In this episode, ADJUSTED welcomes all the Co-Hosts and Crew from season 5 to discuss and reflect on season 5.
Season 5 is brought to you by Berkley Industrial Comp.
Comments and Feedback? Let us know at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/F5GCHWH
Visit the Berkley Industrial Comp blog for more!
Got questions? Send them to marketing@berkindcomp.com
For music inquiries, contact Cameron Runyan at camrunyan9@gmail.com
In this episode, ADJUSTED welcomes all the Co-Hosts and Crew from season 5 to discuss and reflect on season 5.
Season 5 is brought to you by Berkley Industrial Comp.
Comments and Feedback? Let us know at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/F5GCHWH
Visit the Berkley Industrial Comp blog for more!
Got questions? Send them to marketing@berkindcomp.com
For music inquiries, contact Cameron Runyan at camrunyan9@gmail.com
Hello, everybody, and welcome to adjusted. Today is our season wrap up for season five. So I'm excited to have a large group here with me today. I'm of course coming from Berkeley industrial comp and Sweet Home Alabama. And I have all my co hosts with me today that we're on our journey this go round. So I thought we'd start by just doing a little roll call and have maybe each of you again, remind people who you are, what company you're with and where you're at in the country. Maybe start with Mike.
Mike Gilmartin:Thanks, Greg. My good Martin. I am with key risk and I am sitting in it's not very sunny, but it's warm. Greensboro, North Carolina, and I'm ready for summer already to be over Greg.
Greg Hamlin:I know we're in the hot we're in the hot season here in Alabama. Yeah, going outside is not one of the things you want to do. So unless you're at the pool, even then, like our pools are getting to be like bath water. It's so hot. So fun. Parts of the South
Mike Gilmartin:is flopsweat season, buddy.
Greg Hamlin:That's exactly it. All right. Next up, Matt, you want to introduce yourself?
Matthew Yehling:Hello, everyone. This is Matthew Yaling. I'm with Midwest employers casualty in St. Louis, Missouri, along the banks of the mighty Mississippi. It's I'm never ready for summer to be over. I'm ready for the kids to go back to school but not for summer to be over.
Greg Hamlin:I am so they're on the kids park mat with six kids like the summer is a special version of that I wouldn't wish on anyone. They're wonderful children but when they're all six oh, it's aliveness the
Matthew Yehling:routine. The routine of the school day? Yeah, some are there's less routine.
Greg Hamlin:We've just had them going every direction I think my wife was up at four in the morning to you know take my son to you know some some camp that he was going to and you know of course my one son's got football camp and and all the stuff stuff that things when you have this many kids and we're getting ready for wanting to go to college. So busy. Next up we have Suzanne this was Suzanne's for season two, a one with us. Suzanne, you want to introduce yourself again for everybody?
Suzanne McAuliffe:Absolutely. And Suzanne McAuliffe. I am the Vice President of claims with key risk today. I am located in High Point North Carolina just down the street from Michael March. And
Greg Hamlin:that's a fun office. For those who haven't been there ain't know. If you've got a good reason to visit key risk. That's a fun place to be there. Their office is right over a minor league ballpark. So if you are there this time of year, I'm assuming there's some games going on.
Suzanne McAuliffe:There is actually there's some I think they're from high school but they're younger kids out there playing playing today.
Greg Hamlin:That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, glad to have you with us. And then next up is Sam.
Sam Neer:Howdy everybody Sam near here. I'm the technology and IT side at Berkeley alternative markets tech. And I'm located along with the North Carolina crew outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. So again, little bit overcast here no minor league ballparks next to amazing offices, but I have been to the key risk office and then I would agree that a great view and very good ballpark hot dogs, which is any good staple of any good baseball stadium. So highly recommend 10 out of 10
Greg Hamlin:while Why else do you go? Right? So yeah, if you're not going to get a ball ballpark.
Sam Neer:Yeah, why waste? Like five hours? No, I'm not a baseball person myself. But that's why the food and the food was on point. So I will say that.
Greg Hamlin:Yeah, I when I lived in Cincinnati, I went to a lot of reds games, and I'm not a huge baseball guy, but I like go into the game and being outside and you know, all the all the all the parts that go with that. So next up, we've got Louella
Luella Alcorn:Hi, everybody. Louella alicorn, business operations manager at Berkley industrial comp in Lexington, Kentucky. And we've gotten horses on Oh, yeah.
