Beyond the Paycheck

Beyond the Paycheck brings you candid conversations with CHROs and top people leaders who are rethinking how compensation and benefits impact more than just employee bank accounts. From the first paycheck to financial wellness programs, we explore how money shapes identity, equity, purpose, and power at work, and how forward-thinking companies are using pay and perks to transform lives, not just attract talent. This podcast is sponsored by Aura Finance, the financial wellness platform designed to help employees feel confident, secure, and in control of their money. See more at aurafinance.io

Beyond the Paycheck is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Beyond the Paycheck, a business show with 0 episodes published.

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  Episode #77

  The $20 Million Benefits Investment Employees Forgot in a Year

  Aug 20, 202625 min

  Summary What do employees actually need from their rewards package? In this episode of Beyond the Paycheck, host Kelsey Willock Jones talks with Eric Gutierrez, VP of Total Rewards at Point B, about why total rewards leaders should stop tinkering with programs and start managing the overall work experience, the $20 million healthcare premium investment whose most lasting return came from leaders rather than employees, and his controversial take on the financial wellness industry: budgeting programs are cute, but what people need is a living wage that keeps up with inflation. Along the way: the war for DNA-role talent that never pauses, return on employee sentiment as a companion to financial ROI, and the psychological shift coming as AI moves from tool to collaborator. A conversation for HR and total rewards leaders who want benefits people actually feel. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and meet Eric Gutierrez 02:45 Inside Point B and the consulting transformation 04:15 Band camp, a Chevy Camaro, and a first paycheck 05:40 A meritocracy worldview and controlling your destiny 07:30 The war for talent and protecting DNA roles 10:10 Beyond programs: the work environment as the value proposition 12:55 Return on employee sentiment vs the spreadsheet 14:30 The $20 million healthcare premium investment 17:05 The financial wellness hot take: a living wage first 20:35 The AI shift HR isn't ready for Takeaways -Once pay passes a threshold, culture, challenging work, and a path for advancement matter as much as comp and benefits, yet in too many companies the work environment happens by accident. -Return on employee sentiment belongs alongside financial ROI when making the case for people investments the spreadsheet can't obviously support. -A $20 million healthcare premium investment at a thin-margin firm was forgotten by employees within a year, but leaders retold the story for years, proving that costly people decisions pay out in lasting lore. -Financial wellness training is no substitute for a living wage: if grocery bills outpace paychecks, budgeting classes and 401(k) education don't matter. -Even in an employer-friendly market, the war for a company's DNA roles never pauses; rest on your laurels and you'll be chasing that talent externally even more. Connect with the Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ergutierrez/ Website: https://www.pointb.com Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations—Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track. See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/

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  Episode #76

  The Financial Wellness Pilot That Cut Turnover From 50% to 14%

  Aug 18, 202620 min

  Summary What does it take to keep frontline employees past their first year? In this episode of Beyond the Paycheck, host Kelsey Willock Jones talks with Catherine Johnson, EVP and Chief People Officer at Travis Credit Union, about the financial wellness pilot that helped cut first-year frontline turnover from 50% to 14%, how she won leadership approval by framing HR investments the way the business tests new products, and why the one size fits all benefits catalog is headed for extinction. Along the way: the $5,250 tuition benefit nobody used until bandwidth entered the plan, dependent care that now spans children and aging parents, and the case for letting employees curate benefits to their stage of life. A conversation for HR and total rewards leaders building benefits people actually feel. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and meet Catherine Johnson 02:00 Inside Travis Credit Union's workforce 03:15 A paper route, a bicycle, and the meaning of a paycheck 05:00 Supporting the whole employee at Travis 08:15 Where companies fall short on benefits 10:15 The financial wellness pilot that contributed to lower turnover from 50% - 14%. 12:30 Pitching HR investments like product tests 13:05 The $5,250 tuition benefit nobody used 15:15 Staying current and listening for unexpected benefits 17:05 The personalized benefits shift HR isn't ready for Takeaways A financial wellness pilot built on two hypotheses, that cared-for employees stay and that employees who trust the tool serve members better, helping cut first-year frontline turnover from 50% to 14%. Framing HR investments the way the business already tests products, pilot in one market and then make a go or no go call, is what finally won leadership approval. A benefit without bandwidth is a flop: tuition reimbursement jumped from $250 to $5,250 and usage still fell to zero until Travis started planning learning time into the workday. The annual one size fits all benefits catalog assumes every benefit holds the same value for every employee; life-stage curation, from elder care to pet bereavement leave, is the next shift. Listening channels beat headlines: twice-yearly employee benefit surveys and a Northern California credit union rewards network surface needs that never make the news. Connect with the Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cjohnson5/ Website: https://www.traviscu.org Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations—Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track. See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/

