Latest / Beyond the Paycheck / The $200 Jordans My Parents Made Me Return: What a Benefits Leader at Universal Learned About Money, Empathy, and Taking Care of Every Single Person

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The $200 Jordans My Parents Made Me Return: What a Benefits Leader at Universal Learned About Money, Empathy, and Taking Care of Every Single Person · Beyond the Paycheck

• Kelsey Willock (00:42) Welcome benefits leader K Bighom We are so beyond excited to have you on this Monday afternoon. To kick us off, I'd love for you to share where you're calling in from, a little bit about your career and background and your current role today. K Bighom (00:55) leader at Universal Destinations and Experiences. And I've been in benefits over 20 plus years. I don't have the traditional background because I always tell myself I shouldn't have been in this seat because I'm a former pre-med student. But I came in one day and just told my parents I wanted to change my career. And that just opened up doors for me. And I just took it and ran. Kelsey Willock (01:15) Well, we're really excited to dig deeper into all of that. Before we dive into all the amazing work that you're doing, I'd love for you to share with our audience a little bit about your earliest money memory. K Bighom (01:26) My earliest money was in my parents. I had a stay at home mom and I had a turn father. My father was always in and out and I said when I say in and out I would see him in January and then I want to him sometimes is the next January so my first memory of money was my mom handled all the bills. She would stay up late at night be paying all the bills and I would see her sitting at the table and then I come from a family. My mom had seven kids so she was always spending money, money for this, for that clothes, food, something. So that was all my earliest memories. She would always say to me, you have to work hard if you want good things and need to go to school and get a good education. So those are my early memories. And I just remember my parents always saying, you know, you have to save your money, save your money, but at the same time, you still have to live. Kelsey Willock (02:19) How do you think that shaped how you see freedom, security, or even responsibility? K Bighom (02:25) Well, in this day and age, money is key. I mean, you need money to navigate and get things, but at the same time, for some people, they don't know how to handle money and they may not have all the necessary funds to get what they want to get. For example, a lot of people want a house, but some people may never get to that achievement. It's a struggle for people. And I think money shapes people minds and as a consumer, you're always looking for things to spend on, for example. Right now food is really, really expensive and that impacts a lot of people's paychecks. It impacts benefits. It goes all the way. That impacts everything. So people are looking for ways to save, but no matter what, it's still going to be expensive. So that's how I totally look at it right now with money and everything. Kelsey Willock (03:09) What was your first job and do you remember what you did with your first paycheck? K Bighom (03:14) I totally do. My first job, I worked in Walmart. I was a pharmacy technician because that was one of the first things I wanted to do ⁓ as a career. I have been studying it and I want to do pre-med and something with science. And I got a nice paycheck. The paycheck was over $500 and I wanted ⁓ a pair of Jordans. I really, wanted those shoes and I went out and got them. They were $200 and I came home and told my parents what I got. My parents were like, are you kidding me? You just spent $200 on shoes. This is your first paycheck. What are you doing? So I ended up taking those shoes back. My parents made me save the money. And I still think about that every time I see a pair of Jordans too. Kelsey Willock (03:57) Have you bought them since though? K Bighom (03:59) I have bought them since, not a lot of pairs as I thought I would get. I do like sneakers, but it just depends on what I'm feeling at that time, but I have bought them. Not those same ones, but I have bought other Jordans. Kelsey Willock (04:14) Well, as much as it's such a hard decision in the moment, it sounds like your parents helped instill really important lessons in you, which is being and thinking about the future, not just the moment itself. K Bighom (04:19) Thank you. I Kelsey Willock (04:27) How do you think your money story has influenced how you think about pay and benefits on behalf of your employees? K Bighom (04:34) Well, needs to be fair. needs to be equal across the board. People need to be paid for their worth and based on their skill set. And the benefits need to be fair too. Benefits are ever-changing and you have to look at it not from A is it meeting these employees. It has to be, I think it's a holistic approach is what it should be when it comes to benefits. Not just meeting their needs, but meeting their needs at the point when it happens. For example, There are tools out there, softwares, when a person needs money from the paycheck, like DailyPay, that's a tool, a software that I use at a former company that I work with, which was amazing because you work a day or two and then you'll be able to