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Your Wellness Stipend Isn't Working—Here's Why · Beyond the Paycheck

• Kelsey Willock (00:42) Welcome, Trice Stevenson-Wright, VP of People Operations and Total Rewards at Alma. We're so excited to have you this afternoon. To kick us off, I'd love for you to share a little bit about your background, your current role, and where you're calling in from today. Trice Stevenson-Wright (00:56) Thank you, Kelsey. ⁓ My background is predominantly in HR, specifically concentrated in total rewards for all things compensation, benefits, wellness, perks, but also handling talent and performance management, learning and development, TA, all of the full gambit of HR. I am coming from, I'm going to say Acworth but most people won't know where that is. So it is a few miles north of Atlanta, Georgia. Kelsey Willock (01:23) Fabulous. reaching you from the opposite side of the country today. And can you share a little bit about Alma itself, about the company, the workforce demographic breakdown? Trice Stevenson-Wright (01:34) I can. So Alma is a fascinating company. Alma originally started off in the mental health space with office space for therapists. It's essentially creating an ecosystem for therapists to build their therapy practices and to allow for easier access to mental health care for people. Kelsey Willock (02:04) in such an incredibly important service, particularly in a time like now where a lot of people are feeling stressed. So certainly encourage our listeners to check out the company more. Before we dive into all the amazing work that you're doing there, I'd love to get to know you a little bit more personally though. So to kick off, I'd love to hear what your earliest memory of money was. Trice Stevenson-Wright (02:11) So. Okay. So my earliest memory was actually being for the first time in control of my own money and the way that I spent it. So I grew up very humble beginnings, but I was fortunate enough to go to private schools. But we didn't have like a whole lot of disposable income. That is where my parents' income went. And so in my time, it was very cool to have like the new Jordans and the cross colors and all of these, you know, designer clothes and shoes. And while I wanted them, you my family couldn't afford that. And so you would think that once I started making my own money, that's immediately what I would gravitate to. But I didn't. I turned into the most frugal, like young adult teenager that you can imagine because I grew up very aware not only of what things cost, but also what they meant. And so I learned that responsibility very early on. Kelsey Willock (03:20) Thank you so much for sharing that with us. know that money topics can feel really vulnerable. And so I always love when people really open up to that question. How do you think that experience has shaped how you think about security, freedom, or even responsibility? Trice Stevenson-Wright (03:30) Yeah. I think it has to do with, and especially as I think about how employees view their paychecks. Yes, quantum is everything, but it's more about the value of what the organization is delivering to the employee. And that's how I first started to think about my first paycheck. Like what's the most value I can get out of it? Not what's the most expensive thing that I can have. How can I make the value of this paycheck go as far as possible? Kelsey Willock (04:03) Speaking of paychecks, I'm curious, was your first job and do you remember what you did with your first paycheck? Trice Stevenson-Wright (04:04) Mm-hmm. My first job was working at a daycare center. It was a daycare center that was across the street from my home and it's where I went for summer break and after school programs. And eventually I got old enough to not need that service anymore, but I worked there. And what was interesting was, I think that because of the level of familiarity that my family had with the daycare center, there was an inclination to actually not pay me my first paycheck. And so my mom got involved, attorneys got involved, it was a whole thing. ⁓ Finally, months later, I got my first paycheck and it was a paycheck that was for the entire summer. So it was substantial for someone who like wasn't in common high school. Seeing something in triple digits was very big for me. And the first thing I did with it was tuck it away. opened a bank account and of course I bought a few things for myself, but I was again, I was very frugal. And at that time my grandmother used to be very adamant on saving your money. And every Christmas, She would say, whatever you save, I will match it. And I really looked forward to that. And she did. And so, you know, I learned how to make my money grow. So that was my first paycheck. was initially not the greatest experience, but then, you know, it's turned out all Kelsey Willock (05:24) I think that what your grandmother did was so brilliant because I imagine that led through, you know, motivation such as, ⁓ let me get my company matched. Let me do all the things that can help me continue maximizing. So what a wonderful, you know, kind of psychology influenced tool and gift that she gave you, but