Latest / Beyond the Paycheck / Why Open Enrollment Isn't Where Employees Actually Use Benefits
Transcript
- Kelsey Willock (00:42) Welcome Chloe Jones, Executive Director of Global Benefits at CACI International. We are so excited to have you after this holiday weekend. To kick us off, can you share a little bit about your current role, background, and where you're calling in from today? Chloe Jones (00:57) Yeah, well, I'm calling in from Richmond, Virginia. I've been here my entire life. Love every bit of Richmond. So my path to benefits, as a lot of people's paths are, just kind of fell into it. ⁓ I originally graduated with a degree in history. I thought I was gonna be a history professor. That didn't quite work out. And so then I said, all right, I'll pivot and do teaching. secondary teaching and teach high schoolers history and all the things that I love to think about and learn about. And then I decided, no, I'm not necessarily a good fit for the high school age and middle school age. And so I decided to say, okay, well, maybe I'll get into corporate, talking to friends and family members. They said, well, it may make sense for you to go and apply. like for a temp agency and see what happens. So I did that. And within a week, I got a job working at a small insurance brokerage, property and casualty and processing workers' compensation claims. Random, didn't even know what workers' compensation was at the time. I liked it. I liked the people. That was my first sort of window into corporate. You you got a cube, the office, the whole corporate culture. About a year after I got that first role, my group was eliminated. So they had sold that part of the business that brokerage did. And I was chatting with a young woman quite often in the lunchroom, didn't even know what she did. We just bonded over having babies and toddlers at the time. And she said to me when I told her, She said, I am leaving in a week and I think you'd be a great fit for my job. So I asked her, what do you do? After a year of chatting in the lunchroom, she explained that she was a benefits analyst and she explained that the brokerage also had a benefits department and just all the things that you just didn't know about when you're first starting out. And she wrote me a recommendation unsolicited to her boss on her way out the door. And I got the job. I knew nothing about benefits. I just happened upon a wonderful human being that was very, you know, gracious to recommend me for her job. And funny update to that before I go on, I saw her recently, probably about, I don't know, several months ago, randomly at a kid's game. Her kid was playing, was doing track. My kid was doing track and I ran up to her, her a huge hug. I rehashed that whole story and told her how big of an impact she made on me. And she didn't even remember. the funny thing about that is you just don't know what impact you have on people. Here she was doing something out of the kindness of her heart and she went on and has a great career in life. And had no idea that what she did really sparked my interest and launched my career essentially because what happened was, you know, I became an associate benefits analyst. got licensed, you know, I learned the insurance side of benefits, the broker side and really enjoyed it. That brokerage ⁓ got bought by Marsha McClennan agency. And so I was then able to work for a large company where I learned even more. became an account manager and managed a group of communication specialists and built a communications team. And all of these opportunities kind of came my way out of that one interaction. So I worked at Marsh & McLennan for about six years. I was looking for something different and was at the same time was recruited by Altria. I'm sure you know, you know, huge company. And I got a job as a health and welfare. benefits manager over there ⁓ for a couple years. That was my first introduction to the employer side of benefits. I have not left since I love, love this side of the house. I got laid off with a step in stone because then I launched into another great company Owens and Minor where I worked there for about five and a half years. and became the director of global benefits. And then now I'm here at the CACI. I've been here for about a year and a half. Kelsey Willock (05:30) I also just love how you so serendipitously found yourself in this career. It seems it was just meant to be. ⁓ I love how you also just remind us that small moments of kindness toward other people can make a massive impact on their lives, even if we don't even notice it. So keep doing them, because they can lead to things like this. Chloe Jones (05:38) ⁓ Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah. Kelsey Willock (05:54) So have so many questions for you about benefits and today's landscape, but before we get there, I want to get to know you and your personal background a bit even more. So getting back even before the benefits career, what was your first job? And do you remember what you spent your first paycheck? Chloe Jones (05:56) Mm-hmm. do. I remember all of it. ⁓ I remember being 