Beyond the Paycheck

Aura Finance
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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. 4d ago

    Why Procept BioRobotics builds for the highest performers and the fewest of them

    SummaryStacey Porter, Chief People Officer at Procept BioRobotics, joins host Kelsey Willock on Beyond the Paycheck to talk about the psychology behind supporting people at work. Stacey started in orthopedic sales while training as a clinical social worker, and the high-performing team she found there sent her into a doctorate in habit formation and performance psychology. Today she leads people at a company of almost 1,000 in San Jose that builds a surgical robotic platform for men's health. She explains money's role in motivation, why frictionless benefits give people the cognitive space to do hard jobs, and why great managers are an obsession "with a capital O." Stacey shares how she makes the case for people when the spreadsheet doesn't: jobs to be done, collective work and growth, because loyalty now goes to careers, not companies. Her mantra is to design an organization with the highest performers and the fewest of them. She also covers 401(k)s and employee stock purchase plans, how she stays current, and the compensation shift she sees coming: paying for short-term contributions across the organization. Built for CHROs, total rewards and benefits leaders who want to connect people investments to performance. Chapters00:00 Intro00:42 Meet Stacey Porter, Chief People Officer at Procept BioRobotics01:01 From orthopedic sales to performance psychology02:32 A surgical robot for men's health03:21 A drive-thru video pagoda and a navy leather jacket06:08 Money's role in motivation07:29 Frictionless benefits and the cognitive space to do hard work09:30 Why great managers are an obsession11:08 Clarity: don't underwork or overwork the work13:18 Making the case for people when the spreadsheet doesn't15:19 Loyalty is to careers now, not companies16:23 The highest performers and the fewest of them18:31 401(k)s, stock purchase plans and planning for life21:11 Staying current: books, peer networks and pilots22:24 The comp shift HR isn't ready for: paying for contribution Takeaways- Benefits that just work give employees the cognitive space to do hard, multifactorial jobs well.- Good humans can still fail as managers without key skills; manager training is the layer that shapes culture.- Uber clarity about what is expected keeps people from underworking or overworking their work.- Make the case for people through jobs to be done, collective work and growth, because loyalty now goes to careers, not companies.- Short-term, paid opportunities across the organization could reward contribution, not just skill. Connect with the GuestStacey Porter LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slaporterCompany Website: https://www.procept-biorobotics.com SponsorAura 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/

    Why Procept BioRobotics builds for the highest performers and the fewest of them

  2. 6d ago

    Salary won't be enough: DataArt's case for total rewards

    SummaryJulia Zavileyskaya, Chief People Officer and partner at DataArt, joins host Kelsey Willock on Beyond the Paycheck to explain why salary alone will not be enough. Julia has spent more than 20 years at DataArt, an international technology company with more than 6,000 professionals, and has had several careers inside it, starting from a first IT job as a support manager at an internet provider in the late '90s. She describes how the war in Ukraine reshaped what supporting the whole employee means, from relocation to new processes, and why no company can solve every problem in a person's life but it can be a true partner. Julia covers the shift from a benefits catalogue to a wider contract between company and employee, how certifications help demonstrate expertise to clients and support employees’ professional development. Internal mobility gives colleagues new opportunities while reducing recruitment and onboarding costs and the risk of hiring the wrong candidate. Chapters00:00 Intro 00:42 Meet Julia Zavileyskaya 02:15 First IT job and first paycheck 03:25 What being an HR leader means 04:36 Supporting people through the war in Ukraine 06:45 Moving beyond a benefits catalogue 07:45 Measuring people support and client value 10:10 Certifications and internal mobility 12:32 Lessons from benefits and mentoring programs 13:54 Staying current with Coursera and UNLEASH 15:32 Financial well-being across countries 17:38 Supporting employees who relocate 18:35 Why salary alone won't be enough 19:32 Closing thoughts Takeaways- No company can solve every problem in a person's life, but it can be a true partner; setting the right level of expectations is part of total rewards.- Total rewards is more than compensation and benefits: learning, internal mobility, reskilling and relocation belong in the same conversation.- In a services business, employee experience shapes the service clients receive, so people investment ties directly to client value.- Certifications and internal mobility make the internal case easier: they prove expertise to clients and cut recruiting, onboarding and mis-hire risk.- A global company can't assume one size fits everyone; financial support has to be tuned to each country, from currency swings to new tax systems. Connect with the GuestJulia Zavileyskaya LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliazavileyskaya/Company Website: https://www.dataart.com SponsorAura 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/

    Salary won't be enough: DataArt's case for total rewards

  3. Oct 22

    Companies are getting priced out of benefits. Now what?

