Latest / Beyond the Paycheck / Employees in Their 70s with $0 Saved: How Northside Hospital Is Using Age-Banded Strategy to Fix Retirement Before It's Too Late
Transcript
- Kelsey Willock (00:42) Welcome Tomekia Williams, manager of benefits administration at Northside Hospital. We are beyond excited to have you this Wednesday afternoon. To kick us off, I'd love for you to share a little bit about yourself, your career and background and where you're calling in from today. Tomekia Williams (00:57) Sure. So I'm calling in today from Atlanta, Georgia, which is where I've lived for the better part of 10 years now. I started my career about 15 years ago in North Carolina by accident. I fell into this career when I graduated. It was during the recession. So it was hard for people like myself that had business degrees to find a job. So was just applying to any and everything. And one of the jobs that I applied to was a temporary role to manage annual enrollment at Fidelity Investments. And so I just fell into it at that time being fresh out of college. I didn't know anything about health insurance or how it worked. I just knew that I had it, but that's where I fell in love with the career that I have now. It's the benefits education piece, which is what I enjoy the most. Kelsey Willock (01:52) whereabouts in North Carolina. went to school in North Carolina. Tomekia Williams (01:54) Okay, yeah, it was Raleigh. I lived in Raleigh and I went to school in Greensboro, North Carolina, A &T. okay. Kelsey Willock (02:02) Awesome. I went to Wake Forest, so not too far away. I always used to fly into Raleigh Durham to get back to this. Can you tell me a little bit about the workforce and the people that you serve? Tomekia Williams (02:12) Sure. So Northside Hospital is a major hospital system in Atlanta, Georgia. We are known as the baby hospital. We deliver more babies than any other hospital in the United States, which is super cool to be aware of. A lot of people come to Georgia specifically to have their babies at Northside. So with that being said, especially after the pandemic, one of the things that attracted me to this role is this work. the health care workers. It's such a hard job and they are literally saving lives. So just being able to support these types of workers on a regular basis is part of what makes me so passionate. Kelsey Willock (02:56) Well, I'm really excited to ask you so many more questions about how you show up for those people, especially in such a complex world that we now operate and in healthcare itself is changing so much. ⁓ But before we get there, I want to get to know you personally a little bit better. So we're going to take a step back and I'm going to ask you some questions about your childhood, if you'll indulge me. So can you tell me a little bit about your earliest memory of money? Tomekia Williams (03:02) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Sure. I would say the first time I can think about money and what it was, was getting a quarter from the tooth fairy. That's the first memory I think I had and being able to use that quarter because at the time you could go to the corner store, which I'm from New York originally, buy a bag of chips. So that is the first time I remember actually receiving money and being able to use it. Like, hey, I can buy things with it. Kelsey Willock (03:50) And how do you think that shaped how you think about freedom, security, or even responsibility? Tomekia Williams (03:55) Definitely at that age was not thinking about the responsibility around money. Just that, if I have more of this, I can get more chips, I can get more candy. Right? So I think at that age, it was just understanding this allows me to acquire things. Kelsey Willock (04:11) and acquire what I want, not just the food that my parents tell me I need to eat. What was your first job and do you remember what you spent your first paycheck on? Tomekia Williams (04:13) Correct. Correct, yep. Yeah, so my first job was in college. I worked in retail and I distinctly remember that first paycheck because I was a broke college student like most people that my friend and I went to eat at Chili's. That was our treat. Kelsey Willock (04:42) That's amazing. I've been asked this question many, many times, and I would say food is the most common answer. When you think about your teenage self, food becomes the priority of how you spend your money. Tomekia Williams (04:46) Mm-hmm. Mmm! Mm hmm. I could eat what I wanted. I could spend as much as I wanted. Kelsey Willock (04:59) And can you tell me about a recent embarrassing purchase that you made? Tomekia Williams (05:03) I would say it's not, I don't think it's embarrassing, but it's definitely something I did not need. But I bought a towel warmer. So I was definitely influenced from social media and I bought a towel warmer a few weeks ago and now I can't imagine life without it. Kelsey Willock (05:22) It sounds like it was a good purchase. You're making use of it. Not in your closet. How do you think your money story, whether it's in childhood with the tooth fairy or your first job influences how you think about benefits and showing up on behalf of your employees? Tomekia Williams (05:38) I think so for me, I didn't come for money and it was always something that was valuable in the sense of the more money you have, the easier life is in general. I didn't know at the time how important that would become in my, you know, what's now my career. One of the things that I focused on when it comes to benefits, health and welfare is education. And when I think of, you know, people I know or myself and, know, different financial situations that I've been in, being able to be a part of a career in an industry that helps educate people on how to make smart money decisions