Beyond the Paycheck

If employees don't use their benefits, they don't create value. Tomekia Williams, Manager of Benefits Administration at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, shares how her team moves beyond "check-the-box" offerings to utilization, impact, and true care for a largely frontline workforce. Northside—known as the "baby hospital" for delivering more babies than any hospital in the U.S.—faces the complexity...

Summary How do you modernize total rewards for a 6,500-person frontline healthcare workforce—without losing the human touch? Eric Waggoner, Director of Total Rewards at GoHealth Urgent Care, shares how his team balances compliance, cost, and culture across 17 states and multiple health system joint ventures. With a career that began in sales redesigning commission plans, Eric brings a pragmatic le...

Summary How do you drive benefits engagement when most of your workforce is union, frontline, and constantly on the move? Robert Fortin, Senior Manager of Benefits Wealth at Amtrak and former pension consultant, shares how his team thinks beyond retirement to help employees build wealth across their careers. From his earliest money lessons (savings bonds from his grandmother) to riding Amtrak rout...

Summary What does it take to transform a billable-rate-driven pay culture into a fair, transparent, and data-backed system? Julie Bell, Global CHRO at Roush, shares how she built a rigorous compensation architecture from the ground up—partnering with Willis Towers Watson, standardizing hundreds of roles, and running annual adverse impact analyses that have cut pay inequities by 50% year over year....

Summary If employees don’t understand their rewards, they can’t value them.  Ademar Martins, Head of Total Rewards and People Operations at Kong Inc., shares how he turns complex comp and benefits into clear, trusted programs.  With nearly two decades in HR across public and private companies, Ademar blends budget-savvy design with crisp communication—think shifting merit timing to preserve value,...

Summary Rising costs are squeezing employees at every level—so how do you design pay and benefits that truly meet people where they are?  K Bighom, a benefits leader at Universal Destinations & Experiences with 20+ years in global benefits (US, UK, Canada, APAC), shares a pragmatic, human-first playbook. A former pre-med student turned HR pro, K frames people leaders as “healers,” responsible...

Summary If employees don’t understand their pay and benefits, even great programs miss the mark.  Kerry Seppala, a 25+ year executive in Total Rewards, HRIS, and Payroll across manufacturing, public/private, and government organizations, breaks down how to build trust-first compensation and benefits that people actually use. Drawing on experience with large frontline workforces and deep Workday ex...

Summary When compensation gets complex, trust erodes.  Eric A. Rodriguez, Deputy CHRO at Dallas College, shares how he simplifies pay and benefits to reduce anxiety and build credibility—grounded in a personal money story that equates every paycheck with unseen effort, dignity, and stability.  With oversight of HR operations, shared services, HRIS, and quality improvement, Eric explains how to mov...

Summary Designing fair, effective compensation and benefits across countries isn’t about finding a unicorn vendor—it’s about listening locally and leading with care.  Andy Dawson, Chief People Officer and Head of Corporate Affairs at BVI Medical, brings two decades of global HR experience (UK, Switzerland, US; Novartis alum) to unpack how he builds programs that work for diverse markets, life stag...

Pay Transparency, Total Rewards, and AI: Orion Innovation’s Rewards Leader on Building Trust Summary If employees don’t understand how they’re paid, trust erodes—and performance follows.  Alana Gisleson, Senior Manager of Compensation and Benefits at Orion Innovation, shares how she turns “total rewards” from a spreadsheet into something people can feel: clarity, stability, and growth.  With a bac...

Benefits That Actually Help: LEARN Behavioral’s CHRO on Financial Wellness and Student Debt Summary Most employees don’t need more perks—they need benefits they can actually use.  Maggie Ruvoldt, Chief Human Resources Officer at LEARN Behavioral, shares how her early money lessons (thanks, Grandma) shaped a people-first approach to total rewards for a largely hourly workforce.  She breaks down whe...

Rethinking Total Rewards: Dr. Jermaine King on Pay, Flexibility, and Custom Benefits Summary Are your pay practices and benefits keeping pace with what employees actually value?  HR executive and leadership consultant Dr. Jermaine King—retired from the United States Air Force—breaks down how to modernize compensation and benefits with clarity, choice, and data.  He explains the biggest gap he sees...

Beyond the Paycheck: Total Rewards, Recognition, and Pay Transparency with Anthony Renella Summary If employees only see a salary number, they undervalue what they receive—and engagement suffers. Anthony Renella, VP of Total Rewards with global experience across media, tech, retail, and real estate, shares how to turn compensation from a “black hole” into a clear, trusted system.  He outlines how...

