Beyond the Paycheck

Aura Finance
  • 5.0 (10)
  • MANAGEMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Beyond the Paycheck brings you candid conversations with CHROs and top people leaders who are rethinking how compensation and benefits impact more than just employee bank accounts. From the first paycheck to financial wellness programs, we explore how money shapes identity, equity, purpose, and power at work, and how forward-thinking companies are using pay and perks to transform lives, not just attract talent. This podcast is sponsored by Aura Finance, the financial wellness platform designed to help employees feel confident, secure, and in control of their money. See more at aurafinance.io

  1. Building Total Rewards Statements That Actually Change Retention

    1D AGO

    Building Total Rewards Statements That Actually Change Retention

    SummaryJessica O'Leary runs benefits for 3,000+ employees across a charter school network in Dallas-Fort Worth. Her framework: treat every dollar of employee premium like your own. That means negotiating free behavioral health coaching through Cigna, building a maternity leave financial planning workshop, and creating total rewards statements that show teachers exactly where their compensation dollars go. She opens with a story about selling books on her front lawn in second grade—then connects that entrepreneur mindset to how she structures benefits today. Two core challenges emerge: school districts face severe budget constraints while competing for talent, and employees increasingly ask "what's my return on investment for working here?" Her answer includes EAPs with unlimited counseling, AI-powered enrollment tools that recommend plans based on health needs, and gift card incentives that drive 3x engagement at benefits fairs. Timestamps00:16 From Milwaukee gamer to benefits director at a Texas charter network  02:50 First paycheck went to school clothes—and set a pattern for financial independence  05:16 Why Street Fighter and Sims taught early lessons about maximizing value  07:18 Delivering value under budget pressure: free behavioral health coaches and creative partnerships  10:25 Where compensation and benefits breakdowns happen most often  12:22 The transparency challenge: building total rewards statements that show the full picture  15:06 Mental health benefits evolve from three sessions to unlimited counseling  17:34 Measuring impact through retention and reduced out-of-pocket costs  19:28 Employees now negotiate for benefits, not just salary  22:16 Incentivizing engagement with gift cards and maternity leave financial planning workshops  Takeaways- Tap your medical carrier's budget for free resources—Jessica secured a no-cost behavioral health coach through Cigna that handles chronic conditions, weight loss plans, and mental health counseling- Build a total rewards statement that shows employees exactly where their compensation goes beyond salary, including benefits contributions and education stipends- Incentivize benefits education with Amazon gift cards—employees mentally value a $20 gift card more than $20 cash and will show up to learn- AI enrollment tools can cut decision fatigue by recommending health plans based on family needs and current conditions- Create proactive financial planning workshops for major life events like maternity leave to prevent employees from running out of PTO and going unpaid Connect with the GuestLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-o-leary-mba-phr-8b3a686/Website: https://uplifteducation.org/ Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations—Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track. See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/ (00:16) - From Milwaukee gamer to benefits director at a Texas charter network (02:50) - First paycheck went to school clothes—and set a pattern for financial independence (05:16) - Why Street Fighter and Sims taught early lessons about maximizing value (07:18) - Delivering value under budget pressure: free behavioral health coaches and creative partnerships (10:25) - Where compensation and benefits breakdowns happen most often (12:22) - The transparency challenge: building total rewards statements that show the full picture (15:06) - Mental health benefits evolve from three sessions to unlimited counseling (17:34) - Measuring impact through retention and reduced out-of-pocket costs (19:28) - Employees now negotiate for benefits, not just salary (22:16) - Incentivizing engagement with gift cards and maternity leave financial planning workshops