with their retirement or with their health benefits, you don't need to enroll into everything. You know, these things aren't free, you have to pay for these things. So just being able to educate people. as to how to spend their money wisely right now for healthcare and then in the future for retirement. Kelsey Willock (06:39) I think it's a really good segue into talking a little bit about today's challenges and certainly communications and education continues to be a pervasive problem for many employers when you know it's challenging to get people to understand the value or even the opportunity in their benefits. Where do you see breaking down most often today is it that communications is it something else. Tomekia Williams (06:49) Mm-hmm. Absolutely. I think it's hard to say communication, right? So I work for an organization that spends a lot of effort, the most of any organization I've worked for on communications, but it seems like employees are still not enrolled into the plan that really meets their needs, aren't correctly saving for retirement. So I think the hardest part in this field is not only presenting information, but helping employees understand it and presenting them with information at the time in which they need it. Having all of this information about all of these benefits is nice, but when you're in a situation, maybe even a crisis, and you can't access the information or the details on the benefit that you need in that moment, I think has been a real blocker for a lot of ⁓ employees. Kelsey Willock (07:57) Have there been changes or tools that you've enacted to help more effectively communicate changes or even opportunities in supporting them at those times of need? Tomekia Williams (08:08) Yeah, so in my current organization, we focus a lot on targeted communications. So for example, some new IRS regulations pertaining to ⁓ retirement plans for one case, for three B's, things like that pertain to certain people who are catch up eligible. So 50 plus and based on their income. So what we did instead of just sending out a communication about that, or just putting that information about the new regulations on our intranet page. We actually did information sessions throughout the month, educating them that gave them a chance to not only get some more information about the regulations that changed in a digestible manner, but also it allowed them to ask questions about how these changes will impact them. So how they can, since it's at the beginning of the tax year, they can try to figure out exactly how to best utilize these changes for their retirement goals. Kelsey Willock (09:04) and you're giving them the opportunity to choose if it's applicable to them or not. It's targeted opportunity that you are referencing. What changes have you enacted in the benefits space that has really helped you shift from attracting talent to transforming the lives of your employees? Tomekia Williams (09:08) Exactly. Mm-hmm. For me, the thing that comes top of mind, and I think because it was so timely, was my experience at PagerDuty, which was during the pandemic. There was a lot of things that were going on, not only in the United States, but around the globe during that time. There was a lot of social issues in the United States, and then obviously, you know, dealing with the despair and the loneliness and death, you know, from the pandemic. a really big mental health crisis that we were dealing with with our employees in particular. So we were able to implement a mental health benefit at that time that employees really appreciated. That was the first time I got a lot of positive feedback for a brand new benefit. Most benefits changes are either unnoticed or they are not received in a positive light. But that was the first time throughout my career that I can remember that we were able to implement a benefit for the first time that employees wanted and needed and were able to actually see the benefits from and it changed their lives. Kelsey Willock (10:34) Which tool did you introduce, if you're willing to share? Tomekia Williams (10:37) Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it was Headspace. Kelsey Willock (10:41) Headspace is such a phenomenal company and the mental health that you can control in your own time, I think is so powerful. It can be challenging to get access to therapists. It can be challenging to find the time. that can be really on demand, imagine, or really effective at pager duty and beyond. Tomekia Williams (10:41) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, especially at that time where, you know, people were dealing with isolation. You know, there were mental health providers that were closed, so they couldn't see, you know, a provider in person. So it gave them access to this care that was outside of a crisis mode. You know, we had proactive counseling that allowed them to, if they felt like they were starting to be triggered by something or had some mental health challenges and gave them coaching and tools to help them navigate those challenges before it got to a crisis. And I think that national conversation that we had around that time, and even up to now that we're continuously evolving and talking about it, that we're trying to remove the stigma about mental health issues, I think is one of the biggest positive impacts that I've seen in the benefits industry in quite some time. Kelsey Willock (11:55) And what you're describing is true healthcare, right? It's not sick care. It's, how do you get ahead of the problem before it becomes a crisis, which can, I imagine lead to a lot of even healthcare cost savings for employer partners. that's also the followup I had and kind of got ahead of myself as what kind of impact are you looking to make, you know, especially also as you are