Greg Hamlin:Yeah, they do. There are lots of horses. Exactly. So beautiful. I work for the State Farm for a period of time here in Kentucky. You have been to a lot of those horse farms and they're beautiful. So if it's bourbon and horses, if you're in Kentucky, that's those are the things you got to see. Okay, awesome. Well, one other person that's in the background that I always want to give credit to and this is the one time we get a chance to do that is Jacob Holmes. So Jacob, I would like you to introduce yourself a little bit and just say hello to everybody. Yeah, no problem. Thanks. Very.
Mike Gilmartin:So I'm Jacob Holmes. I am with Berkeley industrial.
Greg Hamlin:I'm actually an associate resolution specialist. And I moonlight as the editor of the podcast, and I'm out of our Birmingham Alabama office. I'm glad that we have Jacob I don't know how we would do it without him. So everybody always listen to these episodes, and they sound so seamlessly beautiful, but I promise you there are plenty of bloopers that bed ever make it out there and Jacob has found ways to eliminate fire fire trucks going in the background gasps that people have said all kinds of things that one time I had the blue screen of death this season, where literally in the middle of the podcast, my screen went blue and everything went out. And I don't think anybody can even tell. So definitely kudos to Jacob. So I gotta say with that one, Sam
Mike Gilmartin:did a great job of smoothing that over if it wasn't for Sam near, it would have been a lot more.
Sam Neer:It was like again, it's funny that it's the blue screen had to happen when the IT and tech guy was on the was on the podcast, it was it was inevitable that way. So that's crazy.
Greg Hamlin:That was like, what are the ones it's like you were to do a topic on technology and my technology is gonna fail in the middle of the sick. So, but required, thanks to Jacob and Sam, we didn't have to rerecord we were able to salvage it. So, again, he doesn't always get all of the limelight. But Jacob is fantastic. He does a very nice job editing ours. And it's not his primary job. He's a associate claims adjuster. So really cool that our company allows people to kind of get into different lanes and try new things. And he's done a great job at that. So I want to start by just talking about folks experience hosting, I thought I would start with some of the people who were maybe this was their first time doing this. And then, you know, Mike and Matt, who have done a zillion of these with me, maybe just their takeaway, so I thought it would start with you, Sam, this is your first time? Well, first you were a guest. And then we had two co hosts. So you switched switch seats. What was that experience like for you,
Sam Neer:I would have to say, Greg, and this is my first entry in the podcast land again, I've tried to say tell my wife that this technology thing doesn't work out. It's gonna be hard to go into podcasting than I thought. But it's really fun and engaging to talk about the subjects that we're all passionate about here at Berkeley, regardless of whether you had an operating unit, or whether you're on the technology side, it was a fun experience, but to think back, because we're all going 1000 miles per hour about you know, what's really important, what's strategic. And so that was from the great conversation we had on the technology side. And then co hosting is really again, we had a very great session with Emma, and again, just for the group that was in a roll off. And talking about digital transformation, and how you pick partners and everything in between. It really gets you thinking and you take that back and you know, then I start whiteboarding and sticking doting and really thinking about how you can take that to the next level. So was a wonderful to be a guest and even more honored to be a host. So again, gotta work on slowing down the conversation. And again, hearing yourself after the fact on Spotify as you're like, oh my gosh, do I really sound like that? But I persevered. And my wife said I did. Okay, so that's that was the key marker of it. So really experience.
Greg Hamlin:I agree, Sam with you on. I think one of the things I've enjoyed over the last couple of years since we started this is how many new things I've learned, and how just going through the process of talking to somebody and doing an episode has really forced me to think outside the box and push in some directions that I probably I probably wouldn't have gotten to just because I'm busy. And so definitely agree with you on that like afterwards it might my wheels turn a lot on some of the topics that we've had. So Suzanne, this was your first go around doing an episode? What was it like for you? What was maybe harder than you thought or or more fun than you thought? Or what were some of your takeaways? Well, it
Suzanne McAuliffe:was a great experience, a lot of fun. It was definitely it was challenging. It was outside of what I typically do on a day to day basis. What it was great. Our guest speaker Stephanie with high Marley was absolutely fantastic, really engaging and a lot of great information. But it was a fun experience. It was again, it was a little bit out of my norm. But overall, it was fun. And you're you were a wonderful and very gracious co host with me. So it made it easy.