    25 min
  2. Building a Mental Health Benefit Physicians Will Actually Use

    3D AGO

    Building a Mental Health Benefit Physicians Will Actually Use

    SummaryAllison King runs total rewards at a national healthcare system where the pay gap between front-line staff and physicians spans six figures. After surveying 150+ employees, she found the real problem wasn't the benefits package—it was that no one understood what they already had. Physicians recommended benefits Sound already offered. Staff earning $50K and doctors clearing $300K needed radically different support, yet both groups were drowning in the same generic communication. King's response: build AI-powered decision tools herself, using dummy data and free accounts to prototype benefit recommenders before touching employee PHI. Allison is also shifting mental health support from generic EAPs to clinician-specific programs that send grief counselors on-site after traumatic patient events—because telling a burned-out ER doc to "set better boundaries" misses the entire problem. Timestamps03:09 From piggy bank coin rolls to a math degree and VP of People Ops  07:14 First paycheck at Hollister bought a chunky silver Bulova watch she still owns  09:29 Why income gaps demand different benefit strategies for the same workforce  12:52 The top-three mistake: listing benefits without teaching employees how to use them  14:47 Building AI benefit decision tools with vibe coding and compliance guardrails  18:19 Transitioning from generic EAPs to clinician-specific mental health support  22:47 How to measure mental health impact when "wellbeing" means 10 different things  27:19 Subject matter experts will build personalized benefit tools without the price tag  Takeaways- If employees are recommending benefits you already offer, your communication strategy has failed—survey to find the gap, then act on what you learn.  - Income determines benefit priorities: high earners want tax optimization and 401(k) guidance; lower earners need affordable healthcare and debt support.  - Build AI tools internally using dummy data and free accounts to prototype before involving IT, security, and compliance teams.  - Generic EAPs don't work for physicians—clinicians need mental health providers who understand needle sticks, patient deaths, and charting burnout.  - Personalization at scale is now accessible: subject matter experts can build decision tools without enterprise vendor contracts.  Connect with the GuestAllison King on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonkinghr/Learn more about Sound Physicians: https://www.soundphysicians.com/ Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations—Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track. See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/ (03:09) - From piggy bank coin rolls to a math degree and VP of People Ops (07:14) - First paycheck at Hollister bought a chunky silver Bulova watch she still owns (09:29) - Why income gaps demand different benefit strategies for the same workforce (12:52) - The top-three mistake: listing benefits without teaching employees how to use them (14:47) - Building AI benefit decision tools with vibe coding and compliance guardrails (18:19) - Transitioning from generic EAPs to clinician-specific mental health support (22:47) - How to measure mental health impact when "wellbeing" means 10 different things (27:19) - Subject matter experts will build personalized benefit tools without the price tag

    30 min
  3. The Employee Benefits Paradox: Great Programs No One Uses

    MAY 7

    The Employee Benefits Paradox: Great Programs No One Uses

    Summary Melissa Zaino runs global benefits at Zayo Group, a fiber company competing with Google and Verizon. Her team serves 2,600 employees—half of them field technicians. She's also someone who once got underwater with credit cards and entered a consumer credit counseling program, an experience that still shapes how she thinks about financial stress at work. In this conversation, she explains why benefits teams are losing the plot: companies buy surgical point solutions for cancer, fertility, and weight management, then wonder why nobody uses them. The problem isn't the programs—it's the communication. Melissa's team stopped leading with vendor names and started leading with what the benefit actually does. She also shares why employee surveys matter more than ROI spreadsheets, and why AI might finally help demystify leave policies without violating PII. Timestamps 00:42 Melissa's role at Zayo Group and the makeup of a 2,600-person workforce 01:28 What a fiber company does and how Zayo competes with Google and Verizon 02:11 Melissa's earliest memory of money: quarters in Easter eggs 03:11 Her first job at Randall's Supermarkets and buying song lyric magazines 04:09 How her father's job loss during the Libya oil embargo shaped her relationship with money 05:56 Getting underwater with credit cards and entering consumer credit counseling 07:04 Why financial wellness can't just mean 401(k) matching 08:44 The point solution explosion: why employees don't know how cancer, fertility, and pharmacy carving all interact 11:18 Why benefits teams must stop leading with vendor names 12:32 How fertility and menopause benefits attract talent and show employees they're valued 15:22 Why employee survey feedback matters more than trying to nail down ROI on new programs 17:45 How Garner Health delivered hard-dollar savings by steering to top-performing providers 18:24 Melissa's prediction: AI will help demystify benefits without violating PII 21:29 Where to connect with Melissa on LinkedIn Takeaways Lead benefits communications with what the program does, not the vendor name—employees don't care who built it, they care what problem it solves.Employee survey feedback is ROI: if people feel valued and financially secure, you're already winning before the utilization reports come in.Point solutions break down when employees can't see how cancer coverage, pharmacy carving, and fertility benefits fit together—benefits teams must show the full medical ecosystem, not just the parts.AI's biggest benefits opportunity isn't chatbots—it's anonymized, deep analytics that surface cardiovascular trends or leave patterns without exposing PII. Connect with the guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-zaino-cebs-phr-b992b3/ Zayo Group: https://www.zayo.com Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations—Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track. See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/