14 and so excited to work. And I think what I did was if I remember, I'm sure you remember the store limited to most people do remember limited to yes. And so yeah, so I, I if I remember correctly, there was a friend of mine who was a year older, and she worked Kelsey Willock (06:27) Of course I do. Chloe Jones (06:36) there and was like, this is a great place to work. You get discount on clothes. And, you know, it's only like 10 minutes away from my house at the local mall and I could take you because she drove. And so, yeah, I remember calling before I got my workers permit. That's, know, that's the whole thing. So I had to be 14 and a half. I got my workers permit. I walked up to limited to with the paper. I think it was a yellow slip of paper in my hand, the permit. and I applied right there and got the job. I was so excited. remember my first paycheck. I went and got my nails professionally done, which totally tracks. Totally tracks. Kelsey Willock (07:13) I love that. must have been the coolest person around because I remember begging my mom to let me have anything from limited to. Chloe Jones (07:16) Ha! Yes, anything and everything. Kelsey Willock (07:23) What was your earliest memory of money? Chloe Jones (07:26) No, I have thought about that. I knew you were going to ask this and I thought about it quite a bit and I couldn't think of anything. And I thought, well, instead of conjuring a memory up, I'll just sit there in that space and think about why I can't think of anything. And I realized that there wasn't really any key memory or educational moment about money. I think that it's probably representative of a lot of demographics. People are just surviving. Money, think growing up equaled things, food, it equaled bills, know, paying bills. You hear your family members and your parents talk about having to pay bills. And so I think money growing up for me was more of a thing that you would get. when you work, but there really wasn't any thought about investing and like the value of money and the future and what you're going to do when you grow up, when you make money. It was just all very, very much, do I need now in the moment? And then how can I get it? Oh, I get it by having money, whether you have to borrow it, whether you have to work for it. And so I thought, I think that is very much how most people regular people anyway, live day to day, paycheck to paycheck. There really isn't a lot of education that goes into understanding money until you, a lot of times it's almost too late or later than you should. Kelsey Willock (09:07) So I have had hundreds of conversations where I've asked people this question and this is one of my favorite answers that I've gotten. And the reason for it is it is so honest. It is so honest in the sense that money conversations are very hard and they are deeply complex. Chloe Jones (09:15) Go! Kelsey Willock (09:26) And I really appreciate you being so your candor with that answer, because it can be easy to conjure up maybe not even the most authentic answer, because of doing it. But I just love it. And I really appreciate you in bringing this angle. So many folks are living paycheck to paycheck. Half of people making over $100,000 are. Chloe Jones (09:38) Mm-hmm. Kelsey Willock (09:52) And it can almost be traumatizing and trauma can, let's not remember those moments because it can be painful. As well as you've mentioned, a potential path of a career in education. We don't teach about money in schools. And so that could lead to a whole other conversation about how. Chloe Jones (10:12) Yeah, yes, yes. Kelsey Willock (10:14) hot in schools, but I'll digress. I'd love to hear, you you have such an interesting perspective on this. How do you think your personal relationship with money has impacted how you show up for your employees? Chloe Jones (10:27) Yeah, no, that's a good question, Kelsey. think just kind of what you mentioned just now, I think it's just really important to be transparent. mean, yeah, I've got this title and this job and I'm here doing great things for a large company, you know, but I'm from humble beginnings, right? So like I mentioned, we didn't really have money conversations. And I think that allows me personally to be a lot more relatable when interacting with employees that I try even within our communications, directing our benefits communications, to try to continue on that path. You've got to give information the way that you are required to. We've got to have our plan documents, our perspectives, our summary of benefits coverage, and all of these very regulatory type of of documents that we are required to provide employees. But a lot of them are really difficult and hard to read. I mean, even for benefits people. Like benefits people, we understand benefits, but we also have to live and go out and go to the dentist or go, you know, wherever and things can get really complicated. So I think for me, those humble beginnings helped me to just remain like human. and not oversimplify when having conversations. We wanna make sure that our employees feel heard for one, but we want them to