The Stretch: Workforce health and benefits – expanded

On this episode of The Stretch, host Kevin Fyock sits down with Jason Desentz, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at Toshiba, to explore what it really takes for HR to lead in the age of artificial intelligence. Toshiba is a household name with a 150 year legacy of world-first innovations – including the very first laptop – and Jason shares how the company is now applying that mindset of groundb...

In this episode of  The Stretch , host Kevin Fyock sits down with one of the sharpest voices in modern HR: Hebba Youssef, Chief People Officer at Workweek and the creator of the newsletter and podcast  I Hate It Here . Recorded live on the floor of the Transform conference in Las Vegas, Kevin and Hebba get straight to what HR leaders need to know to keep people engaged and keep the business moving...

Season three of The Stretch kicks off live from the floor of the Transform conference in Las Vegas. Transform brought together thought leaders from across the HR universe and Kevin Fyock, the host of The Stretch, used the moment to tap into some of those innovative minds. This episode previews the conversations Kevin will be having in season three, bound by a common exploration of the best way to...

In recent years, there's been an explosion of solutions geared toward women's health. This growth signals momentum and innovation within the market, but it's also created fragmentation that can keep employees & their families from easily accessing care. To address this challenge, Aon invited innovative industry thinkers to join us for our inaugural Accelerate Labs Challenge. Our guests, joining th...

Employers and consumers, inspired by a growing sense of personal agency in healthcare, are exploring new approaches to well-being. While traditional models emphasize reactive treatment, a rising focus on longevity encourages a more proactive mindset. Joining the podcast to explain how this shift enhances vitality, supports productivity, and improves outcomes is Dr. Tiffany Lester, Women's Health M...

Benefits have an outsized impact on the employee experience. Employees value benefits so much, in fact, that 39% say competitive benefits motivate them to stay in their current jobs, according to data from Bank of America. But how can employers ensure their benefits are truly competitive? Joining The Stretch to discuss the importance of innovative benefits design is Kate Phillips, Bank of America'...

Digital health offerings exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic when employers were looking to increase access to care for their employees and battling to offer attractive programs in a tight labor market. But now, employers find themselves wondering if those point solutions they put in place are delivering real value to their health plans and their employees. Ed Liebowitz, EVP and Chief Strategy O...

Today's patients can't anticipate how much their healthcare will cost them. Will the bill for an MRI cost $15 or $500? The answer is usually inaccessible up front. Unfortunately, pricing is just as unpredictable for employers. But the status quo is changing for both parties as new transparency laws generate more and more data on cost and beyond. Joining the podcast to unpack how this information i...

Today's employers are looking to cut costs while boosting health & wellbeing. But many organizations are not paying enough attention to a critical component to achieving those ends. By enhancing heart health, employers can reduce expensive claims and improve employee health and wellbeing. The impact of preventative cardiovascular care is particularly powerful among women, whose heart health has lo...

In today's rapidly changing landscape, organizations are facing unprecedented volatility, much of which revolves around people-related issues. From escalating healthcare costs to the need for workforce transformation to fostering inclusion and belonging, these challenges are elevating the role of chief people leaders to a pivotal position within the C-suite. To delve into the complexities and oppo...

Healthcare is the No. 2 people-related expense, just behind salaries. Despite this large spend, it's the least transparent expense employers manage, compared to the other heavily managed purchases corporations make. As fiduciary scrutiny grows, employers are rightly concerned with the unpredictable, obscure nature of healthcare expenses. But new organizations are springing up to help employers cre...

Individuals are increasingly working outside the traditional insurance avenues to seek care. Today's consumers want their care to be marked with options, convenience and transparency. To deliver on those expectations, the digital health market is transforming & evolving rapidly. Here to help us make sense of these major changes is Adriana Krasniansky, principal and head of research at Rock Health.