    22 min
  4. Your Wellness Stipend Isn't Working—Here's Why

    MAY 5

    Your Wellness Stipend Isn't Working—Here's Why

    Summary A company rolls out a $200/month wellness stipend with the best of intentions. It lands in employees' paychecks alongside everything else. Nobody changes their behavior. Claims don't go down. The intent was real, but without structure, there's no return.  In this episode, Kelsey Willock sits down with Trice Stevenson-Wright, VP of People Operations and Total Rewards at Alma, for a sharp conversation about what happens when benefits design has the right intent but the wrong rigor. Trice has spent her career overhauling benefits programs at companies where the spend was high, the utilization was low, and nobody had connected the two.  She walks through why employees gravitate toward the most expensive plan when a less expensive one would protect them just as well, how shifting from unlimited PTO to flexible PTO with actual parameters got people to take more time off, and why AI is quietly transforming the white-glove moments in benefits administration—like parental leave—that used to require a dedicated person. Trice also shares her grandmother's matching system (whatever you save, I'll match it), the daycare job that almost didn't pay her, and a 30-day experiment that any listener can try tomorrow: ask your employees if they understand how they're paid, then stop talking and listen. If you design benefits, manage total rewards, or are trying to make your company's spend actually mean something to the people it's meant for, Trice's perspective on structuring intent will stay with you. Timestamps 01:48 Trice's earliest money memory: frugality born from awareness, not scarcity03:35 The daycare job that almost didn't pay her and the grandmother who matched her savings05:31 Thinking about pay as an ecosystem, not a line item06:47 Where benefits break down: over-indexing on offerings without connecting to ROI09:15 Why employees pick the most expensive plan and what care navigation can fix12:46 Unlimited PTO versus flexible PTO: the shift that actually got people to rest15:45 AI in benefits administration: automating the white-glove parental leave experience24:57 The 30-day experiment: ask employees if they understand how they're paid Takeaways Structure your intent—a wellness stipend deposited alongside a paycheck with no guardrails won't change behavior or claimsEmployees default to the most expensive medical plan because it feels safest; care navigation closes the gap between perception and what they actually needShifting from unlimited PTO to flexible PTO with real parameters got employees to actually take more time off, not lessAI can now automate the high-touch benefits moments—parental leave prep, return-to-work resources—that used to require a dedicated personPay transparency works only if employees are equipped to receive it; education and enablement have to come before the revealTry this tomorrow: ask your employees if they understand how they're paid and how they grow their earnings, then just listen Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tricestevensonwright/ Company website: https://www.helloalma.com Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations—Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track.VP total rewards, benefits ROI, wellness stipend design, unlimited PTO problems, flexible PTO, care navigation benefits, benefits over-saturation, pay transparency education, AI in benefits administration, employee financial wellness, total rewards strategy, benefits communication, pay equity analytics, compensation philosophy, employee value proposition, lifestyle spending accounts, parental leave automation, benefits personalization, Beyond the Paycheck podcast See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/ (01:48) - Trice's earliest money memory: frugality born from awareness, not scarcity (03:35) - The daycare job that almost didn't pay her and the grandmother who matched her savings (05:31) - Thinking about pay as an ecosystem, not a line item (06:47) - Where benefits break down: over-indexing on offerings without connecting to ROI (09:15) - Why employees pick the most expensive plan and what care navigation can fix (12:46) - Unlimited PTO versus flexible PTO: the shift that actually got people to rest (15:45) - AI in benefits administration: automating the white-glove parental leave experience (24:57) - The 30-day experiment: ask employees if they understand how they're paid