    SummaryAmber Little, CHRO at Nation's Best, joins host Kelsey Willock on Beyond the Paycheck to talk about leading the whole human in a fast-growing hardware, home center and lumber business. She traces her people philosophy to a first job at 15 as a dietary aide in a nursing home, where she learned that every role matters and that the value of someone's work is not determined by their title. Amber lays out the five pillars behind her benefits strategy, from physical and financial well-being to the one most companies skip, connection and belonging, and the women's leadership retreat that brings 60 women to a Texas ranch every year. She explains why supporting people enables performance instead of lowering the bar, how she wins C-suite investment when the spreadsheet can't show immediate ROI, a variable co-pay plan that has been harder to land than expected, and what financial health means for an hourly retail workforce aged 18 to 80. Her warning for HR leaders: companies are getting priced out of benefits, and stipends, risk and co-ops may be what comes next. Built for CHROs, total rewards and benefits leaders who want benefits people actually use. Chapters00:00 Intro00:44 Meet Amber Little, CHRO at Nation's Best02:07 A first job at 15 in a nursing home03:23 Every role matters, no matter the title04:42 The five pillars of whole human benefits07:54 Where organizations fall short: connecting the dots08:50 Supporting people enables performance09:51 Making the case when the spreadsheet can't11:10 The variable co-pay experiment12:56 How she stays current: SHRM, roundtables and old bosses15:08 Financial health for an hourly retail workforce18:52 Companies are getting priced out of benefits22:12 Whole human leadership and a 52-week journal Takeaways- Adding benefits is not the same as supporting people: if employees don't know what a benefit is, how to access it or what it's worth, it's worthless to them.- Whole human benefits rest on five pillars, and the one most organizations skip is connection and belonging.- Supporting people doesn't mean lowering the bar; high expectations and human-centered leadership can coexist when people get what they need to reach the bar.- Win investment by connecting the chain: people experience drives engagement, engagement drives performance and retention, and that drives customer experience and financial results.- With 15 to 50% benefit increases, more companies will get priced out of traditional plans and turn to stipends, more risk or co-ops to keep coverage valuable. Connect with the GuestAmber Little LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amberrosslittleCompany Website: https://nationsbest.netWhole Human Leadership journal: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H1NV85PB SponsorAura 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/

    Companies are getting priced out of benefits. Now what?

  4. Oct 20

    Employable, not just employed: West Monroe's people bet

    SummaryTanya Moore, Chief People Officer at West Monroe, joins host Kelsey Willock on Beyond the Paycheck to make the business case for supporting the whole person at work. She starts with a first job at Litton Industries full of people who hated it, the survey she ran to fix it, and the client in Columbus, Ohio, who told her young consultants to work to live. At West Monroe, a 2,000-person business and technology consulting firm, 85% of employees say they can bring their genuine self to work, and Tanya explains why she keeps that priority while fellow CHROs are walking away from it: client satisfaction scores so high she thought they were being calculated wrong. She covers how the firm teaches AI by role rather than by mandate, why her job is to make people employable and not just employed, the mental health claims that are finally coming down, the EAP she scrapped for a platform 25% of employees rave about, and the shift she says most HR leaders are not ready for: paying for skills. Built for CHROs, total rewards and benefits leaders who want a human-centric culture that also shows up in the numbers. Chapters00:00 Intro00:42 Meet Tanya Moore, Chief People Officer at West Monroe01:38 A first job full of people who hated it02:48 Work to live, don't live to work04:18 Can you bring your genuine self to work? An 85% score07:35 Human-centric work and client satisfaction scores09:10 Balancing AI with the human in the loop11:46 Scrapping the EAP and the 25% who rave about its replacement15:40 Financial stress doesn't announce itself17:41 The comp shift HR isn't ready for: paying for skills Takeaways- Supporting the whole person is a client strategy, not a perk: supported, growing employees are the ones who put in the extra effort that shows up in client satisfaction scores.- Human-centric does not mean everyone likes every decision. Hard calls still get made, but with empathy and transparency, and people know they can go to a manager or HR and actually get help.- Teach AI by role, not by mandate. The goal is to make people employable, with skills that let them land on their feet whether they stay or go.- Build the case with the data you have (mental health claims coming down) and skate to where the puck is on the rest, testing and adjusting as you go.- Paying for skills requires two things most companies lack: skills data and managers who can explain the market value of skills and why pay differs. Connect with the GuestTanya Moore LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyaemoore/Company Website: https://www.westmonroe.com SponsorAura 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/