also something that was, you know, motivated by yourself. Not every young person thinks about saving. So I think that you clearly have great values early on to make good decisions for yourself. Trice Stevenson-Wright (05:36) Exactly. you Thank you. Kelsey Willock (05:55) How do you think your money story has influenced how you think about pay and benefits on behalf of your employees? Trice Stevenson-Wright (06:02) So just like I don't think about my own pay as a line item, when I'm thinking about how we design that and deliver it for employees, it's more like an ecosystem. It's not just pay, but it's obviously your benefits. It's your growth. It's the flexibility. is everything that signals to the employee how much the company values them. And so it also answers for the employee what's in it for me, right? Is this worth my time? Is this worth my energy? Is this worth my life? Because the reality is employees spend the majority of their lives with their employer. Kelsey Willock (06:36) Thank you also for sharing with me. think it makes a lot of sense and having that level of clear care, recognizing people aren't line items, I think helps create more authentic packages and the communication of them because without connectivity, I think that that's where lot of breakdowns happen. Trice Stevenson-Wright (06:55) sure. Kelsey Willock (06:56) So I want to shift a little bit into the challenges of today. We're obviously in a very interesting time for the workforce. Where do you think benefits breakdowns happen most often today? Is it pay equity? Is it transparency? Is it benefits communication itself? What are you seeing? Trice Stevenson-Wright (07:13) So the short answer is yes. It is all of the above. I think that so the first piece is obviously the clarity, right? Like how much an employee understands about their benefits. I think that sometimes employers actually err on the side of over indexing in their benefits offerings and not really connecting that with the ROI on them and also an employee's understanding of it. And so the past few roles that I've had has actually been involving overhauling an organization's benefits to make that spend smarter and more relevant for the employee and also to focus on that inclusivity. And what I mean by that is, is the employer offering something that's of value to every single employee? Or are these just cookie cutter benefits who would benefit most, but perhaps not some of your edge cases? And so, What I see when we're not focused on that ROI and that smart design is one benefits no one uses, so in a company spending money on something that seems really great and it's the latest in the market, but either their offerings are oversaturated or employees don't understand how to access them. And so that's where the clarity and transparency and education come in. My work focuses a lot on making sure that employees understand not only how to use their benefits, but how to choose their benefits. So often employees gravitate to like the richest benefit offering, like what's the richest medical plan I can get because I'm going to feel the most protected and the most secure. And what they're actually doing is they're wasting the most money. In many cases, they can get something that's much more efficient for them and still allows them the financial protection that they think that they're getting from the richest benefits plan. So all of these together culminate into a very sophisticated benefit strategy that really focuses on both the employee value proposition, but also how the company spends money and what they get back for those dollars. Kelsey Willock (09:13) So I want to double click on ROI though, because definition of ROI is expansive and it means different things for different companies. Although you did mention that people using the product is highly important because even if you have a tool, people don't use it. No ROI can really be had. How do you think about measuring successful programs and what's most important to you? Trice Stevenson-Wright (09:27) again. So one of the key things, if we're looking at medical benefits specifically, how much are these premiums costing both the employer and the employees? What is the split of that? But again, fundamentally, how much are we spending on these premiums? And this is just looking at medical, dental, vision. One of the things that I see when the ROI is misaligned is when, in that example with employees gravitating toward the most expensive plans. and not having the education on how to navigate their benefits. So maybe they're seeking out more expensive care than is really needed to solve their particular needs. In those cases, employees really should have access to care navigation. But a lot of times that kind of slides under the radar, is something that's really paramount. And it really does affect an employer's bottom line. And having so many like a very large population of your employees on your more expensive plan, that increases the premiums for the employer and for the employee, and that's not good for anyone. So there some other areas too where I've noticed that the focus on the ROI could be heightened. Employers do a lot of now reimbursements