Greg Hamlin:Yeah, it is. It is, you know, people when you listen to it, you're thinking, Well, how does you know how does it all work, but it is harder than it sometimes looks? Because you're especially when you're co hosting, we're not in the same physical locations. So when we're asking questions, and going back and forth between topics, you want to give time to ask follow up questions, and you don't want to interrupt the other person at the same time. You're doing a virtually so it is a little bit like playing ping pong, but virtual. And that can be a little tricky, but I feel like Oh, you guys do a great job at that. So I guess that would take me to you, Mike, you've done this quite a bit now. take aways from Season Five as far as your experience hosting?
Mike Gilmartin:No, I thought it was good. I mean, I always had fun doing them. I think at this point, you're doing a really good job of picking the guests and the you know, first couple of seasons, there were a few guests you would get where we would have you probably carry the conversation a little more or redirect the conversation. And so I know at least for one of my continuing education with the same gentleman back who's all Some, and it just it makes it almost just like an easy conversation. Also, my wife and daughter, tell me they listen to my podcast. And now every time there's a voice in the radio, my daughter asked it, it's me. My voice sounds like are you just asking who that is? I don't know that they really listen. But you know, they tell me they do. So I'm getting famous family, Greg.
Greg Hamlin:That's funny. My mother in law, listen to the episode we did on listening. So she was like, I want to hear more about that and said, she really enjoyed it. So it's fun. Sometimes when one of them crosses over into a field that might not be only work off. So Matt, on your end, you actually on that one was listening. But just in general, you've done a few of these, I think you're doing your own podcast, where you're at least have done a few episodes of your own. What's it like and once the differences
Matthew Yehling:I've really enjoyed it, I think I mentioned the same thing at the wrap up session last year was you know, when you're doing it yourself, it's you know, you don't realize the all the behind the scenes work and the production and identifying people, and then like, calming people down, you know, the guests, sometimes if they've never done an interview or podcast, they get really nervous about it. So as Mike indicated, I think the guests and the co host have done a great job this season with just kind of seemingly natural interviews, sometimes the arms and the eyes, I do like those. And you know, Jacob does a great job behind the scenes, making us sound intelligent and cleaning us up a little bit. But it's, it's been a good experience, you know, I think every year gets a little better. And I look forward, you know, the I thought there was a lot of great interviews, I do go back and listen to all the other interviews and and I think there's been a lot of learning opportunities, a lot of insights into different aspects of work comp, we covered a lot of different topics and hit some hit some new things this year. And, and like you said, talked about the the listening podcast, totally different. But I think a component of the industry that we all need to be aware of. So for me, I always really enjoy these. It's kind of weird, but I get a lot out of it, too.
Greg Hamlin:Yeah. And, you know, you started our episodes out there with claims investigation that and this is one on the claim side that I felt like, it's really important. And we haven't spent a lot of time in the seasons past talking about it. And I thought this was really good. We actually went and spoke to one of our senior adjusters to have them give their views on on claims investigation. Matt, what stood out to you in that in that episode,
Matthew Yehling:and this one, this is one way I kind of gave it I think I gave a disclaimer at the beginning saying hey, you know, what we say is, you know, advice, or it's, you know, it's not meant to be advice, it's really kind of take what you will out of these things. But I mean, investigation of a claim is such a critical piece, there's a lot of things that go into it, we've touched on this a little bit in other episodes, but, you know, claims investigation, you know, there's 50 different jurisdictions that we operate in, you know, with 50 different components of investigation and what makes it compensable. And what makes it, you know, coverage accepted. And, you know, you have to kind of define, like, the coverage piece and the compatibility piece, and, you know, make sure you're operating within both of those things. And then just all the different components of, you know, the the importance and significance of a recorded statement and nailing down the facts at the beginning of the claim and how critical that can be, you know, and I work in the excess world. So the investigation that you're doing, you know, today may matter 15 years into the future, because we're, you know, have these excess work comp claims or just work on claims, in general have a long tail and can be critical, so that, that the significance of that investigation is a critical piece to the claim. And I think we did a great job kind of highlighting some of that and just some of the different jurisdictional pieces with it. I think it was Carol, right, Carol? It was, she did a nice job. And she was one of those he was a little nervous on the on the get go. And we did a little pre, you know, conversation and calmed her down. And she did a great job doing it. And I think by the end, she had really loosened up. And you know, I thought the podcast went really well with that one. Yeah, I
Greg Hamlin:agree. I you know, just the challenge with investigation is that there's so many statutes that are different from state to state. So you could be in one state and something is really important in another state, it doesn't matter at all. But I think just hitting those highlights was is really important. And you're right. Like once you get down the road, two or three years, there's no way to go back in time and get that information and it can make a huge difference in where the claim ends up ultimately. So that was a good one to tackle and that took us into our next one. And Matt was co hosting with me on this one with Sam. Sam was actually our guest so this was kind of a fun one because all three of us were on it. And then Sam would later co host with me on an episode but I thought I'd actually Sam's here with us. What was it like being on the other side Sam?
