Absence Management Perspectives

Get the inside story about how DMEC was founded 30 years ago and the secrets to its ongoing success, which might surprise (and delight) you, from Terri Rhodes, CCMP, CLMS, CPDM, MBA, CEO, DMEC, and Marcia Carruthers, DMEC cofounder.

Employer investments in education and training lead to greater employee satisfaction and retention as well as stronger organizations overall, explains Kristin Jones, DMEC's director of education. Listen in to this episode for insights about how the world of education has changed and why employers need to invest as much in retention efforts as they do in recruitment to build and maintain loyalty.

While challenging to implement, paid family leave (PFL) and paid family and medical leave (PFML) laws provide employers with an opportunity to revise benefits and policies to ensure equity and fairness, and to attract and retain talent. Listen in to this episode as Terri L. Rhodes, DMEC chief executive officer, talks with Jessica Bolar, product manager for The Standard; and Regina Stringer, director of integrated absence management for Walmart about the challenges to tracking and implementing these laws as well as some of the silver linings they’ve seen.

Supporting mental health and wellness is a priority for employers that are seeing an increase in people dying from "diseases of despair." Dr. Dan Jolivet, a psychologist and workplace possibilities practice consultant for The Standard, offers practical tips and guidance for employers that want to invest in the mental health and wellness of their employees, and how they can measure success. He talks about trauma-informed care, peer groups, ways to prepare managers, and how to ensure that employees know about and access resources. This podcast expands on issues Dr. Jolivet covers in his @Work magazine article including trauma-informed management, which is a helpful tool as employees return to office environments after working remotely for years due to the pandemic.

Terri Rhodes, CEO of DMEC, discusses findings and trends illustrated by the 11th Annual DMEC Employer Leave Management Survey with Karen English, senior vice president of Spring Consulting, an Alera Group Company.

While there’s a common belief that electronic performance monitoring (EPM) can improve productivity, this podcast provides a human resources perspective on the technology while weighing its benefits and detriments. EPM can have significant benefits for employers “when used with a degree of balance,” explains Coy Hillstead, EdD, DMEC member, in this episode.

Listen in as Erin Ludy, director of absence management for Mercyhealth, shares the impressive work that earned her the DMEC Emerging Leader Award in 2021, the value of acknowledging the hard work that goes into creating successful absence management programs, and how she defines leadership.

In this episode you'll get insights about intersectionality, a valuable tool that helps absence management professionals guide employees with disabilities through the return-to-work process. Pilar Vélez, a DMEC member and ADA Program Manager and Global Benefits Program Manager with Intel Corporation, provides a uniquely valuable perspective that is both moving and inspirational. DMEC has unlocked the article she wrote about intersectionality for @Work magazine to provide additional context: https://dmec.org/2021/11/16/employer-perspective-intersectionality-and-disability/.

The first episode of "Absence Management Perspectives: A DMEC Podcast" offers insights into how absence management professionals have kept pace with high demand for Americans with Disabilities Act accommodation requests prompted by COVID-19. Listen in as Terri L. Rhodes, CEO of Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC), chats with industry experts about the volume of claims, coping mechanisms, and the agility and innovation that has kept professionals' heads above water during this difficult time.

Guests include DeShawna Manley, a national benefits director for PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Bryon Bass, senior vice president of workforce absence for Sedgwick.