and stipends, and those all sound really great. One very popular one is a wellness stipend. I've seen this at several employers. We care about your health and well-being. And so we're going to give you, let's say, $200 a month to spend on anything wellness. What you should get for your ROI on that for an employer is a ⁓ healthier set of employee population, right? People should be pouring into their own self-care, their mental wellness, all of the things. And therefore, your claims at the end of the year, when you've seen how that's piled up, should be lower. Programs like that lack any sort of rigor that matches the intent. So if, for example, you're just giving your employees $200 a month as part of their paychecks, what incensed them to actually allocate that money to things that are dedicated to wellness? Nothing, right? And so you've invested with the intent of paying attention to your employees' wellness, but you're not going to get any return on that investment because it wasn't structured. And so that's one of the things that I come in and do for an organization. It is structuring your intent so that you really see the benefits both for your employees and for your bottom line. Kelsey Willock (12:04) I love that so much because when I think about where the market's headed, specifically as a reaction to point solution fatigue, well-being stipends and things like that can be such easy answers. But if we look at what they're the answer to, then that ROI gets so lost. so reminding us, when you're working with a vendor, what does success look like beyond people signing up? Is it leading to the reduction of healthcare claims? Is it leading to improvement in savings? Is it leading to people being happier and able to show up with, you know, as their more full selves to work? We cannot forget that from the narrative. So it's such an important reminder. Can you share a benefit that you've seen go from attracting talent to really transforming the lives of your employees? And no need to mention a specific name if you want to stay more vague about a category, just super interested your take. Trice Stevenson-Wright (13:00) Let me think about that for a minute. I would focus on flexible work done the right way. So after COVID, many, many companies went remote. certain time off benefits changed because they needed to. We went from really banks of time off for both exempt and non-exempt employees to unlimited PTO. And That was a big trend for a few years and that looked beautiful on paper from a talent attraction perspective. I can take as much time off as I want. The reality that employees were seeing was that they weren't taking that unlimited PTO. As a matter of fact, employees started taking less time off than they did when they had a bank of hours to work from. And so this working remotely, as an example, has increased productivity for many companies. But it also has meant that employees don't have a start and an end time to their work day. It means that it's not as structured. are fewer boundaries. And so they're not taking time off. When an employee is sick, if they have to go into the office, guess what? They won't come into the office. But if they're working remotely, they might still work while they're sick. If their children is going through some sort of ailment, if they should be taking time off, for doctor's appointments and things like that. In the past, they would take that time off, but now they're really not. I'll get away from my desk for a couple hours to take care of this and I'll come right back and jump into work. And so where I've seen a benefit like that actually looking good on paper and transforming lives is where employers put parameters around that unlimited PTO. As a matter of fact, shifting from unlimited PTO to flexible PTO. So we're not telling you, can take as much time off as you want, but we are telling you, need to take some time off. And we're telling you that you can do that with your own flexibility because we trust you to do your work. And so now when companies put that intent into that PTO program, you see that more employees actually do take, take advantage of that flexible PTO and take the time off versus saying they have unlimited and they take none at all. Kelsey Willock (15:23) That keyword being intent, what's the activity you're looking to drive? I love how you've mentioned it numerous times in this conversation. It's not just because it's a concept, a new benefit idea, a change within because we're reacting to what the market says is normal. It's what are we trying to actually accomplish? So what compensation and benefits trends do you think will shape the employee experience most over the next year? Trice Stevenson-Wright (15:25) and see it. That's right. There are few. One that's been sort of evolving for a while is personalization. So not just having standard things, but having things that are à la carte for employees or lifestyle spending accounts that give them a certain pool of dollars and they can spend it in the way that makes more sense for them. Looking at financial wellness, not just as like an add on afterthought, but as one of the core benefits and being very intentional. about