communicating up the channels of, you know, we introduced this program. Tomekia Williams (11:58) Okay. Exactly. Mm-hmm. Exactly. Mm-hmm. Kelsey Willock (12:24) there was this qualitative feedback. What else beyond qualitative, if anything, are you seeking? Tomekia Williams (12:31) For me, when I think of is my benefits platform is my offerings. working for the organization, it's not that we have benefits to check a box, but are employees using those benefits? Do they find value in those benefits? You know, one of the things that I learned very early in my career is that, you know, when it comes to health and welfare benefits, we're a cost to the business, right? We're a liability. But these are things that we offer. out of necessity, outside of just attracting and retaining talent, we'll all get sick at some point, we need this healthcare coverage. But I think what has really been impactful to me and my senior leadership is being able to present the case that this is a benefit that maybe we have, but employees aren't using anymore. It's not relevant in today's market, so we don't need it. Whereas we can implement a new benefit that our current workforce find value in that may be more cost effective or even if it's not, that it's still going to be there to retain that talent. Kelsey Willock (13:42) I think that you get the nail on the head engagement is so important because also something can help with retention or can help with productivity. If no one uses it, it doesn't matter. Tomekia Williams (13:46) Mm-hmm. Exactly. Kelsey Willock (13:55) How important is financial well-being to your company? Tomekia Williams (13:59) It's very important. That's actually one of the main things that our leadership has tasked us with for 2026 is to drive more financial well-being and engagement based on some data that we reviewed last year for our retirement plans. We saw that we had a significant amount of people that were retirement eligible that chose not to retire. because they had less than $25,000. I've spoken to employees that were in their 70s that you would think, you know, would be retired by now, but had, you know, $0 in their retirement account. And Northside, you know, does offer a pension plan, which they're the only hospital system in Georgia to do so, which is a great benefit in this guaranteed income. But for most people, that's not enough to live on. entirely, right? So understanding that you have this pension benefit, which is guaranteed income, but are you contributing enough to our defined contribution plan to balance out your retirement income at that time and how to reach them before they're 70, how to reach them at early stages of their career. So my team in particular is leading, you know, age banded strategy sessions. So we're catching people in their 20s. So like fresh out of college, there's you're not necessarily thinking about retirement, but budgeting, saving, you know, you should be contributing and under explaining to them, of course, how compound interest work. That's all important. But if you don't have enough money to pay your bills, you're not thinking about retirement. So giving them that well rounded financial well being, you know, information, how to manage life as an adult, for example, will help you. Understand that this is a part of your future and not a burden. Kelsey Willock (15:59) it's so true that financial health is a part of holistic health. And if we feel good about our financial circumstances, it can trickle down to physical, even mental health concerns. Money is all much so a leading cause of stress and anxiety. So it's so cool to hear that, you know, it goes into the theme of you all making sure that communications is personalized down to how you Tomekia Williams (16:03) Mm-hmm. Exactly. Mm-hmm. Kelsey Willock (16:25) reach certain folks in the financial health space. Where else have you recognized room for improvement in financial well-being? It sounds like getting people encouraged in terms of participating in 401k. Is there any where else that your organization's paying attention to? Tomekia Williams (16:35) Mm-hmm. I think the for right now, the biggest thing is obviously the, you know, the economy is is a challenge for certain people, making sure that they have access to economic resources that they need outside of work outside of the regular benefits. Right. So if there's any other financial support, Northside, you know, luckily has a lot of other options for people. Because to your point, if you're stressed out about how you're going to get gas to even commute to work. When you get to work, if you're able to, you're not gonna be as productive as you could be. And thinking about a hospital system, there's a lot of that risk, right? If you're not focused on the task at hand, there could be serious consequences to that. So helping employees, whether they're at the beginning of their career, just understanding what all of these benefits mean to as they go through in their 30s and 40s and 50s, starting to think about retirement. What makes sense for you at this stage in your life and presenting information to you that's applicable at that stage is what's most important to us right now. Kelsey Willock (17:49) It makes so much sense because, you know, when you think about benefits, it's also, you know, potentially money in your pocket beyond just compensation. If you more effectively use those benefits, there's so much saving opportunity, whether it's healthcare, whether it's mental health resources and more. Tomekia Williams (17:57) Mm-hmm. Kelsey Willock (18:08) What benefits trends do you think will shape the employee experience most in the next year? Tomekia Williams (18:14) I think there's two things from two different paths that are most important. think AI optimization of benefits