    27 min
  5. The Compensation Issue Nobody Has Solved Yet

    APR 30

    The Compensation Issue Nobody Has Solved Yet

    Summary The Mayo Clinic once surveyed its employees and found a 17% positive perception of pay. A year later, after running better enablement and transparency sessions—without spending a single additional dollar on comp—that number climbed to 80%.  That story says a lot about what's actually broken in total rewards, and it's exactly the kind of thing Chris Toney thinks about every day.  In this episode, Kelsey Willock sits down with Chris Toney, Senior Director of Total Rewards and HR Operations at Quest Software, for a warm and refreshingly candid conversation about pay, benefits, and the deeply personal nature of both. Chris started out as an English literature major who, by his own admission, is bad at math—and somehow ended up leading total rewards for a global tech company. That mix of left and right brain comes through in how he talks about the work. He and Kelsey get into why comp can't be purely prescriptive, how job-hopping has scrambled the math on raises, what he looks for when introducing benefits like fertility coverage, and why the biggest gap in most programs isn't the design—it's the communication. If you lead people, design benefits, or just want to think more clearly about pay, this one's worth your time. Timestamps 01:28 Chris's earliest money memory and the first communion savings bonds05:01 Taking money off the table versus fairness relative to peers07:08 The tension between structured comp and a deeply personal pay experience09:49 The subtle shift from "what do you make" to "what do you want to earn"12:03 Introducing fertility benefits and why it's personal for Chris15:10 Measuring benefits impact through utilization, exit reasons, and round tables17:23 The weight loss benefit coaster and where AI may change the game22:50 The Mayo Clinic pay perception study that moved 17% to 80% Takeaways Design comp structures that are compliant and fair, but leave room for the fact that pay is deeply personalCheck your ranges and then communicate the "why" behind them—enablement moves perception more than dollars doWhen you introduce a high-impact benefit like fertility coverage, pair it with the other programs that make it meaningfulUse round tables alongside surveys to hear from quiet employees, not just the most vocal onesSpotlight one benefit at a time in an ongoing communications channel so employees find the value before they need itEvery time you get a raise, bump up your retirement contribution before you adjust to the extra money Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-toney/ Company website: https://www.quest.com Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track. See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/ (01:28) - Chris's earliest money memory and the first communion savings bonds (05:01) - Taking money off the table versus fairness relative to peers (07:08) - The tension between structured comp and a deeply personal pay experience (09:49) - The subtle shift from "what do you make" to "what do you want to earn" (12:03) - Introducing fertility benefits and why it's personal for Chris (15:10) - Measuring benefits impact through utilization, exit reasons, and round tables (17:23) - The weight loss benefit coaster and where AI may change the game (22:50) - The Mayo Clinic pay perception study that moved 17% to 80%