The impact of substance use can be costly, damaging and devastating. But the vast majority of people struggling with substance use don't receive the care they need. In this episode, we discuss why substance use management is an issue employers can't afford to overlook — and why it needs a more thoughtful, personalized approach. Joining our discussion is Maroof Ahmed, COO and co-founder of Pelago,...

Employers' cost of healthcare grew 8% from 2023 to 2024,  according to Aon data.  Expenses are slated to rise as much as 9.2% in 2025. These increases are not new, nor are they unexpected: employers have been dealing with rising healthcare costs for decades. But as affordability continues to worsen for employers and employees alike, bold, innovative solutions have emerged. Joining The Stretch to d...

Employers expect their healthcare cost to increase by an average of 9.2% in 2025, on the heels of 8.5% increase seen in 2024. Yet with the increasing cost, employers and employees alike are seeing less and less value. As costs increase and outcomes decrease, satisfaction and trust wane. It's time for a new approach — but what does that approach look like? Joining us to help answer that very questi...

Employers want the best for their employees and their families, and that extends to health outcomes for major life-altering surgeries, cancer care and other specialty infusions. Many employers are familiar with and use traditional "centers of excellence" models, but often that means sending employees to the most renowned facilities available, usually hundreds of miles or more away. This path to sp...

HR professionals are always looking for new ways to get employees engaged with their benefits. It's a notoriously difficult task, but it's an important one. To encourage both benefit use and behavior change, HR needs to think less like benefits administrators and more like salespeople. Joining us to share practical tips on engaging employees as consumers is Gary Loveman, founder and CEO of Well.

Employers have long used food to motivate, reward and connect employees. Consider ice cream socials, pizza parties and happy hours. But, with a growing awareness of how our food choices affect our health and our work, innovative employers are beginning to think of food in a new way. Some are even positioning food as medicine. Joining us to explore the most recent research on this topic and how foo...

Historically, there have been few, if any, alternatives to employers offering and managing their employee group insurance benefits; Especially for specific segments of employer populations that lack eligibility to group plans like gig workers. But one avenue in particular is garnering increasing interest among small and large employers alike — ICHRAs. ICHRAs, or Individual Coverage Health Reimburs...

In recent years, many employers have created or updated generous parental leave packages for employees with growing families. It's an undoubtedly helpful benefit and one that doubles as a powerful recruitment and retention tool. But it only scratches the surface of what today's caregivers really need. Joining us to discuss how employers can offer more meaningful support to caregivers is Lindsay Ju...

With open enrollment just around the corner, many benefit leaders are breathing a sigh of relief that they are approaching the finish line after all the planning, hard work and many pivots over the course of the last year. Yet, with healthcare trend at its highest level in a decade, many of those same leaders are finding themselves in a tough position of having to explaining the higher cost increa...

To build a workplace that's inclusive of neurodivergent employees, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Rather, employers must build an agile culture that is welcoming, accommodating and empowering to each employee — regardless of the way their brains work. In this episode, we discuss what neurodiversity is and the practical strategies that create a culture that supports a neurodiverse workforc...

In this episode, we will talk about one of the foremost issues concerning employee health: cancer. We're joined by Dr. Arif Kamal, chief patient officer of the American Cancer Society. Together, we will illuminate the current state of the cancer landscape, from the shifts in epidemiology to the advancements in prevention and care. We'll also discuss the challenges employers face, explore the solut...

In this episode of the Stretch, we're going to talk about digestive health. It's a topic that has long been under-discussed — as our guest, Cylinder CEO Bill Snyder, puts it, "It's uncomfortable for people to talk about GI symptoms, so many don't realize how common their symptoms are." But these days, the issue is less taboo and more important as employers struggle to address a problem that affect...

Workplace benefits regarding women's health have typically centered around reproductive health. These benefits are highly valuable and extremely meaningful to women who are building their families. But women's health encompasses much more. In this episode, we will redefine women's health to consider an approach to benefits that includes the entire spectrum of women's well-being. We're joined by Sh...