When injured employees feel unheard, distrust begins to grow. When they feel supported, recovery has a stronger foundation.
Every workers’ compensation claim begins with a disruption.
One moment, someone is at work doing their job. The next, they are facing pain, uncertainty, and questions they never expected to ask.
Will I recover?
Will I be able to support my family?
Will my employer still want me back?
How we respond in those first moments matters more than we sometimes realize.
New research confirms something many workers’ compensation professionals have observed for years. Published in 2026 Journal of Risk and Insurance, researchers analyzed more than 950,000 claims involving over seven days of lost time. They found injured workers were significantly more likely to retain legal counsel when they believed they might lose their job because of the injury, when they felt their supervisor had not taken the injury seriously, or when they perceived their claim was being denied.
Not necessarily when their claim was actually denied, but when they believed it was.
That distinction matters.
What the research reveals is not simply a legal issue. It is a human issue. More specifically, it is a communication issue.
At nearly the same time, the 2025 Annual Workers’ Compensation Industry Insight Survey reported that 61 percent of respondents identified litigation as the greatest challenge facing the industry, a significant increase from the previous year. As costs rise and disputes become more frequent, it is worth asking an important question:
What if many of those challenges begin long before a hearing, an attorney referral, or a formal dispute?
What if they begin with the very first conversation?
Every workers’ compensation claim starts with a person.
A person who is injured.
A person who may be worried about their health, their family, their paycheck, their future, or their job security.
In those first hours and days, every interaction matters.
The supervisor responding to the injury.
The coworker offering support.
The employer representative making the initial report.
The nurse case manager coordinating care.
The adjuster making the first call.
The medical provider explaining treatment.
The attorney answering questions.
The regulator overseeing the process.
Each interaction contributes to the injured worker’s understanding of what happens next and whether the system is there to help them recover.
When people feel ignored, dismissed, or treated like a claim number, trust begins to erode.
When they feel heard, respected, and informed, trust begins to grow and success builds within a psychologically safe environment.
The difference is often not found in policy manuals, statutes, or procedures.
It is found in how we communicate.
Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of working alongside professionals from every corner of the workers’ compensation system. Whether serving injured employees, managing claims, administering programs, or shaping policy, the most successful professionals shared a common characteristic:
They never lost sight of the person behind the claim.
They understood that the file on their desk represented someone’s spouse, child, friend, or coworker.
They recognized that while they may handle hundreds of claims each year, for the injured worker, this experience was often the most significant challenge they had faced in a long time.
When I retired from the University of Texas System in 2024, our workers’ compensation program served more than 140,000 employees across academic and health institutions, we consistently saw the impact of early engagement.
Our focus was simple: helping injured employees feel supported, informed, and valued from the very beginning.
We worked hard to ensure they understood what was happening, what to expect next, and that they had partners committed to helping them recover.
When people feel supported instead of processed, something important happens. Trust grows. Communication improves. Recovery becomes a shared goal.
The outcomes were different. Not occasionally. Consistently.
What drove those outcomes was rarely a procedural advantage.
It was the quality of the human connection.
The research supports what many experienced professionals already know.
When injured workers feel heard early in the process, they are less likely to seek legal representation out of fear or frustration. They are more likely to engage in their recovery, participate in return-to-work efforts, and maintain confidence in the system designed to support them.
Most injured workers will never remember the statute that applied to their claim.
They may never remember the claim number.
But they will remember how they were treated.
They will remember who listened.
They will remember who returned the call.
They will remember who helped them feel less alone.
None of this requires extraordinary resources.
It requires listening.
It requires empathy.
It requires clear, honest communication.
It requires taking a few extra moments to explain what happens next and setting expectations.
Workers’ compensation has always been built on a grand bargain, but at its heart it is also a relationship business. Every day, professionals across the country are entrusted with helping people navigate one of the most difficult periods of their lives.
The way we show up matters.
The words we choose matter.
The tone we set matters.
We often call these soft skills.
There is nothing soft about helping someone navigate fear, uncertainty, pain, and recovery.
Communication, empathy, and trust-building are among the most important professional skills in workers’ compensation.
The future of our industry depends on perfecting these skills.
As experienced professionals retire and organizations work to attract and develop the next generation of talent, technical knowledge alone will not be enough. The professionals who create the greatest impact will be those who combine expertise with communication, compassion, and a genuine commitment to helping people recover.
That is true whether you are an adjuster, employer, risk manager, nurse, attorney, regulator, safety professional, or healthcare provider.
Every interaction shapes the injured worker’s experience.
Every conversation contributes to an outcome.
Every professional has the opportunity to make recovery easier rather than harder.
At WorkCompCollege.com, we believe workers’ compensation education should be about more than statutes, regulations, and claim handling processes.
It should also help professionals develop the communication skills, empathy, and recovery-focused mindset that injured employees need most during difficult moments.
Whether through the Workers’ Recovery Professional certification, Workers’ Compensation Mental Injury Claims Specialist certification, or any of our other educational programs, our goal is simple: help professionals become better equipped to support recovery and improve outcomes for everyone involved.
The latest research confirms what many of us have witnessed throughout our careers.
Recovery rarely begins with paperwork.
It begins when someone feels heard.
It begins when someone feels respected.
It begins when someone believes they are not facing the journey alone.
Recovery begins with a conversation and trusted partnership.
And that first conversation has the power to shape everything that follows.