get that benefit. And then that person may have an emergency and they're to pull from their money. And on their next paycheck, they can pay that money back. I think that's an amazing tool that a lot of employers should navigate because people are cash strapped. can't necessarily go into their 401k and get a loan. And also, I would encourage that because you want to save for retirement. So I think daily pay is a great tool because you can pull from that resource at that time, pay for that benefit and pay it back in that moment. Kelsey Willock (05:45) It's such a human level of empathy to say, you know, maybe it's not the ideal path or maybe it's what is necessary for now, but recognizing that these kind of unforeseen circumstances happen in employees' lives and allowing them to figure out how to deal with them is, I think, something that's so important that leaders like yourself can recognize. People come from so many different circumstances and life happens. How do we help support them when it does? K Bighom (05:56) Thank Thank I always think about that lowest paid employee. You have employees who are paid very low, but you have employees who are lowest paid. And when I mean lowest paid, sometimes they're barely making ends meet. So when you think about benefits and pay, you still have to make it fair across the board. So that's what I mean. You have to think about everybody. Just like they say in school, no one left out. Same thing. You can't leave employees out. You have to take care of them. hold their hand, lead and guide them when comes to benefits and pay and just open up doors for them. And if they want to advance their career, just be there for them. you know, and then when paying benefits, a lot of employees wake up every day because they want to have benefits that are fair, that are going to work for them. Same thing with pay. Kelsey Willock (06:58) You've had a really interesting career background, and I want to kind of go back to some of the things you said in the introduction, which is you originally were on the path toward pre-med. How did you end up on the HR and benefits path from there? K Bighom (07:09) Thanks. about that. So I was studying pre-med. I wanted to be a neurosurgeon, a psychiatrist, or a dermatologist. In an African household, you have three choices, doctor, lawyer, engineer. I wanted to be a doctor. And I was going to school. I was going to USF. And I was taking the courses. And I was making straight A's. I went to the classes doing well. But guess what? I was completely bored out of my mind. So it got to the point where I figured out how to navigate the class. I figured out when the quizzes and tests were and I would show up, take them, make an A and that was it. And I would do that over and over again for a few weeks. And this was my first semester. And then I just hit a wall and I was like, I need to tell my parents what's going on. And I know they're not going to like what's going on, but I got to tell them. So I came home that weekend. Walked into the house and my dad was reading his newspaper on a Sunday and my mom was sitting in the background and she knew what I was going to do, but she was like. She was like, no, be quiet and she was like saying just shut up. Don't open your mouth. You're going to get in trouble. And I'm just not hearing that and she's like no stop. I'm telling you and I'm just me being bold because I'm a bold person and. My father's this newspaper, his back is turned this way. And that's one of the moments where you don't bother him. When he's reading his newspaper on a Sunday, his back is turned. It's like, okay, this is my moment to read my paper, leave me alone. And I just go, hey, I'm not really feeling this premed thing. I really want to look into other things or just broaden my horizons. And my mom does this, she's like, I told you not to open your mouth, but she puts her head down. And my father's like, takes his glasses and he goes. Excuse me. And I say, again, I'm not really feeling this pre-med thing. Here's what's going to happen. You know, I don't want to do it anymore. And he goes, OK. So I turn my back, walk out, and then he goes, OK. Where are you going to go look into being a doctor? You're going to go out to your uncle's out in California, visit him, and spend some time out there with him. I said, OK. So I go to the clinic. I go back there and talk to my uncle. about the clinic and the workings of the clinic and everything. And then there's a lady back there doing insurance, paying attention to her. And he was like, no, you don't want anything to do with that at all. He's like, look at me. He's like, you're not going to make a lot of money doing that. So I heard him say that. I heard my parents say this thing about, you know, making a lot of money. I didn't want anyone to tell me what I could or could not do or how much money I was going to make at that age at 18, 19 years old. I think it's significant that a person realizes that early, parents, family, whomever, no one should tell you what you want to do with your career, how you want to do it, how much money you want to make, point blank period. You do what you want to do. I was an adult. I wanted to take my career and run with it. That's exactly what I did. I went back there, got a number, we communicated, became friends, and then