    26 min
  6. Why Most Benefits Programs Break the Moment They Meet Real Life

    APR 28

    Why Most Benefits Programs Break the Moment They Meet Real Life

    Summary A pharmaceutical company was about to roll out student loan repayment—until they actually looked at the data and realized it was the parents and grandparents carrying the loans, not their employees.  That one insight changed everything about how they approached financial wellness. In this episode, Kelsey Willock sits down with Tom Ellis, VP of Total Rewards at Emplify Health, who has spent over 20 years building people programs inside some of the largest health systems in the country—from Tennessee to Maine to Florida and now Wisconsin.  Tom is one of those rare total rewards leaders who is equally comfortable talking about data warehouses and frontline employees living paycheck to paycheck. Together, Kelsey and Tom get into why so many elegant benefits programs fall apart when they hit real employee lives, how to build a direct behavioral health partnership that actually works (his prevented eight suicidal ideations in its first year), why HR is so bad at telling its own story, and where the future of benefits is heading when it comes to flexibility and shared accountability. If you design, measure, or communicate benefits programs, Tom's perspective will stay with you. Timestamps 00:56 Tom's first paycheck and how growing up without money shapes his work04:11 The student loan assumption that data completely upended06:41 Why data matters for baselines and measuring what's actually working08:30 The ED utilization problem they accidentally created through education11:03 The "messy middle" of employee lives and why programs break there12:40 Building a direct behavioral health partnership that prevented eight suicides15:07 How to actually tell the story of benefits up to executives18:32 Where benefits are heading: flexibility, choice, and shared accountability Takeaways Before building a program, get the data to confirm the problem actually exists the way you think it doesDesign for the "messy middle" of real employee lives, not the theoretical averageMeasure the efficacy of every intervention so you can tell the story when leadership asksPair quantitative data with employee stories; both are needed to make the case stickBuild shared accountability into benefits so employees have a clear role to play in the outcome Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-ellis007/ Company website: https://www.emplifyhealth.org Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track. See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/ (00:56) - Tom's first paycheck and how growing up without money shapes his work (04:11) - The student loan assumption that data completely upended (06:41) - Why data matters for baselines and measuring what's actually working (08:30) - The ED utilization problem they accidentally created through education (11:03) - The "messy middle" of employee lives and why programs break there (12:40) - Building a direct behavioral health partnership that prevented eight suicides (15:07) - How to actually tell the story of benefits up to executives (18:32) - Where benefits are heading: flexibility, choice, and shared accountability

    23 min
  7. Why Open Enrollment Isn't Where Employees Actually Use Benefits

    APR 23

    Why Open Enrollment Isn't Where Employees Actually Use Benefits

    Summary Most employees don't think about their benefits until something goes wrong—and by then, they've already forgotten the open enrollment presentation, the brainshark, and the guide they skimmed in October.  In this episode, Kelsey Willock sits down with Chloe Jones, Executive Director of Global Benefits at CACI International, for an honest conversation about where benefits delivery actually breaks down and what it takes to reach people when it matters.  Chloe's path into benefits started with a serendipitous lunchroom friendship at a small insurance brokerage—a colleague she'd chatted with for a year wrote her an unsolicited recommendation on the way out the door, and Chloe got the job that launched everything. That story tells you a lot about how she thinks: relatable, generous, and grounded in the reality that most people don't grow up learning how money works.  She and Kelsey get into why benefits communication has to happen everywhere all year (not just at enrollment), why employees won't tell you they don't understand the information, how AI is about to reshape benefits navigation while raising serious data privacy questions, and what at-home diagnostic kits could mean for the future of preventative care. If you design, deliver, or communicate benefits programs, Chloe's perspective on meeting employees where they actually are—not where you assume they are—will sharpen how you think about the work. Timestamps 00:16 – Chloe's winding path from history degree to global benefits leadership06:17 – First job at Limited Too and the first paycheck that went straight to a manicure07:16 – Why Chloe has no earliest memory of money—and what that says about financial education10:26 – How humble beginnings shaped her approach to employee communication14:22 – Where benefits break down: the delivery gap between enrollment and real life18:23 – AI, PII, and the tension between personalization and data privacy21:00 – At-home diagnostic kits and what's coming next for the employee experience Takeaways Open enrollment gets people enrolled—it doesn't teach them how to use what they have; the real work happens all year longEmployees wear work masks and won't tell you they don't understand the information; you have to communicate across every channel, not just the one that fits your company's "look and feel"Frame benefits so people can find what they need in the moment they need it, not just when you're ready to present itFinancial education is missing from most people's upbringing; staying relatable in how you communicate isn't optional, it's the jobWatch the intersection of AI-powered benefits navigation and data privacy closely—legislation is coming, and your contracts need to be ready Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloe-jones-5a60556b/ Company website: https://www.caci.com Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AIpowered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track. See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/ (00:16) - Chloe's winding path from history degree to global benefits leadership (06:17) - First job at Limited Too and the first paycheck that went straight to a manicure (07:16) - Why Chloe has no earliest memory of money—and what that says about financial education (10:26) - How humble beginnings shaped her approach to employee communication (14:22) - Where benefits break down: the delivery gap between enrollment and real life (18:23) - AI, PII, and the tension between personalization and data privacy (21:00) - At-home diagnostic kits and what's coming next for the employee experience