also feel safe, like they could ask questions if they don't understand ⁓ certain concepts or how their benefit decisions affect themselves or their families. And I'm sure you've talked with all sorts of people, Kelsey, and I know you. are used to having conversations with people who manage health benefits. I I don't even know how empathetic you have to be. You have to be really empathetic to deal with employees when they're dealing with very, very serious health issues with themselves or their children or their spouses or their dependents of some sort. So I think being relatable. And trying to make sure that you can be as helpful as you can. Like helpfulness is really important. When you work in benefits for large company, you have to have certain models that allow our employees to get to somebody immediately. You know, there's a 1-800 number for everything. And most employees get there and they get what they need. we try to step outside the box a bit and meet our employees where they are in those moments and allow them to touch and feel and talk to their colleagues, right? Because that's who they are to us, they're our colleagues. So I guess to answer your question, really just trying to remain relatable and human. Kelsey Willock (13:26) I love that perspective because you're right. This is not just, let me educate you about something and check the box. It touches every aspect of their life, whether it's their pay that is the lifeblood of how they care for their families, pay for their homes, et cetera, or whether it's dealing with something deeply complex in the healthcare space. You've really got to be there to support people in their most vulnerable moments. I think it's a really good segue into my next question is where do you see benefits breaking down most often today? Healthcare has gotten so deeply complex. I imagine it's part of it, but what else? Chloe Jones (14:04) Yeah. Yeah, mean, definitely healthcare. I just feel like ⁓ really the delivery of it all. Like, you know, we spend a lot of time and total rewards creating value propositions and we, you know, there's a lot of strategy that goes into how we want to show up and what impact we want to have on the organization, on our employees, on the market. But I think probably the delivery of it is where it can break down. And I always say, and just again, just trying to be transparent, like you really have to do it all. You've gotta be, you know, virtual. You've gotta send mailers. You've gotta allow people to call you. I mean, you've got to email. You've gotta do it all. And I think when you have... ⁓ And I've experienced this, you know, in different organizations. I think there's a certain look and feel of organizations. And because of that, there's an assumption that this is the one way that works. This is, this is how we talk to our employees. But I think a lot of employees are, you know, they come to work and they, they're professional and they're kind of wearing their mask, their work masks. They're not going to tell you they don't understand the information, right? They're not going to, they're not going to say that. So you have to really. you have to really do it all and be everywhere. And I think when you're not is where you are missing the mark. You're not necessarily able to reach everybody that you should be reaching because people learn differently. They wanna experience benefits differently. And I think another piece is what I've learned is you really need to frame up benefits is what we've been doing recently, but you need to really frame up benefits in a way where people can digest it when they need it. Because, know, when it comes to like, you know, open enrollment, it's once a year, then there's life events that happen throughout the year. You don't think about it until you got to go to the doctor and something happens and it's like, okay, what do I do? You know, I spent time reading this. guide or listening to this brain shark or being a part of this talk or this HR lady stood up and told me everything about benefits that don't remember, but I need to know it right now. And so it's like outside of just your basic comms, like you really do need to have benefits accessible for people. So when they're having an issue, they know what the company offers for that specific issue. And that's not an easy thing to do. And I've seen companies not necessarily be able to do that because they've been so focused on sort of the normal cycle of benefits. But, you know, that enrollment period really is just getting people enrolled. That's not really where people are consuming their benefits. They're consuming them throughout the year. And then I think from like a retirement, you know, non-open enrollment standpoint, I think the breakdown really is just not engaging enough. ⁓ you really have to be doing something all year and you won't catch everybody at the one event that you do in January. And then you won't catch everybody at the one event that you do in March, but hopefully at some point, right over the course of the year, you would have touched everybody. So I think it's just continually