what vendors and platforms they're using to deliver on those types of programs. AI and data is a huge one right now that I'm very excited about. Some of these platforms really playing well in the AI space make it so much easier for both employers and employees to make smarter, faster decisions surrounding benefits. It allows employers to provide more white glove service. to employees who are utilizing those benefits. So a really good example is let's say someone is going out on parental leave and they go in whatever HCM platform and they say, hey, I'll be out on leave from this date to this date. You have certain AI software that can automatically ⁓ curate what resources do they need and deliver that to them. You have resources that can tap into the employee when they're coming close to their return date. and telling them, here's the process that you need to go through. Here's what a good return looks like. Here are the benefits that you could be using while you're out on your leave. Before, all of that had to be done by a person. And if you were a great benefits team, you definitely had someone who provided that white glove service to your employees. But now you can do that through systems, and that's really exciting. And I'd say the last piece is transparency. Pay has been such a controversial topic. within employers, right? You have some who are, we don't talk about pay at all, this is just not up for discussion. You have some who, everybody makes the same amount, this is just the way it is, and neither is great, right? Most employers are shifting to a pay for performance culture, which means that everybody can't be the same. But it also means that employers need to be able to articulate and defend the pay decisions that they're making. And I think that latter piece scares some employers a little bit because they're not competent in how their employees will receive that. And so there's been a higher focus on employee engagement and education in this space so that when a company is ready to talk about pay and be transparent about salary ranges, and this is how we map our jobs, and this is the percentile to market that we pay, employees are equipped to receive it without much disruption and confusion. Kelsey Willock (18:36) three incredibly key and important topics, starting with financial well-being. I also want to go a little bit deeper there. How important is financial well-being to your organization? Trice Stevenson-Wright (18:48) Well, very. So Alma has ⁓ a very nice financial wellbeing platform that they leverage for employees. And it allows employees to basically get help for every facet of their finances that you can think of. So yes, taxes, yes, budgeting at home. I have a very expensive new purchase coming up and I need help navigating this. I've had a change to my income and I need help navigating that. debt solutions and counseling, right? Something that's comprehensive and that can touch on every area of an employee's life relative to their finances. That's the way the market is moving right now. Kelsey Willock (19:28) I think it's super important because it also ties back to what you had previously said around personalize. It's true for ensuring that pay equity exists. It also is true in how we communicate and meet people where they are and things like them in their financial lives. Trice Stevenson-Wright (19:35) Mm-hmm. And listen, some companies have a younger workforce where this might be their first jobs. So no one's talked to them about a 401k. No one's had a conversation about here's an HSA, here's what that comes with your medical plan, here's what that means. Here are the tax benefits to that. Here are the retirement benefits to that, right? And so it's becoming increasingly important for employers to make sure that they have those resources readily available and in a way that really engages employees to use them. Kelsey Willock (19:49) Mm-hmm. So I'm curious, you had mentioned some really interesting tools in the financial wellbeing space. What tools are or data sets are you using to ensure that pay equity and that the improvement of pay fairness? Trice Stevenson-Wright (20:30) that's actually another really interesting area where AI comes into play and, ⁓ really AI and automation, ⁓ and getting to the crux of those analytics and ways that require less manual, manual and high touch and more preemptive type of findings. And so as an example, there are platforms now where. companies are hiring, one of the trends that we see is that people who are more tenured, their pay does not. increase at the pace of the market. And you have platforms now that will recognize those trends and flag, based on whatever criteria you deem important, where you might have critical talent risks and more preemptively flag that to the employer so that they can get ahead of that instead of having to, you know, on the back end worry about a counter offer or a retention bonus or anything like that. There are also platforms that will more proactively flag any sort of equity discrepancies rather than someone like me or an analyst on my team having to go through a data set and let's filter by this ethnicity and this gender