I just hit the bull by the horn and just opened up my own doors and did my own thing. I still listen to my parents, which is fine, but I totally did what I wanted to do. I've always been that kind of kid or person to listen to people, but at the same time, not necessarily walk to the beat of my own drum, but like sometimes you have to to get things done. In this moment, I had to do that because if I didn't do that and stand up for myself, I felt like I would have been pushed into something that I didn't want to do. I don't ever want to be pushing anything in my career that I want to do that I don't feel comfortable with where I feel like I'm not going to be an overachiever. I could totally flip back time and go to med school and I totally could have did it. I could probably still do it right now, but I didn't want to do that. I'm doing what I want to do right now. Taking care of the people and everything. Also, if you think about it, a doctor's a healer. You have to look at HR and benefit people as healers too because We're helping people with their benefits. We're helping them navigate their pain and equity. So I'm doing the same thing. I'm just not in the operating room. I'm not writing scripts. I'm not talking to patients every day. But I look at these team members of people I work with employees as people that I healed and I helped them with their pain and benefits. So that's how I the correlation. Kelsey Willock (11:41) It's also an important reminder for any parents listening that you can't try to steer your child too strongly in one direction because at their core, they're going to pursue what feels most right to them. And it just sounds like you were so drawn to something that wasn't necessarily being a doctor in an operating room. was, how do I help dissect how to support people in every aspect of their life, not just one. K Bighom (11:44) Thank you. Kelsey Willock (12:08) So I love how you think about HR leaders as healers. You're the first person I've ever heard use in that way. But of the hundreds of people I've interviewed, every single one of them are healers, right? You have pull their livelihoods. K Bighom (12:23) That's what it's about. So that's how I look at it. And I still think about sometimes, you know, as you know, during the day or sometimes when I'm watching TV, when I'm watching a show like Grey's Anatomy or something or TLC, I'm like, what it would have been like for me to be a doctor. And I said to myself, hmm, I'm where I'm where I'm meant to be right now. And I wouldn't have it again, I wouldn't have it any other way because the things I've done for when I've gotten benefits and HR and these things. and where it's gotten me in the places I've been to doing global benefits, going to the UK and things like that, and Canadian benefits, I couldn't ask for anything else. So I could talk to one person about the Canadian benefits. I could talk to a person in UK about their benefits. I can talk to a person about their APAC benefits. That's knowledge I'll have for the rest of my life. Same thing if I would have did for a doctor. That's knowledge I would have for rest of my life too. So again, it goes hand in hand. Kelsey Willock (13:19) I'm wondering if you have some type of photographic memory because in our conversation at last you had shared with me if I know, know, give me a country and I will tell you the background of the pay and benefits regionally, which could lead to a whole other conversation. I think it's a good pivot point because I'm really curious your perspective on today's challenges and compensation and benefits. Where do you think compensation and benefits are breaking down most often today? K Bighom (13:23) Thank you. They often break down because even the employee is being underpaid or they're not getting enough bonuses or things of that nature. It's always pay. Someone is being paid, they say, a bit too much or you may have that person who's been paid a bit too less. You have to find a happy medium for everyone. That's why you always have to look at gap analysis, pay inequity. pay equity tools that like ADP has. Look at those things, you know, that to help with that, ⁓ the pay. For the benefits, you either have a benefit that is not meeting all of your team members or all of your employees. And what I mean by that is you may have a dental benefit that is paying more for crowns. or maybe missing the missing two clause. So there's always a happy medium that's missing because you may have a person that comes and says, hey, I'm missing the two. This benefit doesn't pay for what am I to do? Or it may be something on the vision benefit. You're able to get a frame every other year versus getting a frame every year. Most employees, they want a frame every year. So when I look at a plan, I'm always looking at, OK, what can I do better? that's not gonna break, break the overall structure of the employee base, employer base. You don't wanna overspend on a benefit because you have to spread everything across the board. When I look at a benefit, a medical demo vision plan, I'm always looking for the gaps and how to fill them in and how to make that benefit better. If I look at a plan and I see it's working well, I'm like, hey, well, there's something to change about it. But if something is missing that can make it stronger or