Sam Neer:I will say is like again it's it's fun both during the interview or ended Interview II, I think from like different skill sets and trying to get get think about different perspectives, right? Because again, while you're interviewing someone, you're trying to ask the right questions for the broader audience. But when you're interviewing, how do you make this actionable? Right? So many times you'll hear people pontificate or just ramble. But how are some what are some clear takeaways for the listeners to be able to actually act on this information, because in reality, we're listening to this to grow our skill sets. And like we said, like you said, Greg, with a lot of takeaways, let's think about how this can affect change in our organization. So again, I having listened avid listener have adjusted now I listen to the episodes and come back with every single time action items, I've sent it to my team. And say, not just to listen to me, I say it listen to every episode, but mine, because you don't want to hear my grating voice. But I do believe that both sides of this coin is great. And thinking about how you really affect change within your team, regardless of whether it's directly applicable, especially technology, everything that's discussed touches me in some way. So I love getting all of that great information.
Matthew Yehling:I would agree with Sam, like, I think that technology is an important piece because, you know, work comp, and not a lot of things change. You know, I've been doing this for over 20 years, and not a lot of things change. But I think we're going to be seeing a significant wave of change and try to address some of that and lining up change things in how we addressed that with our staff and with ourselves and being, you know, open and ready for that kind of stuff to impact the industry. So I thought that was a great episode. Sam did a great job. We were joking earlier about the blue screen of death that you received. And Jacob Sam and I were just looking at each other like, well, let's just keep going. And like you said, I think we referenced it during the podcast. And there's something we mentioned that, you know, that happened and thought it went, you know, I went back and I don't I don't think there was really anything, any interruption that was identifiable. But it was a it was a great episode, you know, you're gonna go back and listen to one, that's a great one to go back to.
Sam Neer:And my takeaway from that episode, Greg, which I really appreciate, again, it was great conversation all around. But I think when we really hit about some of the misconceptions in technology, right, and that's why it was very cathartic for me to be able to go like, hey, everyone thinks it's easy. And everyone thinks that you can just knock things out. But I really enjoyed our back and forth of how like, you know, it's, you know, it's sometimes harder than you think. And you know, just because we want to eliminate 20 steps, we kept having the 20 step problems, hey, but if we can eliminate just steps one and two that will help. And also thinking about how technology can augment human capability. So technology is not meant to replace, it's meant to say where can we assist where it needs it, but you're still gonna need the power of adjusters really being interacting with the system. So I really enjoyed the conversation. And again, like I said, it's really listened to it, even with my own voice is took a lot of takeaways, and a lot of good tech ideas spawned from that. So really enjoyed the conversation.
Greg Hamlin:Yeah, and I think, you know, you both hit on really important parts of that episode that I thought were great, you know, Sam mentioning, you know, sharing it with the staff. You know, one of the things that's hard when you're working with technology is we're both speaking different languages, you know, our claims, folks know claims, and our technology folks know, technology and what we want, and the languages we speak, don't always line up. So anything that helps bridge that gap is a big deal. I also thought it was a great example, even though my computer failed, and actually that laptop died all together and to get a new one shortly after that. But the show went on, like we move on. And I think that's a good analogy of even when we're in claims, and we're working on things, sometimes the systems fail or something goes wrong, but people still need to have their claims handled, people still need to get paid for while they're off work. People need their medical taking care of unauthorized. So even when those things happen, we still have to keep tracking and moving forward. And that led us to a discussion that Mike and I had on E mods, which being a claims guy was a dangerous topic to try to pick but but I brought in our our Vice President of underwriting and I brought in Mike who has some exposure now on the other side of the fence. And so Mike, what were your your takeaways from this one, this was a little ambitious for something that's been more focused on claims.
Mike Gilmartin:You gave me a Mazda I think last season you gave me like data analytics, and I was like, no one's gonna listen to either one of these.