and this tenure and this performance so that we can really flag where we might have equity issues, right? There are platforms that do that for you now, and that's super exciting. Kelsey Willock (21:45) Such a great reaction to, we all know the data in terms of particularly millennial and Gen Z workforces, where I think it's something like, it's expected for those folks to hold seven to 10 jobs over the course of their career. What the result of that is, it's really hard for them to actually bring up pay. If they feel they're not paid well, they seek jobs elsewhere. So this is a proactive way to get ahead of that through data, recognizing it's a really cumbersome process for an individual to look at person by person. Trice Stevenson-Wright (22:14) And let's be real, there will always be a discrepancy between where the market is now and where your pay is in your role if you've been in the same company for a period of time. The market simply moves faster than internal pay and that's just a dynamic that's a fact. And so I think that you're right. A lot of people think that in order to get a big increase, I have to leave. And sometimes that's the case, right? I'm an employee before my job, right? And so... That is very real. But when an employer is really very proactively strategizing where they allocate their dollars, you may not be able to bring everybody up to market. And that shouldn't be expected. But certainly, you should be looking across your talent bench and identifying where you have critical talent, where you have high potential, where you have people who are really ready for the next level in their role, and really targeting your dollars towards that type of talent. Kelsey Willock (23:08) You're sharing a lot of really interesting concepts. I'm curious how you trickle them down to leaders that might be the managers, might be the hiring managers. What mindset shifts and guardrails do you give them so they're incentivized to make sure that pay is kept fair and empowering? Trice Stevenson-Wright (23:26) I think the biggest one and the first and foremost shift is accountability. Organizations put people in leadership's positions because they trust them to manage their people. And with that comes the accountability. So we start with education, right? Here's what all of these indicators mean. Here's how you correctly assess the health of someone's pay. Here's how you think about pay equity. So you give that education, you give the enablement, but then you have to also give the accountability for the manager to actually put these things in play and give them the space to do that. So I've seen companies who err on the side of being extremely prescriptive such that the manager really doesn't need to make a decision, right? Everything is formulaic. And in those cases, you actually sometimes end up in a less equitable environment because there are things that can't be put into a math equation that the manager really needs to be considering. So it starts with accountability, but also that education and enablement. Kelsey Willock (24:25) Trice, the last question I have for you is, what is a 30 day experiment our listeners could try to boost either financial well-being or engagement of their companies? Trice Stevenson-Wright (24:28) Okay. So that's a little bit of a provocative one. ⁓ I think it would, first of all, let me preface this with, depends on the culture. So please don't take what I'm about to say and then just everybody go do it. you know, read the room. But ask your employees one question, ask them, do they understand how they're paid and how they grow their earnings at your company? And then completely stop talking and just listen. And I think what you'll find is most companies think the answer is yes. Kelsey Willock (24:44) Right. Trice Stevenson-Wright (25:07) and it's usually not. That's the biggest way that you can gauge how engaged your employees are with whatever materials that you're giving them. If you are educating them, how in tune are they within with that? And if you're not educating them, then where should you start? Kelsey Willock (25:25) It's such an easy, actionable thing that all of our listeners should try. It's as easy as a Slack message, an email, however you want to organize it. But thank you so much. I love that it's something that people can do tomorrow and not have to wait. not some integration. It's not some tool. It's just an experiment. So try and test it and see what happens. Obviously, Trice Stevenson-Wright (25:37) Yeah. aware that no one will change their behavior. Just be aware. Kelsey Willock (25:48) Right? And listen. Listening is so important in the process. Trice, thank you so much for this brilliant conversation today. I learned so much from it. Where can our listeners connect with you beyond this conversation? Trice Stevenson-Wright (26:02) I would say they can connect with me on LinkedIn. It is Trice Stevenson-Wright on LinkedIn. I'm very easy to find. Kelsey Willock (26:07) Fabulous. Well, please do reach out if you have any additional questions for Trice to use a breadth of knowledge. And thank you so much again. Have a wonderful afternoon. Trice Stevenson-Wright (26:16) Thank you.