Friendly Feud ?
Yeah , we're ready .
Okay , so we have asked the top 100 people about re-employability . Can you name a re-employability core value ?
Oh , look at Angela .
I think that was the purple team that got that first Entrepreneurship Absolutely . Would you like to continue , angela , or would you like to turn it over to the green team ? I think we'll play Right , jolissa , yes , we're going to play . Ok , ok . So what is another ? Reemployability , core value , service oriented , absolutely , absolutely .
I just keep going , keep going . Passion , that's number one Woo .
Integrity .
Team awesome job . Can I interrupt Partnership ?
I think they have it written on their wall , oh , we're working from home , we're from home Okay .
And partnerships was the last one . Well , you guys win this round . There we go . Okay , so let's go to the next question . Reemployability just celebrated its anniversary of blank number of years . Todd , go ahead , 20 . You are correct , Woo . So this is going to stump you guys . We asked the top 100 people what is workers compensation ?
It is , I'm sorry , you didn't make it by the buzzer Purple team what you got . Insurance , yeah , insurance Sorry .
What about any sort of benefits that protect the employee ?
It's a system of benefits that protect the employee so they are able to come back to work . This is what it is not .
¶ Playing Friendly Feud Live Demo
Q . Thank you , that was fun . I don't know , I don't know if everybody expected that so , obviously , when you do it in person , sometimes doing this over Zoom and stuff can be a little bit technically difficult , so we'll make sure , if you , so you do this in person . Right , when you've done this right , I do do it in person .
I sometimes do it in Zoom , but however usually Ask Q sessions are , I put together a PowerPoint but these are questions that folks have had but maybe are afraid to ask and I give them the why , the why not , the what if scenario . I kind of look at it from that aerial view lens and it really just kind of helps them out .
Yeah , no , that's awesome . And so let's say , somebody's listening now and they're like you know , I'd kind of like to do something out of the box , something a little bit different for a client . Do you have any advice on how to approach approvals , things like that ?
Obviously , every company is a little different , but I would hate to stifle anybody's creative ideas just because they think they can't get something okayed .
Love it . So what I will say is creativity takes courage . Okay , so you can't be afraid to demonstrate courage . I think that companies are more apt to creative ideas when they understand the why and the impact of retention , of possibly you know this attracting other clients , of folks having the warm chatter with upper management . That's huge .
I mean , when you have someone who came from you know , let's say they are a first-year HR rep and they talk to their C-suite folks about what they learned here , that adds value . It speaks volumes . So I would just say just have the courage , Ask .
All they can do is say no , Right , yeah , and also one thing that I always think about is what problem am I supposed to solve ? We are all here to solve problems , and why don't we just have fun with it and do it in a fun way ?
Yeah , that's awesome . So you mentioned that you're thinking about doing some new things . What do you have planned for the year ? You want to share any of your ideas .
I can share a little bit of course , I have two current new videos out for Ask Q and they're just little tiny snippets . These are questions that I get all the time , so the two that I have are for early claims reporting and I'll be doing
¶ Advice on Creative Client Approaches
some more and hopefully some more podcasting as well .
Good , good for you . Is it okay if we provide a link to your LinkedIn page in the show notes ?
Absolutely , absolutely .
Is that the best way for folks to get a hold of you ?
Yes , yes , excellent .
Q . Thank you , it was a lot of fun and I hope that we don't stop talking now that we've stopped planning to have this conversation , but , oh no , it's been so enjoyable . Your , your energy is infectious and I would encourage , you know , everyone listening to just you know , give it a shot .
Like you said , don't be afraid to be creative and and and have some fun with what you're doing , because , at the end of the day , it's just about , you know , getting our message out in the right way to the right people , and , uh , and being creative will do that . So thank you so much . Thank you so much , Todd . Thank you .
Thanks for listening to REA Audio . I hope we opened up your brain a bit and helped you be better at what you do . Please follow us on Spotify , Apple Podcasts , Stitcher , Amazon Music . Please follow us on Spotify , Apple Podcasts , Stitcher , Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts . If you have input or suggestions , email Todd at reemployabilitycom .
Be grateful and have a fantastic rest of your week .