Luella Alcorn:Not true, not true. I was listening.
Mike Gilmartin:I thought the interesting part about the conversation was more around. Like, we set it up more on what insurance and what everybody can do and realizing that insurance have way more say and what their ima does then than they think they may do. And while you have claims, folks, you have your insurance carriers, and you have risk management programs and everything else. If you don't want to put the effort in to actually implement what's being asked of you. It's not going to matter. Right. So we talked a lot about effort and intentionality and people that put in the effort and want to do better and have a culture that that starts at the top that allows them to follow that to their employees of safe safety and return to work and all the things we talked about. That's when EA mods can be affected and that's when they can go down and people either buy into it or they don't. So I just I liked how the conversation surrounded around. It was more in the hands of the insurance than I think sometimes they give themselves credit for I don't know what you thought, Greg, but that's what I took away from it.
Greg Hamlin:Yeah, I agree. And and I think it's a confusing topic. And sometimes our insurance when they don't understand their emails, they make decisions that are probably the wrong decisions, because they don't understand. They think about it one way without understanding how their choices to not report something or pay something out of pocket might actually be hurting them and not having the impact that they thought, Well, I'm interested because you mentioned this. I know you work a lot with onboarding insurance. What stood out to you on that topic? You spoke up and said, you definitely listened to it and thought it was helpful.
Luella Alcorn:I did. I think that was the one that was the most impactful for me. To your point, I contact new and renewed policyholders. And they don't understand that completely. Who does really right. I don't understand that completely. And neither do they. But Dustin broke it down in a very understandable way for them to not be scared. One of the most common misconceptions is they're nervous to report a report only claim thinking that that will affect their Emad, any address that, and you know, answered their questions, if they're willing to listen, it's there for them to understand that better. So that was huge for me. And I've, in my phone calls with them. I've referred to the podcast, if that's something that they want to learn more about, and also then a way to contact us. And if they have additional questions.
Mike Gilmartin:Once in a while you make a good point. And Greg, you make a good point, I think, you know, wanting to not report claims, wanting to pay out of pocket to save an indemnity claim wanting to do these little things, you're trying to find a symptom versus finding the root cause. And so the root cause is all the things we talked about having a safe workplace, having a culture that allows people to record claims timely and get back to work and do all the things you need to do. And so I think that should be everybody's focus is not just Okay, this one claim is going to matter. But what is our overall performance? And how are we handling this as a group? And how do we handle this as an insurer to make sure that we set ourselves up for success? So
Luella Alcorn:yeah, and we all want to control costs, we want to control costs, the policyholder wants to control costs. But if you're doing that with not correct information, right as to why you're doing something, then that's why we needed we needed to talk about this, I was super thankful for Dustin and his expertise in that area. Yeah, and
Greg Hamlin:that that's one that we had not in the past, because it is a little bit challenging. So I appreciate having everybody involved on that one to break it down and make it a little easier to consume. So Well, let's talk about your episode. This was one that's near and dear to my heart, as I really enjoy watching people develop, we did an episode on internships and where they can fit in an organization. And we had the opportunity to hear that from the perspective of the current intern, one that had been an intern and is now an associate for us. And then your perspective leading that team that is made up of a lot of interns. So what were some of your takeaways from that? I think
Luella Alcorn:overall, to your point of it being something important that we can offer is, it's a win win situation, where they get an opportunity to come in and see more details about the insurance industry is that a fit for them, and then we get an opportunity to develop them. It's very rewarding overall. And I love you know, offering that for them. We've had lots of wins at Berkeley industrial comp and doing this. And I'm super proud of that. And we have so many different opportunities for them in different departments that we can expose them to that while they're here and see if that's something that they're interested on, staying on and then moving over into those departments.