    Employable, not just employed: West Monroe's people bet

  5. Oct 15

    Expecting humans to be frictionless is where HR falls short

    SummaryKelsey Willock sits down with Khadijah "Kay" New, Chief Human Resources Officer at H2O America, the water and wastewater utility serving Connecticut, Maine, Texas and California. Kay traces two decades of people leadership from recruiting at SGS to HR at Avangrid to a utility that grows through acquisition, and explains why supporting the whole employee means diverse benefits, real flexibility and leaders who coach rather than dictate. She names the industry's blind spot (expecting humans to be frictionless), shows how financial stress reaches every level of the org chart, shares the tuition payback experiment that paid down employees' student loans, and describes the shift most leaders aren't ready for: employees counting what it costs them to work for you. For CHROs, total rewards and benefits leaders, and anyone building a people strategy for a four-generation workforce.     Chapters00:00 Intro00:42 Meet Kay New, CHRO at H2O America04:51 A first job at McDonald's and a first paycheck at the movies06:49 The leader her grandmother and mother would have wanted08:20 Supporting the whole employee across 4 generations10:15 Expecting humans to be frictionless12:41 Take care of the people, and the vibe check15:03 Tuition payback and financial stress at every level19:09 The comp shift most leaders aren't ready for21:55 Leading What's Next and AI that restores people     Takeaways- Supporting the whole employee means diverse benefits, diverse support and the flexibility to meet 4 generations where they are, not a checklist that worked 15 years ago.- The industry falls short when it expects humans to be frictionless; lived experiences don't stay at the door, so leaders have to coach people to work at a sustainable level.- Take care of the people and the people take care of everything else, and you'll see it in the room before you see it in the survey.- Financial stress shows up at every level, from childcare costs to college tuition, so a compensation strategy can never be set and forgotten.- Employees are counting what it costs them to work for you, and AI should give people their time back rather than replace them.     Connect with the GuestKhadijah New LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kay-newCompany Website: https://www.h2o-america.comNewsletter: Leading What’s Next: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/leading-what-s-next-7496791425804754944Book: AI in HR: How Copilot Agents Power Enablement and Human-Centered Change: https://a.co/d/0h8bXju0     SponsorAura 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/

    Expecting humans to be frictionless is where HR falls short

  6. Oct 13

    Why Included Health made its own employees the case study

    SummaryJim O'Gorman, Chief People Officer at Included Health, joins host Kelsey Willock Jones on Beyond the Paycheck to argue that healthcare has become the benefit that decides who stays. He starts with a phone call from a fellow CHRO facing a 52% premium increase, most of which will land on employees, and explains why switching insurance carriers every renewal disrupts care without fixing cost. The alternative he makes the case for is alternative plan design, led by employers rather than insurers. At Included Health he tested the idea on his own people: employees and their dependents get free access to everything the company sells, connecting mind, body and wallet in one benefit, with no double digit benefits increases, high engagement and low attrition to show for it. He also explains why the CHRO has to be the best long-term planner in the business, how he builds a three-year plan in lockstep with the CFO, and why equity is losing its power to retain people in health tech. Built for CHROs, total rewards leaders and finance partners who are tired of renewals that just pass the bill along. Chapters00:00 Intro00:42 Meet Jim O'Gorman and Included Health01:28 The paper boy mafia and a first paycheck02:47 How his family's healthcare costs shaped his work04:26 Why employer healthcare needs disruption06:43 Mind, body and wallet08:30 Collapsing point solutions into one benefit11:27 The CHRO as the best long-term planner14:57 The equity bet that stopped paying off15:59 Alternative plan design and a final message Takeaways- Premium increases rarely stay with the employer. A 52% renewal usually becomes a paycheck problem for employees whose salaries are not rising as fast.- Switching carriers every renewal disrupts care and delays treatment, so it is a cost of its own rather than a strategy.- Mind, body and wallet are connected, and one integrated benefit serves employees better than a stack of separate point solutions.- Testing a benefit on your own people first gives you real evidence on cost of care, engagement and attrition.- A three-year people plan built with the CFO and shared by the leadership team earns more investment than requests with 12 months of runway. Connect with the GuestJim O'Gorman LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-o-gorman-0b32278/Company Website: https://includedhealth.com SponsorAura 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/