an attractive benefit, that's even better. A big thing right now that a lot of employers are like really leaning into a lot more is EAP. know, EAP is very, very big right now. ⁓ Mental health, wellness, those things. EAP is really, really huge. Kelsey Willock (15:47) You kind of already answered part of my question, but what are ways in which you are combating the breakdown of said benefits? Are there any interesting tools that you're leveraging to better understand if a is a tool or a service provider more or less effective? Talk to me through that. K Bighom (16:06) So what I like to do is I like to look at a lot of, know, when it comes to pay and benefits, I always like to look at a lot of historical things. I look at, you know, what we did in the past and what we can do better and what we're currently doing. I feel like you always have to look at the past of what a benefit was doing as you change them to make them better. Just like I was given that prime example. If I make a change to a vision plan, why am I doing this? I'm going to look at claims utilization. I'm going to look at feedback from the benefits. I'm going to look at, know, if we change to a new plan, how is that going to work for us structurally? You have to always look in the background of things, you know, for the who, what, what, where, where, and when to move forward with things. And as far as pay, when I say gap analysis, you know, let's say right now in the market, my role is paying, and it's just, this is not a real number, I'm just saying this, let's say my role is paying 200K. in the market. But right now I'm making, let's say I'm making 175. So what the employer will want to do is get me close to that, to that current rate as much as they can. They're probably not going to be able to give me the whole 200k right now, but they want to get me there as close as they can with, you know, give me a, you know, mid-year increase than my yearly increase and maybe a bonus on top of that. That's what I mean about being fair. That's what a lot of employers are doing now because they're realizing that if you want to keep employees, you have to make it fair. As I was saying, you know, previously about the pay the equity those things. That's what it's about. You may not be able to do it, but sometimes you have to meet your employees halfway. Always remember that your employees are the face of your company. If you don't have employees, that business is not going to run properly. You have to meet them at their needs and just hold their hand as much as you can. That's the philosophy that I would say sometimes is missing because a person is not a number. They're a living, breathing person. They have a family. They have responsibilities. They want to get, you know, a home, a car. Some people don't have those things. So when I'm also thinking about pay equity and benefits, I'm thinking about ways to help them in the long run. You know, I'm thinking about, you know, how to make their life better and wrench them with tools and things of that nature. I'm just not thinking about, okay, they're going to have this medical dental benefit. I'm thinking about everything. Also financially, you know, how to get out of debt, you know? how to get a loan, to get a house, all those things matter. That's about taking care of the person. Again, healing them from just not a holistic approach, but just financially the overall well-being of that person from a benefit perspective. That's what I mean. Kelsey Willock (18:42) It's the physical, it's the mental, it's the financial, this holistic approach to, it's not one thing that can really help someone. It's also not one thing in no point of time. It evolves for each person. You had mentioned a really interesting tool, DailyPay. I'm really curious if you've seen, and you're welcome to elaborate on them. K Bighom (18:45) Yes. and we appreciate it. Kelsey Willock (19:06) Or if there's been changes that you've enacted at companies where you've truly seen introducing a vendor or a program move from attracting talent to really transforming the lives of your employees. K Bighom (19:17) Sure, I will tell you at a previous employer when that tool was used, it transformed amazingly because we did surveys and you showed that people were happy because they were able to get their money, you know, within two or three days, you were able to pull from your paycheck that was coming in two weeks and get money from there instead of going in a 401k, taking a loan, having a penalty or needing to take a withdrawal or going to get a payday loan. This is coming from money that they're working for and they're paying it right back. So it totally transformed the landscape because it helped them. Now we also had to, you know, tell them to be mindful of it, take too much unless they really needed to do that. But things of that nature is what I will tell you, but it totally transformed everything because they were able to access that money, pay for that emergency and then go back to working. And then as the service went out, it showed, you know, they were happy about it. It helped them and so much positive feedback. So things of that nature will. change the landscape of everything. Because right now money is key. A lot of people are struggling with everything across the board. And as you see, everything's