Greg Hamlin:I love that. And I think that's one of the things that sometimes our competition, or some people in the industry might forget about is we have an open position, we post it, we interview them, we meet them for a few hours. And then we make a decision. And we hope that this new college hire is the right fit for that position. But sometimes it's a it could be a square peg in a round hole. And the internship program really allows it's it goes both ways. It allows us to see where they fit in our organization. And it also allows them to explore some of the interests that they have, which has been a huge win win for us. We went on to continuing education and Mike was there with this one. This is actually a topic that's near and dear to my heart because I really feel like we always need to be learning. And sometimes I think we get stuck with the idea like I've seen this. We've got some students that are coming out of college with MBAs and they haven't had any work experience where I think continuing education is more than just getting an MBA or getting some other degree that can be one of the things but there were so many things we tackled in this topic that I felt like were really important. Mike, what stood out to you
Mike Gilmartin:how much I love Bob. He's very this goes back to like, or is podcasting hard like that guy is so easy to talk to. It makes it feel like a conversation. So I really enjoyed talking to him. But I think you hit on the big point for me, you know, there's so many great designations out there. And there's MBAs and they're CVC, US and AIC and all that stuff. But like, it's as simple as like, hey, I want to learn more about what I'm doing in my job, or, Hey, I want to know more about what underwriting is doing, or, Hey, I'm interested in maybe going into risk management. So let me talk to them. And it's little things that count is continuing education. It's not just getting a designation, or a degree or a master's, or what have you. It's as simple as like asking questions in your daily job or wanting to learn more about claims investigation, or emails, or whatever the case may be. It's listening to a podcast, right? So your podcasts on email, as you learn something from that you're it's continuing education. And so I think it was good just to break down the misnomer that like, continued education has to be this huge thing, where you do a lot of studying, and you have tests and everything else, because it's just not not accurate. What did you think?
Greg Hamlin:I agree. And for me, again, I agree with you on Bob, it's always fun to talk to him. And we've gotten to be friends over the years. And he knows a lot about the industry. So that that makes him a good one to talk about this. But yeah, I think that was the big thing that's been my takeaway is, I'm always impressed with people who see a problem and don't know the answer to it. And so they teach themselves, whatever that is. Our actuary here, before he came to work for us, saw that there was a need to understand data better and taught himself Power BI. How did he do it, he watched YouTube videos, he literally watched YouTube videos and taught himself how to do it. So I think that's an extreme example, but it's just taking the initiative to recognize the areas that you can improve on, whether that's a designation or reading a book, or listening to a podcast, you know, all those things count. And that's really, what makes us better in the long run is to constantly be doing that. So that was one of my favorite topics. And that took us from there, we went to digital transformation. And this was one of the times that I brought in SAM, because I felt like if we're going to talk about digital transformation, I'm not a technology expert, let's bring in somebody from our tech company to help me with this. And we had the chance to visit with ama who I had met the year before, at connected claims, which is a tech claims conference. That happens once a year. Sam, what was what was your experience in in that topic? Talking to Emma?
Sam Neer:No, it was a really good conversation with Emma, Greg and I appreciated again, getting her background just to begin where she said, again, I think the quote was her family had an intervention, saying she needed to go from sales. But again, from the idea of partnerships within the tech community was key. Usually were the recipients of these types of conversations. But I think we had a really good conversation about picking the right partner. And it seems easy, oh, choose the best one, right. But there's so much nuance and so much levels to that, that you can't just brush it off, whether you're thinking the organization would have a lot of tools and a lot of vendor management, but the best of breed are a single stop shop, one stop shop, and just be able to go to a single point of contact and handling a lot of things. So I appreciated her insights into some of the considerations when choosing a vendor. And then for the other end of the spectrum, and aside from just Technology Partnerships, is how you're working with your people. We mentioned this a little bit when we're talking about adjusters, but she really hit on the idea of a people first approach. And think about instead of just this is a cool tool, or the technology can send API's back and forth or you know, insert jargon or alphabet soup. But how is this actually impacting people and the adjusters on the tail end? What is the actual interactions they'll have how they experience? How will this impact change, taking that people first approach, instead of just looking at what the tool can do is what sustains a business and really provides the value that you need. So I took those takeaways. Greg, did you have anything else that stood out because I love the conversation, I was just jotting down notes left and right.
Greg Hamlin:He was a lot of fun to talk to. And actually she was the moderator at one of the panels that I was on. So I knew she would be just fine. But one of the things I liked along with the things you've already mentioned was just your focus on change management. And like, you can have the best technology or this great idea. But if you can't get people to adopt it, and you can't get them to get on board, then it won't have the impact it could. And I thought that that was great is that sometimes we get? We need to focus on the right partners, we need to focus on the right technology. But we also need to focus on getting everybody on board with it and helping them see the value in it because if we don't do that, then we spent money on something that's not getting utilized.
Sam Neer:Yeah. So if a tree falls in the forest or if a technology tool falls in the forest and no one's there to actually use it does the technology solution even exist. Right?
