Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

WORKER’S COMPENSATION DIVISION
STRATEGIC PLAN
2001 – 2003

The Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation program is viewed as the premier program in the United States and used as a model by many foreign countries. Division staff and managers envision the ultimate outcome for this prestigious program as:

"the promotion of healthy, safe work environments by maintaining a balanced system of services to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Act."

The Division’s strategic plan to strive for a perfect worker’s compensation program is outlined below. The utopian goals are listed, followed by the real expectations to be accomplished. Strategies to achieve these expectations are detailed with estimated timeframes.

UTOPIAN GOAL 1. Excellent customer service through quality and timely work.

Real Expectation 1. Improve customer service by identifying customer service problems and develop methods to address those problems.

Strategy 1	Identify major customer service areas that need improvement. (9/30/01)
Strategy 2	Define customer expectations and set standards. (12/31/01)
Strategy 3	Communicate standards and expectations to internal staff and customers. (3/31/02)

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Strategy 4. Develop, implement and monitor performance indicators. (3/31/02)
Strategy 5. Review and implement resources and/or process changes to meet customer expectations and standards. (6/30/02)
Strategy 6. Develop necessary budget for resources if needed. (1/31/03)
Strategy 7. Provide customers with accurate information. (7/1/01)
Strategy 8. Document and discuss issues at management team meetings about inconsistent answers to external customers. (7/31/01)
Strategy 9. Explore the need for and feasibility of a call monitoring system. (6/30/02)
Strategy 10. Develop a monthly critical indicator to monitor the percentage of UEF money encumbered by claims reserves and IBNR claims versus the 85% encumbered trigger point for possible suspension of accepting claims. (7/31/01)

Real Expectation 2. Timely dispute resolution.

Strategy 1. Provide an opportunity for a hearing within six months of the date the case is ready for hearing. (12/31/05)
Strategy 2. Evaluate opportunities for additional alternate dispute resolution activities prior to formal hearing application. (12/31/01)
Strategy 3. Review the handling of applications for hearing by injured employees without legal counsel. (9/30/01)
Strategy 4. Evaluate level of support staff for the Bureau of Legal Services, including paralegal and legal secretaries. (12/31/01)

Real Expectation 3. Each employee has the information to do his or her job.

Strategy 1. Identify individual staff specific information needs to perform their jobs efficiently and effectively. (12/31/01)
Strategy 2. Re-design WC work web to better serve staff’s information needs. (3/31/02)
Strategy 3. Develop information dissemination system. (12/31/01)
Strategy 4. Design customized information folders for individual staff person’s computer desktop that contains information identified during customer research. (6/30/02)
Strategy 5. Promote the idea of a 1-stop center for information on all liens/warrants filed by all state agencies (promote as a strategy for DWD). (3/31/03)

UTOPIAN GOAL 2. Insurers make timely, accurate payments and submit all required information in a timely manner with 100% accuracy.

Real Expectation 1. Improve timeliness and accuracy of payments and information submitted.

Strategy 1. Retain and promote the Council’s "agreed bill" process to review and, if necessary, revise WC laws through the legislative process (e.g., codify wage law/ policies). (7/1/01)
Strategy 2. Evaluate the use of penalties to achieve compliance – explore resources, policy decisions and legal issues involved in this activity. (6/30/02)
Strategy 3. Promote the use of electronic data interchange to improve timeliness and accuracy, save costs, and report subsequent payments. (9/30/01)
Strategy 4. Develop and distribute WC information, e.g. posters and informational packets, to customers on request in multi-lingual formats. (10/1/02)

UTOPIAN GOAL 3. Employees experience job satisfaction, recognition, needed training, and are provided with the tools to do their job.

Real Expectation 1. Improve employee job satisfaction, recognition, and training.

Strategy 1. Identify equipment needs of staff by analyzing job requirements, physical limitations, and other pertinent criteria (e.g., large vs. small users of printers, filing systems). (10/31/01)
Strategy 2. Assess training needs and provide necessary training to improve job performance. (12/31/01)
Strategy 3. Develop alternative means to recognize performance and other desirable work attributes. (07/31/01)
Strategy 4. Encourage input from staff on procedural changes. (10/31/01)
Strategy 5. Explore the development of career paths, cross training, mentoring and /or job shadowing of staff to retain knowledge within the Division. (06/30/02)
Strategy 6. Develop division safety and accessibility policy standard for hearing sites throughout the state. (12/31/01)

UTOPIAN GOAL 4. IT supports all strategic directions and utopian views.

Real expectation 1. Improve IT usage throughout the division to support its strategic direction.

Strategy 1. Develop an IT plan that supports the Division Strategic Business Plan. (9/30/01)
Strategy 2. Review ideas as potential components of IT plan. (9/30/01)
Strategy 3. Assess the effectiveness of the division’s technology applications, by staff and external customers. (12/31/01)
Strategy 4. Evaluate the current file tracking system for efficiency and accuracy. (3/31/02)
Strategy 5. Review and expand data sharing agreements. (9/30/02)
Strategy 6. Develop and evaluate an automated UEF penalty. (6/30/02)
Strategy 7. Research and evaluate the use of video conferencing. (12/31/02)
Strategy 8. Continue to explore ways the optical imaging system can be used as a repository system for division documents (vocational rehabilitation, self-insurance, UEF, Wrap-Up, etc.). (6/30/02)
Strategy 9. Conduct cost-benefit study of imaging closed litigated cases for archival purposes. (12/31/01)

UTOPIAN GOAL 5. Provide the opportunity for the injured worker to return to the same employer, at the same job, at the same wage, as soon as possible.

Real Expectation 1. Work with all claim parties to develop return-to-work programs.

Strategy 1. Review current standards for DVR referral. (9/30/01)
Strategy 2. Educate employers and employees on the benefits of early return-to-work programs using statistical comparison data. (9/30/02)
Strategy 3. Evaluate progress of injured employees in return-to-work programs. (6/30/03)

UTOPIAN GOAL 6. All employees in the State of Wisconsin are provided with a safe work environment.

Real Expectation 1. Decrease workplace injuries and occupational disease.

Strategy 1. Expand Division’s role with collaborative partnerships with employers, trade associations, organized labor, insurance carriers, and self-insured employers. (6/30/02)
Strategy 2. Assess effectiveness and appropriate mechanisms for conducting accident investigation. (9/30/01)
Strategy 3. Work with Wisconsin Council of Safety on expanding awards to recognize safe employers and sharing their best practices. (5/31/02)
Strategy 4. Continue to conduct research on employers with poor safety records. (12/31/01)
Strategy 5. Review and update safety brochures. (11/30/01)
Strategy 6. Re-design the safety web site. (8/31/01)
Strategy 7. Explore possibility of funding safety activities through federal and private sources. (12/31/01)