is one of the most important things. Administration of benefits because of the complexity of how many plans, eligibility for those plans, the size of your organization, how many employees are moving in and out. I think it's a very big challenge for a lot of HR organizations. So using AI tools to be able to streamline that is one of the things that's very important in this industry right now. And then the actual healthcare space, I would say it's the focus around mental health, you know, similar to what we were talking about before, you know, when we speak to our healthcare vendors, that's one of the things that it's always trending up is the amount of healthcare claims or the amount of employees that are on, you know, mental health medication. So what tools Can we provide our employees to help them manage their mental health better outside of medication and outside of treatment? Or if that is what they need at that point in time, making sure they have easy access to those mental health providers or to those medications. Kelsey Willock (19:30) Are there any interesting mental health resources that you're currently leveraging that our listeners should be aware of? Tomekia Williams (19:35) So one of the things I would say is to use your provided EAP program, your employee assistance program. Almost every organization has one. They're always there, but employees normally only find out about it when they're in the crisis. Right. So I think taking advantage of that free resource, which is not only free to employees, but most organizations is free to members in their household. So that's your spouse, that's your children. You know, all of that, I think when you and your family have access to mental health resources for free on demand, I think that will ease just the stress of even trying to find a provider, trying to figure out what to do when you're in a situation where you think you might need that help. For us, we use multiple EAP programs from different vendors. And then we also have a mental health coaching app called MeQ that we utilize. which this is the first organization that I've used that I've used Headspace like we talked about before I've used, you know, calm and things like that. This is the first time that I've had access to me Q and we get a lot of positive responses from our clinical staff. So nurses and doctors about how it helps them when they're, you know, dealing with their very, very stressful job and giving them coaching tips. Kelsey Willock (20:56) Yeah, I think that we all are so aware now, especially after COVID, how much stress our health care and frontline workers face every single day. And like you said, they are truly saving lives. It's not hyperbole. And so how we support them allows them to show up at work so much better, to show up for the people that they're giving life saving care to. Tomekia Williams (21:02) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kelsey Willock (21:21) So last question for you, and has to do with financial wellbeing. What's a 30 day experiment our listeners could try to boost their own personal financial wellbeing? Tomekia Williams (21:32) I would say, think about where your employee base is, like what's your, you know, median age or, you know, the largest age group and find targeted financial wellbeing content to push to them. So one of the things that I think is most important with Northside that we're doing is those age banded sessions that we talked about, and we've gotten a lot of good responses to it. think when it comes to retirement, it's typically more geared towards people in their 40s and up that are closer to it. But by that point, if you don't understand how these benefits work, if you haven't been actively saving towards those retirement goals, that's what causes stress and frustration where people feel like, I'm always, I'm gonna have to work forever. I'll never be able to retire, right? But I think if we focus, so other leaders that are in this space, If you focus a lot more of your retirement and your financial well-being strategies to your fresh out of college, you know, your younger population to set them up for success throughout their career, that's automatically going to help with retention because you've invested into their future when it comes to them staying with the company and all the benefits that that provides them. Kelsey Willock (22:56) I love that and it's super actionable. know, it's not something you necessarily need to introduce even a new vendor for. It's simply think about the fact that everyone comes from different circumstances. Your age, different circumstances. So thank you so, much Tomekia for this conversation today. Some of the key takeaways that I had were how important presenting information at the time of need is. And so. Tomekia Williams (23:09) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kelsey Willock (23:25) how you actually more effectively do that, targeted comms, even information sessions. The most important thing in terms of benefits is utilization. We need to ask ourselves, are people actually using them? I also love the example that you shared around targeted financial well-being sessions. They can be so much more phenomenally impactful if you use things like age banding in terms of reaching your employees at the time of that need. And also just lastly, make sure you take advantage of your EAP, not just in a time of crisis. They are phenomenal resources that you can use right now. So thank you again for the conversation. Where can our listeners connect with you beyond this conversation? Tomekia Williams (24:08) You can find me on LinkedIn. Kelsey Willock (24:10) Fabulous. Well, please send her a note. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your afternoon and thank you so much for joining us.