Greg Hamlin:Right. Right. All right. So I thought that was almost a lot of fun. And then that led us to the power of listing. And this is one I did with Matt. And it was sort of a dream, a dream podcast for me, because I read this author's book, eight, 810 years ago, something like that, and really changed the way I I tried to communicate. So I kind of threw a dart out there hoping that maybe it would land. And he'd say, yes, and sure enough, we had the opportunity to meet with them. On this topic, Matt, what was your your thoughts on this one?
Matthew Yehling:I mean, I think, as we've been talking about just, you know, investigation, and technology, and, and all these different things that are coming, like, if we're not listening, if we're not doing the continuing ed piece, and listening to that, and, and hearing the messages, you know, then I think, you know, Tim has did a great job of kind of saying, like, you know, we have two ears and one mouth, we need to listen more and be quiet, we need to ingest the information we need to learn and grow. You know, and I think it kind of hits, you know, it's not necessarily a work comp, topic, right. But I think it hits all the things we've been talking about with all the guests and different things like, you know, we we always have to be continually getting better. And I think, you know, we need to all become better listeners, you know, as technology changes the industry. You know, we need to be better listeners, and how do you do that? You know, so I think that the podcast was really great. I think it was a great interviewer, I had a great time, learning from him. This is probably one of the ones where like, I like to go back and, or go, when you give me the who we're going to talk to, I'd like to go and say, let's learn a little bit about this person. And, you know, I think he was surprised actually went back and I found his book, and I did a quick read of it before the interview. And it was a great interview, a great discussion, he had so much information, very innovative on the topic and just listening to it's I mean, a lot of different great insights on that interview, very informative, a lot of information jam packed into, you know, a 45 minute interview with him. But I thought it was really impressive. I think we all need to kind of sit down and just become better listeners. And, and, you know, he did a great job. I think he's been recognized, I think he's going to be at the National workup and disability conference, if I'm correct, right? Are you with him in that panel, Greg, or I might
Greg Hamlin:be I might be, I'm gonna have to go back and check. So I didn't, I didn't I guess I hadn't heard that. But that's amazing. The thing that I really enjoyed, that I guess I'd forgotten was this whole concept of halt that if you're hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired, it's not a good time to communicate. And I think I know that, but like, it's easy to forget it. And so a lot of times when things aren't going well, and we think about our injured workers, a lot of the time, they're one of those categories when they're going through an injury. So just remembering like slowing down and realizing that there might be some friction if we're, if we're trying to communicate something important. While somebody is going through that was like a, that was a good reminder to me. Then we went from that topic to another form of communication. And this is with Suzanne, which was texting and claims. And so this was something that I know some carriers are using. I don't know if it's universally accepted yet, but it's it is coming. And a lot of carriers are taking advantage of test texting and claims. And I brought Susana in because her operating unit is one of the operating units that was piloting, texting and claims for us. So this was a good one to bring Suzanne in to help co host Suzanne, what were your thoughts on this episode?
Suzanne McAuliffe:Well, first I had Stephanie thankee with Hi Marley was just absolutely fantastic. A lot of energy, a lot of passion surrounding their product, and what all high Marley can offer. You know, kind of piggyback off what Matt was just saying communication with injured workers is so crucial. At the end of the day, we're in the business of service and being communicators and high Marley just really gives us that opportunity to reach our injured workers reach our insurance claimants in a way that they quote unquote do in real life. People tax now it's just the way people communicate. We're so much more apt to get a response to a text than we are to get a response to an email or a voicemail message left if the voicemail hopefully is set up or isn't phone or trying to reach somebody. So anything we can do in our world that can help speed up communication and make the interaction better for us and for our injured workers helps at the end of the day resolve claims, get better outcomes, get people the information they need for appointments and anything that they need to help facilitate their work. First compensation claim, it's just it's been a pleasure working in that platform with Hi Marilee. They've been a great partner for us. And I'm just excited to see where the texting world takes us. As far as really increasing efficiencies,
Greg Hamlin:I couldn't agree more. And I'm really excited. We're at that point now where we're getting an opportunity to pilot and get involved with texting. And I really feel like it can be game changing. And Stephanie was great to just her mindset, you know, took, you could tell the experience that people have is really important to them. And I felt like when we think about workers compensation, a lot of times where things go sideways is when somebody is frustrated or doesn't understand something. And anything we can do to avoid those situations will result in better outcomes for them and for us, for everyone. So I'm excited about where this could take us. And it was fun, fun doing this. And Suzanne's always fun. You know, and I mentioned this before I have to mention it is. So when I was trained in the industry. When I first came out of college, my trainer was very tough on me, but it's very, very good. And I looked back at a lot of the skills I learned and it was because she was very demanding, very structured, very disciplined, and didn't expect anything but the very best on me. And if I didn't show up with that, I got corrected quickly. And I'm still friends with her today, and later on like this last year. So she had stepped into a new role. And I saw Suzanne commented like congratulations. So like Suzanne, how do you know her and and it turns out Suzanne actually trained my trainer. So crazy world when I realized when I first met Suzanne, I thought what she thinks the way I think and I thought like, I didn't realize it's because I basically was trained by her through Andreea. So anyway, small world very affectionately referred to me as his workers compensation
Suzanne McAuliffe:grandmother.
