Starting your client off on the right foot with its disability program can help alleviate potential headaches in the future. Here are a few tips to help with successful onboarding of your client's disability program.

Establish a baseline

Every client is different and has unique needs when it comes to disability management. Before an implementation meeting takes place, a carrier will want to understand the employer's current disability management process, who the influential internal stakeholders are and if there are common problems or health conditions within their workforce.

Some disability programs aim to integrate into a company's current processes without creating disruptions or inefficiencies.

Therefore, gathering background information about your client can help the carrier determine questions to ask of the client and how to prepare for the implementation meeting.

Related: Employees' health worries may be soothed by disability insurance

Recommend multidisciplinary attendance

Incorporating multidisciplinary leadership attendance can help ensure key stakeholders are involved in the disability program process from the beginning.

Encourage clients to identify all key stakeholders who would be involved if an employee were to experience an illness or injury, and have your client get them in the same room. Inclusion across disciplines can help establish a basic understanding of the offerings available with the new disability program and make sure the program is used to its fullest potential.

It's important to help your client consider all the departments that could use or be impacted by the new disability program. For example, including a representative from the facilities services department can be useful, because they are often the most knowledgeable about what equipment vendors fit the client's workplace requirements.

Stay up to date

Things change — managers and executives leave, new ones arrive, and information can get scrambled or lost in the process. Help facilitate a process for communicating with your client and disability carrier so that as changes occur, everyone is on the same page.

Likewise, if anything changes from the disability carrier's standpoint, it's important you help communicate these changes to all necessary parties and address anything that could impact your client.

Set benchmarks

It's great if the implementation meeting goes off without a hitch and your client is happy. However, be proactive and set benchmarks with your client as a way to assess their continued satisfaction and success.

These assessments can be quarterly, semiannually or annually, but it's essential to set a timeline to check in and make sure everything is going according to plan. Setting designated dates for follow-up meetings and updates ensures that all parties involved have a chance to weigh in on the program's success.

Following these five pointers can help you kick off your client's implementation meeting on the right foot and ensure your clients are getting the most out of their disability program. Starting off strong sets the groundwork for future success.