The Perils of Assumptions

By Jennifer Hurless, J.D., President of PartnerSource

Recently I found myself in a surprising conversation with my hairstylist of 17 years.

I first met my stylist when we were both working mothers with three children under the age of 3. Over the years, our appointments became part therapy session, part comedy show, and part catch-up on life. We talked about family, our jobs, goals, retirement dreams, and everything in between.

When you spend a lot of time with someone, it’s easy to believe that you know each other very well. So I was completely astounded when this one conversation uncovered some very basic misunderstandings.

“Wait – What?”

At my last visit, my stylist shared that she was changing career paths. She plans to leave hair styling at the end of the year and attend pharmacy technician school. Her reason was practical: she and her husband are self-employed, and she needs access to health insurance.

During our conversation, she shared that she had found a company offering full benefits to part-time employees and their families. I responded, “That’s fantastic! I know that company well. They have a great reputation for caring for their employees. I should know—they’re our client.”

She paused. “Well, that changes things,” she replied. “I don’t think I want to work for them then.”

I thought I had misunderstood and asked her to explain. “You don’t want to work for them now because you know they ARE a PartnerSource client?”

“Don’t you help companies figure out how to get around workers’ comp laws?” she said. “That can’t be good for employees!”

That stopped me. After 17 years of conversations, something central to my work had never come through clearly.

Better Care for Injured Workers

The reality is that PartnerSource helps employers deliver better medical outcomes for injured workers.

We help employers build occupational injury programs that support injured workers with meaningful benefits, timely access to quality medical care, and, when appropriate, treatment from specialists who may not participate in traditional workers’ compensation networks.

Through this, we promote recovery, reduce delays, improve outcomes, and ensure employers remain actively engaged and accountable in caring for their people. Our clients offer their employees faster wage replacement and higher care quality than workers’ comp to get workers back on the job sooner.

In short, employers doing business in Texas choose the Texas Option because they want to offer something truly better for their employees. And they come to PartnerSource because we can help them make that goal a reality.

Flexibility Comes with Responsibility

There is another important piece that I wish my stylist had heard: Employers choosing the Texas Option give up the protection against most employee injury lawsuits that workers’ compensation coverage provides. They can face negligence claims when their failure to provide a safe workplace causes an injury. That is a meaningful reason to invest in both prevention and employee care.

For an employer that wants to take the best care of its people, the opportunity is to build a program that reflects that goal—and follow through when someone gets hurt.

Helping an employee get appropriate care, understand their benefits and navigate recovery is good for that person and their family. It can also help the employer retain an experienced team member, reduce disruption and strengthen trust.

Emphasizing the Value

In all of the work that I had discussed with my stylist over the past 17 years, she had not heard me clearly express these things.

It got me to wondering what I could have done differently to ensure she understood what we do, why it means so much to me, and why my team and I work so very hard.

When we do work so hard, it’s easy to get lost in the trees and miss the forest. It’s important for me – and for all of us – to speak clearly with those we encounter about the value of the work we do.

So, let’s talk about what I should have told my hairstylist the first time I sat in her chair, 17 years ago. Maybe it should have gone like this:

At PartnerSource, we are proud to help employers create occupational injury programs that put injured workers first. Through the Texas Option, our clients offer faster wage replacement benefits and higher quality of care to get workers back on the job sooner. PartnerSource is here to help, and I’m glad to be a part of helping achieve that.

Have you ever found yourself struggling for the words to define what we do? Have you ever been misunderstood like this? I’d love to hear your story! Email me at jennifer_hurless@partnersource.com.