Flexibility Is the New Currency: Personalizing Benefits with Anthology’s Shannon Nelson Summary Benefits are costly and complex—so how do you ensure employees actually understand, value, and use them?  Shannon Nelson, Director of Global Benefits at Anthology (formerly Blackboard), shares how she designs programs that meet people where they are—balancing data, compliance, and real human needs.  Wit...

Making Pay Make Sense: NFP’s Megan Nail on Pay Transparency, Total Rewards, and Financial Wellness Summary If your merit budget is flat while healthcare costs climb, employees can feel like they got a pay cut—even with a raise. How do you fix that? Megan Nail, SVP of Total Rewards Practice at NFP and a 25-year HR leader, lays out a practical playbook to move compensation and benefits off autopilot...

Summary With healthcare costs rising and five generations in the workforce, how do you build benefits that are clear, equitable, and actually used?  Ryan J. Seman, VP of Total Rewards (Health & Wellbeing) at Starkey in Eden Prairie, MN, shares how his team pairs transparency with hands-on guidance so employees make smarter decisions in moments that matter.  With three decades of experience acr...

Building Trust in Compensation: Pay Transparency, Skills-Based Pay, and the Manager’s Role with ThoughtWorks’ Global Head of Total Rewards Summary If pay transparency is the destination, what foundations do you need to build first? Sharon John, Global Head of Total Rewards and Mobility at ThoughtWorks, shares a practical blueprint for designing fair, relatable rewards that employees actually under...

HSAs, AI, and Total Rewards: A CHRO’s Playbook for Employee Financial Wellness Summary Employees are overwhelmed by benefits choices—and it’s costing them real money. Jeff Bettinger, Chief Human Resources Officer at Hudson Talent Solutions, shares how he’s putting power back in employees’ hands with clearer total rewards, an HSA-first strategy, and early moves into AI-driven guidance. A former hig...

Beyond the Survey: Cox Media Group’s SVP of Total Rewards on Affordability, Pay Equity, and Vendor-Led HR Summary How do you keep pay and benefits fair, affordable, and truly usable when budgets are tight and roles are changing fast? Lee Mataya, Senior Vice President of Total Rewards at Cox Media Group, oversees compensation, benefits, payroll, HR operations, and HR tech for a nationwide TV and ra...

Root-Cause Benefits: Moog’s VP of Total Rewards on Onsite Care, Profit Sharing, and AI Personalization Summary What if your benefits strategy could lower costs and improve health outcomes at the same time? Kristine Karnath, Vice President of Total Rewards at Moog—an aerospace and defense company headquartered outside Buffalo, NY—shares how a fiscally disciplined, data-led approach turns benefits i...

Beyond Salary: Adecco’s Total Rewards VP on TR Statements, Living Wage, and Inflation Readiness Summary If employees only see their salary, you’re leaving value—and retention—on the table. Markus Enzner, VP of Total Rewards (Americas) at The Adecco Group, brings 18 years of experience and an economist’s lens to show how to turn compensation and benefits into clarity, confidence, and impact. Suppor...

Beyond Base Pay: CCRC’s CHRO on Total Rewards, Pay Equity, and Financial Wellness Summary If employees only focus on base pay, they miss the true value of their compensation. Lisseth Zouhbi, Chief Human Resources Officer at Child Care Resource Center, breaks down how her team is demystifying total rewards for a large, fast-growing nonprofit. With 25 years in HR—including two decades in luxury hosp...

Pay Transparency & Total Rewards: DataRobot’s Director on Benchmarking, AI, and Paying for Performance Summary Curious why employees mistrust comp decisions — even when they’re paid well? Michael Downey, Director of Total Rewards at DataRobot and a compensation leader with 15+ years of experience (and a former teacher), explains how clearer communication, practical benchmarking, and smarter us...

Skills Over Degrees: Bell TechLogix CHRO Amy Graves on Pay Equity, Benefits, and AI Summary If employees don’t understand their total rewards, even fair pay can feel unfair. Amy Graves, Chief Human Resources Officer at Bell TechLogix, shares how she bridges the gap between intention and understanding in compensation and benefits. With 25+ years across nonprofit, manufacturing, life sciences, and I...

Designing Benefits That Actually Help: Vimeo’s VP of Total Rewards on Healthcare Costs, 401(k) Nudges, and AI in Comp Summary Benefits bloat, spiraling healthcare costs, and employees who still don’t understand what they’re getting—how should HR respond? David Wrangham, Vice President of Total Rewards at Vimeo, makes the case for fewer, better-funded programs that genuinely change behavior. Drawin...