    Why Included Health made its own employees the case study

  7. Oct 8

    Why Varex Imaging stopped treating HR as separate silos

    SummaryJay Hart, Global Head of Talent Management at Varex Imaging, joins host Kelsey Willock Jones on Beyond the Paycheck to make a case most HR leaders feel but rarely name: employees never experience HR the way HR is organized. Talent acquisition owns one piece, learning and development another, HR business partners a third, total rewards a fourth, and the employee only ever experiences one employment deal. He walks through a call center where turnover was high and the obvious answer was to pay more aggressively. The more his team listened, the clearer it became that people were not leaving for money, they were leaving because they could not see their careers moving. The fix pulled mentorship, formal education, spot bonuses and relocation into a single nine month cohort program: nobody enrolled left, and employees started asking how to get into the next one. He also tells the one that did not work, an expensive retention package for a team of data scientists who took the money and left anyway, because what they actually wanted was development, flexibility and air cover from leadership. Built for CHROs, total rewards teams and HR leaders who suspect their best programs are reaching employees in pieces. Chapters00:00 Intro00:42 Meet Jay Hart and Varex Imaging01:53 A 2,500 person global workforce02:31 Why HR should be industry agnostic03:49 The cost of fragmented HR programs06:08 Listening, trust and the steward of culture08:12 The call center problem pay could not fix11:04 Making the case without a clear ROI13:37 The retention package that failed15:53 Staying current as an HR leader17:53 What most HR leaders are not ready for19:39 Where to connect with Jay Takeaways- Employees experience one employment deal, not four HR functions, so judge every program by what it adds up to rather than by which team owns it.- Test the pay hypothesis before funding it. Listening turned a call center turnover problem into a career visibility problem that no market adjustment would have solved.- Pull the levers together. A nine month cohort that combined mentorship, education, spot bonuses and relocation retained everyone enrolled and created a waiting list for the next one.- Retention money does not hold people who are leaving for development, flexibility or air cover, because the companies recruiting them will simply pay out whatever you tie them with.- The manager is the longest lever in the HR toolbox, because employees rarely walk into HR with a problem early enough for HR to fix it. Connect with the GuestJay Hart LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaydhartCompany Website: https://www.vareximaging.com SponsorAura 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/ (00:00) - Intro (00:42) - Meet Jay Hart and Varex Imaging (01:53) - A 2,500 person global workforce (02:31) - Why HR should be industry agnostic (03:49) - The cost of fragmented HR programs (06:08) - Listening, trust and the steward of culture (08:12) - The call center problem pay could not fix (11:03) - Making the case without a clear ROI (13:37) - The retention package that failed (15:53) - Staying current as an HR leader (17:53) - What most HR leaders are not ready for (19:38) - Where to connect with Jay

    Why Varex Imaging stopped treating HR as separate silos

  8. Oct 8

    LPL Financial's answer to employee money stress

    SummaryJulie Molloy runs compensation, benefits and recognition as EVP of Total Rewards at LPL Financial, a wealth management firm of roughly 9,500 employees whose entire purpose is helping financial advisors take care of everyone else's money. On this episode of Beyond the Paycheck, she tells host Kelsey Willock what happened when the company turned that purpose inward and gave its own employees free access to an LPL financial advisor. The early numbers are already moving: people who take even one meeting are raising their 401k contributions. The conversation goes well past the program itself. Julie explains how she builds the internal case for benefits when the spreadsheet refuses to show a clean ROI, walks through a caregiver leave expansion at a prior employer that resonated so well it blew past every financial model her team had built, and names the two shifts she thinks HR is least prepared for: full pay transparency and the expectation that benefits will be personalized the way consumer apps already are. She also traces where her convictions about fair pay came from. She was raised by grandparents who lived on welfare, was the first in her family to attend college, made burgers at Burger King, and took her first grown up paycheck from a KPMG internship straight to the mall. Chapters00:00 Welcome and Julie's path through total rewards02:26 What LPL Financial does and who works there04:04 Burger King, KPMG, and the first grown up paycheck05:43 Raised by grandparents on welfare07:33 A free financial advisor for LPL employees09:45 Why financial stress follows people to work11:33 Making the case when the spreadsheet will not14:25 Small round tables over three day conferences16:43 The caregiver leave that worked too well19:00 Pay transparency and personalized benefits Takeaways- LPL Financial gives its own employees free access to an LPL financial advisor, and employees who take even a single meeting are already increasing their 401k contributions.- Julie treats financial well-being as the third leg of well-being alongside mental and physical health, not a nice to have bolted on at the end.- Benefits investments rarely produce a clean ROI line, so total rewards leaders have to be storytellers first and back the story with engagement, turnover and internal promotion data.- A caregiver leave expansion at a prior employer resonated so widely that it blew past every financial model, a reminder to pilot benefits changes and build in real financial contingency before going all in.- The two shifts Julie thinks HR is least ready for are full pay transparency and employees expecting the same personalization from benefits that they already get from consumer apps. Connect with the GuestJulie Molloy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-molloyCompany Website: https://www.lpl.com SponsorAura 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/

    LPL Financial's answer to employee money stress
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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
    97
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Wizards PR
  • Show Website
    Beyond the Paycheck