March 2017

54 APAC / March 2017 , 1703AP03 Risky Business Manage Damage is a riskmanagement advisory firmdedicated to arming businesses with information to assist in business making decisions to value and assess the cost of risk. We invited Founder JillianHamilton to provide us with an absorbing insight into this young company and the services it provides. Established in 2016, Manage Damage is a Risk Management Advisory Firm that focuses on the true cost of risk, working with clients to provide their business with specialist advisors who can drive your efficiency, productivity and profitability. The founder and sole proprietor of Manage Damage, Jillian Hamilton, has been saving organisations millions of dollars in Workers Compensation and associated insurance costs for over a decade. Her proven ability to fine tune and remedy existing risk management strategy for positive outcomes uses pioneering thinking that challenges the status quo. With the launch of Manage Damage, her team offers this insight and expertise to businesses of all sizes in Australia. Jillian is passionate about the bottom line and creating an affordable solution-based approach to all challenges faced in the workplace around risk management, specifically insurance management. Her thinking is driven by the belief that looking outside the box is sometimes the only way, and it is this focus which drives everything Manage Damage does, as she is keen to emphasise. “Here at Manage Damage, we are positioned differently to other OHS and Safety Consultancies as we look at a business and its risk differently. Our business assesses a company’s portfolio via the cost of damage – Zero Cost for Zero Harm TM . We focus on business’ insurance premiums and the values against industry standards. In addition, we know by the functions of the premium calculations themselves that injuring workers is the variable of cost. By highlighting the company’s cost against industry averages and the incentives for discounts even further we gain the hearts, minds and pockets of the CEOs and CFOs for business. By viewing risk in this way we gather the CEO and CFO attention, therefore, the right inputs to budget management, actions and results”. “This is quite a different approach and has significant financial outcomes as we have found that all businesses are aiming to make profit. If we talk in true financial terms we are able to gain a relevance in the business and aid the decision making power to reduce loss, increase the bottom line and ultimately stop hurting the workforce along the way.” Based in Woolloongabba (Brisbane, Australia), Manage Damage supports clients around the world, and as Jillian explains, despite the firm’s youth it has already gained an impressive reputation for excellence. “Our service offering encompasses a wide range of sectors, including worker’s compensation cost reduction strategies; insurance liaison and management services; legal liaison and management services; risk management strategic guidance; high level incident emergency response and recovery; strategic business planning; strategic organisational reviews; due diligence reviews and advice during acquisitions; productivity improvement strategic advice; safety in design; think tanks; and mentoring/ business coaching. “We service clients in NZ, across Australia and we are in the process of working with other companies in the UAE, China and Malaysia as our processes work for all premium functions and calculation methods”. “Whilst our best clients are the ones with the highest premium bills, we are often surprised about how dynamic businesses can be. We often find opportunities for businesses whom thought they were performing at optimums but find further opportunities via reviewing and optimising the current insurance establishment. Sometimes our customers were not aware at all that they were paying too much at all. It is always interesting to us when we ask our clients how they are performing and they think their position is exemplary; but we find some more opportunity for them to reduce their costs.” The firm’s services have never been more in demand: within the wider corporate landscape, insurance costs are rising globally this is due to increased pressures on premiums as society has access to more and more legal advice/action. Legal action and moving a claim from a standard wage, doctors bill with a full recovery back to work to regular legal claims is a new frame of thinking. Whilst Manage Damage acknowledges that the legal system and right to make claim is established for personnel whom have truly been harmed at work, it also acknowledges that in Queensland Australia; it is a fact that almost 50% of claims are for personnel who have a 0 – 5% permanent damage from their incident. This means that applicants for legal action have a medically assessed percent of damage to the claimant of zero of very close however still insist on taking legal action against their employer and or associated third party. This kind of action drives costs and premium increases for all business not just the companies involved. As such, Manage Damage remains committed to supporting clients and ensuring that they reduce their unnecessary costs through efficient management and independent advice to manage this kind of action as Jillian outlines. “Looking ahead, reduced margins and profits by all business via insurance premium increases will be the key challenges for our clients. Manage Damage are true risk managers, and the business is viewed holistically focusing on due diligence for business (specifically safety, environmental and quality processes) to drive insurance premium relief for employers. Put simply, we can reduce a business’s bottom line costs associated with risk. We offer business advice, service and expertise in an area where there is little incentive for the service providers to reduce your costs due to the billing arrangements for insurance”. “There is a very small number of competitors in this market but ethically we stand independently; we have no ties with any specific Insurance Company or Broker and do not accept commissions for transfer of business from one Insurer or Broker to the other. This ensures clients receive truly impartial advice and support. “Our key differentiator is that we have a system and flow that can assure after you recode, realign