Greg Hamlin:That's right. That's right. So she is she is used my work comp grandma. Always will be. So anyway, I enjoyed that. That was a lot of fun. And I just appreciate all of you guys, I know this is a lot of extra work for everybody involved, each of you guys sacrifice time out of your normal jobs to help with this kind of thing. And I do believe we're making a difference. And we're putting things out there that will be tools that people can use in the future. And I think also it makes our own operating units better as we explore ideas that maybe we haven't set aside time to do it. And this this kind of gives us an opportunity to learn some things that are going on there. Any final thoughts as we wrap things up for this episode?
Matthew Yehling:I think since Mike and I started at the same company as you did I think Suzanne's also our training grandmother. I may have actually been in one of your training classes back in 2002. Suzanne down in Tampa, if that's where you were back then but
Suzanne McAuliffe:oh my goodness, small world this this experience this
Mike Gilmartin:I would never call Susanna grandma because I work with her on a daily basis. And that's just me.
Matthew Yehling:I just wanted to make her go read people can't see that's one of the joys of the new we do these via zoom so we can't see each other but really enjoyed the season and the guests to keep you know you keep raising the bar and I think we have some guests lined up for next year that are continue to raise the bar some guests coming back to do another round. So I'm looking forward to it and always enjoy these Thanks, Greg. No problem that
Luella Alcorn:are me Greg as being both an interviewee and a fan. Who knew that so many different topics came into play in workers compensation, right? You can from one to the next totally different topics but it's so wonderful that you know, cover all the things and for people to understand exactly what goes into our day to day life.
Greg Hamlin:I know it's hard to believe that were we going into season six and we've had enough content to continue to do that. So it is sometimes I wonder when will we run out but so far so good. So
Sam Neer:so far so good. Yep, building off of that one thing I'd take away from these types of wonderful discussions and something I've tried to apply is talk to people outside of your tech stack or your org right try to talk to people of different roles within your insurance organizations talk to policy people talk to the sales side talk to the tech folks the IT people buried in the basement somewhere barely seeing the light of day right? Go take him to lunch, right? Learn about things from IE mods to claims investigations I found just even just small conversations and also listening to the adjusted podcast which is your first place to go for all of these things but encouraging just like just like we're having this conversation from a variety of different perspectives that's been my takeaways do the same thing on my you know when I'm in office so again, I work remote but whenever I'm in office, I'm taking somebody's lunch I'm taking somebody to coffee I'm overpaying for Starbucks, just the Get a little bit of idea into their world, because that helps all of us be better well rounded insurance professionals. So that's why but again, first listened to adjusted first. So that's that's your first step and then everything else. So
Greg Hamlin:great, great, great points. My
Mike Gilmartin:only takeaway is that Matt Yaling read an entire book for a one hour podcast. That's commitment. Now, your favorite co host, Greg, because before coming into a one hour podcast,
Sam Neer:achiever overachiever.
Matthew Yehling:Hey, I would I would recommend Tim's book to anybody. And he says he's coming out with volume two, so I'm hoping I get a pre copy of that one. So it was a good one.
Mike Gilmartin:You ever be continuing your education buddy, I appreciate you listening to my podcast. Yeah.
Greg Hamlin:Well, I appreciate all you guys. I know a lot of people put time and effort into this. Like, you know, Mike was teasing Matt about you know, whether it's reading a book or setting aside the time or working on the outline or editing in the background. There's a lot of work that goes into what we put out there and just appreciate everybody and just remind everybody about our theme to do right think differently. And don't forget to care. And that's it for season five, and we'll see you on season six. Thanks, everybody.