Written by Dr. Claire Muselman
Gregory Hamlin is a Senior Vice President of Resolution (Claims) at Berkley Industrial Comp (a Berkley Company) & Co-Host of ADJUSTED, a Claims Podcast
Allow me to introduce you to my former podcast host, Greg Hamlin. Greg and I worked together on ADJUSTED, a claims podcast, season one, challenging all the stereotypical norms we found in the workers’ compensation industry. I wanted to highlight Greg this month because he is truly a breath of fresh air and someone, I consider a sincere ACTION-driven game-changer in the workers’ compensation industry. Bye-bye walls of mediocrity. The future is here! If you don’t know Greg, you should.
He is a wonderful leader, an empathic workers’ compensation advocate, and a fantastic father. Second, he’s the Senior Vice President of Resolution for Berkley Industrial Comp, specializing in monoline workers’ compensation insurance for high hazard employers… meaning SERIOUS injuries. Greg has an incredible team of proactive Resolution Specialists who help these injured humans get back to work, back to life with care, compassion, and concern. Greg is a leader unlike any I have met before because he is vulnerable about his experiences in leadership which gives him the tenacity, respect, and resilience to keep pushing forward.
He is passionate about achieving the very best outcomes for injured humans through innovation and empathy. And while he did graduate from Indiana with a Criminal Justice major (and I graduated from Iowa with PoliSci), we both support the B10 fiercely, unless our teams are playing one another. Greg previously led the claims department at Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance after beginning his career at Liberty Mutual. In Greg’s copious amounts of free time, he is now the sole host of ADJUSTED, a claims podcast, and he enjoys his family. Greg has a lovely wife and five children (with a sixth on the way) who volunteer in their community regularly. He truly is one of the good guys out there!
Why did you / what made you want to join the insurance sector?
I started my career while in school at Indiana University. During that time, I worked as a student manager for the Indiana University Foundation raising funds for scholarships for students. I loved feeling like I was making a difference. From this experience, I knew I loved business and loved feeling like I was changing people’s lives for the better.
Let’s get more specific. Why workers’ compensation? Aside from it is exactly what industry you wanted to be in when you grew up!
Specifically, workers’ compensation has been an excellent fit for me because I love helping people. We are genuinely in the business of keeping a promise to our insureds to help their injured employees return to work and life. Every day we help people through the recovery process.
In the next five years, what trends do you see in the workers’ compensation industry?
I believe COVID-19 accelerated many trends that were already beginning to present themselves. Talent can be hired all over the country as many companies have figured out how to manage remote employees. Many employees want to keep the flexibility they found during the pandemic. This will present new challenges on how to bring new people into the industry. I also believe technology will continue to eliminate many administrative roles. People who have strong communication skills and are problem solvers will be highly sought after. Data analytics will play a much more significant role in all aspects of the claims process.
Great points. What new developments are you most interested in within the workers’ compensation space?
I am excited about alternatives to opioids. Several companies are providing coaching to help injured workers deal with pain. Virtual technology is also being experimented with to help people manage pain. I am excited to see where this goes over the next decade as people in the industry collaborate together to find alternatives to the often-destructive consequences of opioids.
I love this. It would be great if we came together to look at this from a collective, common good. Are there any interesting or unusual things you are currently tracking?
Yes, I am closely monitoring how companies respond to a post-pandemic world. What will work flexibility look like? How will inflation impact employees? What impact will the “Great Resignation” have on the insurance industry? Companies that fall behind by not getting ahead of these issues could face major setbacks.
I could not agree with you more. The “Great Resignation” has been something we cannot ignore. The status quo simply will not be tolerated by people anymore, especially the Millennials and Gen Z. What areas of opportunity do you feel the workers’ compensation industry is currently missing?
Workers Compensation has a long history of trying to save money by providing the least expensive choice. Often this can result in bad outcomes and increased litigation. The industry as a whole would do well to refocus on an outcome-based approach. This impact is much harder to measure, but I believe it is critical. Also, empathy is needed desperately in the industry. Building relationships of trust with injured employees will increase cooperation resulting in better outcomes. We certainly can do better in this area.
I want to circle back to the comment earlier. What are your thoughts on the generational talent gap we are experiencing? Anything you are doing specifically to address the present issues?
Yes! We have done several things to mitigate the talent gap the industry is facing. First, we found experienced professionals in other fields with strong customer service skills and/or business experience and taught them Workers’ Compensation. This is beginning to provide huge payoffs. We have added a former Flight Attendant, Hospital Business Analyst, Customer Service Specialist, and Small Business Owner to our team and taught them claims. They are excelling, and each brings skill sets from their previous employment, which has made us much stronger.
We also transformed our Admin team for both Claims and Underwriting into a Business Engagement team. We changed the focus from data entry and task work to the customer experience. They are all cross-trained on both Claims and Underwriting and, in a single phone call can answer a variety of questions. We have hired interns and brought them into this department with great success. These employees gain experience in our system and learn the fundamentals of both Claims and Underwriting making them excellent candidates as positions open up. These two approaches have helped us develop experienced talent, diversifying our team, while at the same time adding a pipeline for new talent for the future.
This is great. More organizations need to take notes from your playbook. If you had a magic wand and could change one law or rule related to your work, what would it be and why?
If I could change one thing about the industry it would be to have a nationwide set of rules governing workers’ compensation. Having 50 different versions makes it difficult to administer when our goal is to help the injured worker recover.
YOU ARE SPEAKING MY LANGUAGE!! I could not support an initiative of this making more than ever before. Especially as we approach figuring out how to teach people emotional intelligence to be more empathic. Moving to a system that is more streamlined versus 50 different versions would help the adjusting desk tremendously. If you didn’t work in the workers’ compensation industry what would have been your second choice as a profession and why?
If I didn’t work in Workers’ Compensation, I would love to be a teacher at the high school or college level. I love seeing people learn and grow. I love seeing people have “light bulb” moments when they realize there is a better way.
You should do that in your extra free time now. Hee hee. Kidding. I know you are incredibly busy. I think you should absolutely go into academia. The world needs more Gregs who speak their mind through truth, empathy, and objective fact. We all make mistakes along the way. What mistakes have you learned the most from thus far?
When I first became a manager, I realized I was so busy making an impact that others didn’t always feel heard. While I was hearing all the information being presented, others didn’t feel heard. I have learned to slow down and be intentional with my listening. Making time for regular one on ones with my employees, showing gratitude and not being distracted when others speak has made a big impact on my relationships with others.
Is there a motto or mission you operate by professionally or personally?
ATPM – Always Think in a Positive Manner. I made this my motto 23 years ago while serving as a missionary on the Navajo reservation. I now have it on the side of my glasses to remind me how we think about things eventually becomes our actions and the sum of our actions become who we are.