increasing by the day. So it's important that pay benefits, they all align. And sometimes they may not all align, but at end of the day when they don't align, you still have to think about that person that's coming to work every day. No matter where they are in the organization, again, you have to think about every single person. from the top all the way to the bottom. Everybody matters. Kelsey Willock (20:47) And when introducing a program like that, sounds like qualitative data is really important. Is there any other measurable impact that you're seeking? And how do you go about communicating that impact up the chain? This is another theme that's been coming up a lot in conversations is how do you more effectively communicate ROI? So when introducing programs, what ROI are you looking for and how do you communicate it internally? K Bighom (21:15) So what I'm looking for is, I'm looking for how fast it's going to impact in what the people are saying. That's what I'm looking for. I look for, and when I say people, everyone across the board. So when they start using that benefit within weeks or months, I'm saying, sitting at a server and saying, how's this going? What's working for you? What's not working for you? So that I can communicate with a vendor in that time frame and say, Hey, this is how the benefit is going. This is what's not working. So. when it comes time for renewal and to make changes, you have those opportunities to do that. And then I run it up to change. I use those examples, put a presentation together, PowerPoint, use Excel data, get in front of the board and tell them what's going on and just talk about it and just discuss it and just show them how it's working and what could be better and what do we need to improve on if anything. Kelsey Willock (22:05) I love that speed matters so much because oftentimes we think about ROI. It's, what's happened after a year when in reality there might be impact that's made after a month or the lack thereof giving a vendor or the vendor relationship dynamic opportunity to improve and really address the needs, pains points, because every partner is so different. K Bighom (22:08) It does. Kelsey Willock (22:27) So looking ahead, what compensation and benefits trends do you think are going to shape the employee experience most over the next year? K Bighom (22:35) I think that HSAs are going to continue to be a hit. HSAs, FSAs, and I feel like employers need to really lean more to HSAs and FSAs and HRAs, those benefits. And I will also say parental leave, that's highly, highly important. I feel like, know, employers should have that time to bond with their kids. Also, daycare. Daycare is really, really expensive. find it amazing when employers have daycare facilities on site because that means they're totally supporting their employees to that metric too. Also, wellness, gym memberships, that is huge right now because people are really getting in tune with fitness and things of that nature. I'll say transportation. When I say transportation, transit passes. Those are still huge. Those are still leading trends in like urban areas because you know gas is really expensive right now. So I wouldn't be surprised if you see an increase in that benefit at some employers who have that. Kelsey Willock (23:33) What I'm hearing is also, and it's been a part of our entire conversation, it's the gamut and this theme of, you're thinking about physical, mental, financial, physical being, the gym memberships, financial daycare. It's helping alleviate the financial burden of ⁓ care. K Bighom (23:51) I'm a person that looks at the whole picture like if I go in my living room and I'm looking at something and I'm looking at something that TV I'm just looking at not looking at one part of it the whole picture and I take that picture and I just tear it apart on little pieces I say well, what can I do to make this picture better? I don't like it right now It could be better and I put it together put it together just over and over and over again until I literally wear my mind down that's how I look at a benefit I Break it down to little pieces and I say let me do it this way Do it that way, do it that way, do it that way. I may build five different benefit plans in my mind, but I want one to be the best. So, it's kind of crazy to say the least, because it's like, there's a lot going on in there, but it gets me to where I need to be. So I'm always thinking about the person, how it's going to affect them. Most times I'm not even thinking about myself. I'm just saying, okay, how is this going to impact this person? What's going to make their life better for this benefit? How is this pay going to... change their life. If they're paid this much money, hey, they're going to be able to get the house they want, make it better for their family or go on this dream vacation. You think about things like that. You know, a person may have a bank of PTO, but they may not be able to afford to go on that vacation that they really, really want to go to. I think about all those little things for a person that, it's important. When a person has a good benefit, good pay, they come to work happy. The morale is high. When they're not getting that, they're like, Hey, I'm coming to work today. It's just. Another day, I'm just here. Have to think about