delivering the information, but then when you're delivering it, you have to frame it up in a way that's easily navigable and accessible when people need it. Kelsey Willock (17:54) so important because, you know, I think that somebody benefits leaders are frustrated due to lack of engagement and tools and you're hitting the nail on the head. have to figure out how do you personalize, you know, reaching people where they are when life moments happen. What I'm so interested in is while we have higher scrutiny on PII data, how is that Chloe Jones (18:17) Yeah. Kelsey Willock (18:19) How does that not be in conflict of the customization and marketing materials? So I think a lot of interesting change is going to happen, especially as heightened scrutiny continues to happen in PII world. I'm curious your thoughts on that because I know legal teams don't always like the marketing campaigns that maybe vendor vendor partners want to do. Chloe Jones (18:37) Hmm. Yeah, no, that's a really good point and perspective, especially with the AI trends that all of the vendors are taking. mean, there's only one handful of companies, that all these platforms are sitting on top of, but that definitely is a big deal. How many new contracts have we had to review and have to get it through procurement and legal, and especially with specific Kelsey Willock (18:49) Mm-hmm. Chloe Jones (19:08) types of businesses who organizations who really, really care about data and privacy. So absolutely, I think what we try to do is just be thoughtful of that. We try to disclose as much as we can. I think in order for us to be able us as the collective sort of like country and like world with AI come into the forefront, I imagine there's gonna be a lot of legislation that's going to come up that's going to help guide a lot of this and what we consider to be appropriate and not appropriate. I think claims information, you know, not to get technical, but that you have to safeguard it. know, definitely demographic information is something that, you know, employees can sign and say that they're okay with us releasing because, you know, we were able to then make sure that they get. Kelsey Willock (19:48) Right. Chloe Jones (20:00) information that's relevant to them. But I think just overall, it's going to be very interesting in the next couple of years, if not even within next six months, to see what type of legislation comes to the forefront with governing that information. So there's so much more that you can do with it now. Kelsey Willock (20:19) Right, and we also live in a world where people now like custom marketing, making sure that they have the autonomy to say, know, I don't want this information being shared, keep part of it. My last question for you is what benefits trends do you think is gonna shape the employee experience most over the next year? Chloe Jones (20:24) Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah, I mean, I think, you we just mentioned the AI, I think will be really important. That's going to, I think, shape the delivery, as we mentioned earlier, just employees experience their ability to get information and to have those plan documents sort of distilled in a manner where they can get their specific question answered. So I think that for sure, that's more of a navigation impact. But I've seen some new products that I won't name that I thought were really interesting where it seems like a lot of health providers now are creating products where they can now mail kits to your house or to your home so that you can do sort of your own blood work and own pseudo checkups and things like that. I'm really interested just on a personal level on on where that's going to go and how that's going to impact just providers and then just benefits in general. And then by virtue of providers and data, mean, that data of course comes back to the carriers to then sort of price out the cost of coverage. So, you know, hopefully if it's done correctly and appropriately. Kelsey Willock (21:50) Right. Chloe Jones (21:55) then it would sort of remove a barrier for individuals who ⁓ don't necessarily have the time to take off work and go to the doctor or just have their own anxieties about healthcare in general and feel more comfortable doing things in their home. That's what I've seen recently, like with just within the last couple of months. So I'm just curious to see where that's gonna go. Kelsey Willock (22:19) super interesting and I also think it's gonna lead to interesting preventative care measures. So thank you so much for sharing that and for being a part of this conversation. I've learned so much from you Chloe and wish we could keep going. But ⁓ where can our listeners connect with you beyond this conversation? Chloe Jones (22:24) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, I'm on LinkedIn. I try to be as active as my schedule will allow. But yeah, I definitely welcome any connections and comments. Kelsey Willock (22:49) Fabulous. Well, thank you so much for joining us and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. Chloe Jones (22:54) Thank you, Kelsey.