Cultural revolution > Culture fix: Transforming an unhealthy culture

Workplace culture is not something that can be dictated;

It develops over time.

However cultural change is achievable!

A sustainable injury management culture fix entails two steps:

1.	Changing the overall workplace culture; and

2.	Changing the injury management culture.

Sustainable culture change will not occur unless it happens on both levels – within injury management, and within the entire organisation.

The Golden Rules of Cultural Transformation

•	Changing the injury managment culture without changing the overall organisational culture is unsustainable.

•	However return to work culture can be used as a 'test case' to demonstrate the advantages of cultural change to senior management.

•	Adopting a partnership approach to RTW management results in clear, measurable and demonstratable cost savings.

•	Best practice injury management also improves return to work outcomes.

•	Senior managment who have seen the concrete benefits of cultural transformation in one area of the organisation are more likely to support it overall.

•	Don't go it alone: where appropriate, get external support to assist in the transition.

It is unusual to see a well-managed organisation with a positive culture doing a poor job of return to work management.

Similarly, an organisation that is tough on employees – that takes without giving – will not have a return to work program based on sound people-oriented culture.

Adopting a “give and take” partnership approach to return to work management will probably involve changes to your organisation's policies and procedures: it will also result in clear and measurable costs savings.

There are few situations where changes in one management context can affect overall workplace culture and be so easily linked to costs and cost savings. Demonstrating improvement in return to work outcomes by improving the return to work culture demonstrates what can be achieved to senior management.

If this all seems daunting, don’t imagine that you have to go it alone. Getting the culture right can be a significant challenge and external support is often the best way to promote healthy change.

Outsourcing change

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External resources can assist with part or all of the RTW program's implementation.

If external resources are used a clear, written understanding of what the external provider will do and what will remain the responsibility of the organisation is important.

While it can be difficult to get the culture right, getting it wrong is very costly. Poor return to work outcomes are a clear example of high costs that can result from a negative approach and culture. Shifting the approach and demonstrating the resultant cost savings from improved RTW management can provide the impetus for more generalised change.

The handbook includes a section on how to make the business case for RTW management