for those people you have to meet them where they're at you got a bridge the gap Sometimes those bridges are not gapped They're gap, but sometimes they're like what I call loose you have to fill the cracks and make it better That's what I mean look at the whole picture. You gotta look at every single detail to the T like the science Kelsey Willock (25:39) It is a science. And I love how earlier in our conversation you had mentioned you have to think about the person that's the lowest paid at the company all the way up to the highest paid. It's not just, you know, let's look at the average. It's, it's, it's every K Bighom (25:40) Totally. You brought me to center here. Kelsey Willock (25:56) So we've talked a little bit about financial well-being. And it sounds like you had such incredible inspiration from both your parents and internally. What's a 30-day experiment that our listeners could try to boost their own personal financial wellness on an individual level or at their companies? K Bighom (26:17) I would say on an individual level, just take at least half if you can or like $100 each month, have it automatically come out of your checking or savings to go into a different bank account and just try to forget about it and save it and save it and save it and save it. And if you forget about it, it could totally increase really big. That's what I would say. I feel like we, people don't have enough savings, an emergency pop up when we're not prepared. So I just feel like we should still have that. What my parents should have would say that old school piggy bank in the back of our mind. And that's how I look at it. Because my parents will say, do you have your piggy bank? And my mom still says it. Son, are you saving your money in your piggy bank? I'm like, yeah, mom, I got this. I call it something different now. It's a savings account. they're old school. So I still use these old school terms. So that's how I look at it. Kelsey Willock (27:14) And big question for you, as you look ahead in your career, what are your big hairy audacious goals for your career? K Bighom (27:23) have a lot of goals. I would like to be within this year a benefits director, have my own team, and I would love to do global benefits and just travel the world for different companies if I can, help them meet with my team members, assist them, and do those kinds of things. I love people and I love fostering, developing, coaching people to get to their career. That's what some, a lot of people did for me in my benefits career was coach me and train me and say to me, Hey, you can do this, this, this. And you know, there are points I might've not believed in it, but they would say to me, Hey, you totally got this. And then as I got, you know, into my career and I started learning things, said to myself, Hey, they're right. I can do this. I just will always take an opportunity. And I will also, also say to people be open and receptive to feedback. That's how you're going to get better in anything you're doing, whether that's sport or your career, be open to feedback. ⁓ It's okay to be defensive, but when it comes to feedback, try not to be so defensive, although it's hard to take negative feedback. You got to be open to it because it's going to make you better. But I will say totally, that's what I want to do for myself. And then once I become a director, potentially be a VP and just climb the ladder. Sky's the limit for me or for anybody. If you put your mind to it, no matter how old you are, you can do whatever you want to do. And that's just me. And I just want to just keep going and just continue to. better myself for my career and my family and make things right. That's just it. Kelsey Willock (28:48) Well, thank you so much for this conversation today. I learned so much from you and I really appreciate all of your transparency, the energy you brought to this conversation and all of the learnings that you shared with us. Some of the key takeaways I had and my favorite lines is that you really see HR people as healers. We heal and we help people in all aspects of their life, whether it's pay, it's health, it's family, it's more. One of the gaps that you identified is that, you people really need to be paid a sufficient amount and that includes not only their pay package, it's also their benefits. And in order to those needs, we need to think about what those needs are. When we look back on what's working and what's not working, we have to ask ourselves by looking into the past, how was this going frequently enough, then ask your employees what's working, what's not working so we can make impact faster. K Bighom (29:29) Absolutely. Kelsey Willock (29:43) Those are just some of the key takeaways and so many more. I look forward to our listeners tuning in. Thank you so much again. And my last question for you before we sign off is where can our listeners connect with you beyond this conversation? K Bighom (29:57) You can buy me a link to the buy me list and the sound is on right hand side. to connecting, talking to other leaders, to have conversations. So totally, you can find me on LinkedIn and that's the easiest way to connect with me, for sure. Kelsey Willock (30:13) So thank you again so much. hope you have a wonderful rest of your week and look forward to speaking again hopefully soon.