    23 min
  8. What a Dime Jar Taught Me About Pay, Anxiety, and Employee Empathy

    APR 23

    What a Dime Jar Taught Me About Pay, Anxiety, and Employee Empathy

    Summary What does a first confession in 1980s Arizona have to do with how a Chief People Officer thinks about pay and benefits today? More than you'd expect. In this episode, Kelsey Willock sits down with Ann Watson, Chief People Officer at Cover Genius, for an honest, humane conversation about money, empathy, and the quiet benefits that change people's lives. Ann leads people operations for a global insurtech company with roughly 700 employees across 23 countries, and she's spent most of her career guiding tech startups through the messy 50to500 growth phase. She opens up about growing up in a family that didn't have much but valued education, her first salaried job at an earlystage Starbucks, and why she works hard to never assume she knows someone's financial story—even when she technically knows their salary. Ann and Kelsey get into where compensation and benefits are breaking down in the US, the trap of chasing global parity, a failed "will and advanced directive" lunch that taught her a lot about the gap between what people say they want and what they'll actually act on, and why she's a true believer in pay transparency. If you care about building benefits programs that actually show up for people in their hardest moments, this one's worth your time. Timestamps 02:18 – Ann's earliest memory of money (and a first confession confession)05:14 – Her first fulltime salary and what it revealed about generational money07:25 – Why knowing what everyone earns teaches you to assume nothing12:16 – Where US pay and benefits are breaking down most14:50 – The trap of chasing global parity across countries17:30 – The willandtestament lunch that didn't go as planned20:30 – Remote work as a lifechanging benefit, not just a perk26:48 – Why Ann is allin on pay transparency Takeaways Check your assumptions about what employees earn, know, or can handle financially—salary tells you almost nothing about someone's real money storyDesign benefits for the worst moments of someone's life, not just the recruiting pitchResist chasing global parity—build locally relevant benefits and communicate the "why" clearlyTest desire against action before building a program; what people say they want and what they'll show up for are rarely the sameEnroll employees in the safetynet benefits they'll never think to ask for—life insurance, LTD, autoenrolled 401(k)sLean into pay transparency even when it feels uncomfortable; the rigor it demands makes everything else better Guest LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/annwatson5404a48/ Company website: https://www.covergenius.com Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AIpowered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track. See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/ (02:18) - Ann's earliest memory of money (and a first confession confession) (05:14) - Her first fulltime salary and what it revealed about generational money (07:25) - Why knowing what everyone earns teaches you to assume nothing (12:16) - Where US pay and benefits are breaking down most (14:50) - The trap of chasing global parity across countries (17:30) - The willandtestament lunch that didn't go as planned (20:30) - Remote work as a lifechanging benefit, not just a perk (26:48) - Why Ann is allin on pay transparency

    28 min
See All (54)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Beyond the Paycheck brings you candid conversations with CHROs and top people leaders who are rethinking how compensation and benefits impact more than just employee bank accounts. From the first paycheck to financial wellness programs, we explore how money shapes identity, equity, purpose, and power at work, and how forward-thinking companies are using pay and perks to transform lives, not just attract talent. This podcast is sponsored by Aura Finance, the financial wellness platform designed to help employees feel confident, secure, and in control of their money. See more at aurafinance.io

Information

  • Creator
    Aura Finance
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    54
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Wizards PR
  • Show Website
    Beyond the Paycheck