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  Episode #75

  Benefits Are Table Stakes, Education Is the Differentiator

  Aug 13, 202624 min

  Summary What happens when AI runs more of HR than people do? In this episode of Beyond the Paycheck, host Kelsey Willock Jones sits down with Kelsey Browning, VP of People Operations at Invisible Technologies, who has spent 12 years practicing full stack HR at tech companies in moments of change. Kelsey explains why benefits are table stakes rather than a differentiator, why most employees don't understand the benefits they already have, and how she maps the employee lifecycle like a customer lifecycle to find the moments that matter. Then she looks ahead to the leaner, AI-powered HR team built around generalists with many specialties, and raises the questions nobody has answered yet: how do you compensate someone doing the job of five people, who's accountable when the AI is wrong, and how will the next generation of specialists ever get built? A sharp, practical conversation for HR, people ops, and total rewards leaders navigating the AI transition. Chapters 00:00 Welcome to Beyond the Paycheck 00:45 Kelsey's path through full stack HR 02:00 A Best Buy first job and a first paycheck saved in a CD 04:45 Start with the employee value proposition 06:25 Benefits are table stakes 07:30 White glove moments only small companies can deliver 08:40 Mapping the employee lifecycle for moments that matter 10:30 Making the case when the spreadsheet says no 13:30 A benefits rollout that went sideways 19:05 The AI generalist and the accountability question Takeaways -Benefits are table stakes, not a differentiator. Most employees are not educated about the benefits they already have, so education often beats expansion. -Map the employee lifecycle the way you'd map a customer lifecycle, then invest in the moments that matter. Your demographics tell you where those moments will be. -Smaller companies win on white glove care: handling edge cases directly with the broker instead of routing people through tickets and multi-day waits. -AI is pushing HR toward lean teams of generalists with many specialties, a profile that is rare, hard to develop, and even harder to compensate fairly. -Before automating HR work, decide who is accountable when the AI is wrong, and remember that removing entry-level work removes the path the next generation needs to build specialties. Connect with the Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseybrowning/ Website: https://www.invisibletech.ai Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations—Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track. See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/

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  Episode #74

  Benefit Personas: Making Rewards Human Across 15,000 Employees

  Aug 11, 202620 min

  Summary What are you actually paying your employees for? In this episode of Beyond the Paycheck, host Kelsey Willock Jones talks with Joshua Lemon, Senior Director of Global Total Rewards at Resideo, about why total reward statements feel like showing your kids the grocery receipt, how his team uses personas to make benefits communication human across a 15,000 person global workforce, and why AI's uneven multiplying effect could end the era of paying for presence. Along the way: making the case for benefits the spreadsheet can't justify, Resideo's above benchmark 7% 401(k) match, and the fiduciary thinking behind saying no to 401(k) loans. A conversation for HR and total rewards leaders rethinking what pay and benefits are really for. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and meet Joshua Lemon 02:20 Inside Resideo's global workforce 03:10 First jobs, first paychecks, and an economics lens on money 05:20 Supporting the whole person across 30 countries 06:50 Why total reward statements fall short 09:20 The grocery receipt problem and benefit personas 11:15 Making the case when the spreadsheet doesn't support it 14:35 Financial wellness by design at Resideo 17:05 Paying for output and the future of AI in rewards 18:45 The Speed of Your Dependencies and where to find Josh Takeaways -Total reward statements keep value abstract; employees experience benefits through real moments like a $25 copay, so messaging has to meet them there. -Benefit personas, borrowed from product design, let rewards teams communicate in the voice of each employee group and life stage. -The four pillars of attracting, retaining, motivating, and engaging employees make the case for benefits a business case alone can't justify. -Financial wellness can be built into plan design itself, like Resideo's 7% dollar for dollar 401(k) match and its intentional no loan policy. -AI's uneven multiplying effect, where one person gets 50% more productive and another 10x, will push compensation from rewarding presence toward rewarding output. Connect with the Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshualemon/ Website: https://www.resideo.com Book waitlist: https://joshlemonai.com Justin Hampton's Article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stop-showing-me-receipt-case-against-total-rewards-hampton-ccp-uyduc/ Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations—Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track. See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/

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  Episode #73

  Building Rewards Programs That Serve the Business, Not Just HR

  Aug 6, 202625 min

  Summary What happens when companies raid their benefits budgets to fund AI initiatives? On Beyond the Paycheck, Kelsey Willock Jones talks with Cristabel Lim, Senior Director of Total Rewards and Strategic Programs at Epicor, about why benefit stability creates the psychological safety that performance depends on. Cristabel shares Epicor's philosophy of never overreacting to market volatility, makes the case for trusting your gut on investments like benefit fairs that no spreadsheet can justify, and breaks down the real AI question for benefits teams: build, buy, or don't use at all. From a $400 first paycheck spent on a digital camera to an employee assistance fund where colleagues support each other through hardship, this conversation is built for HR, total rewards, and people leaders navigating volatile markets. Chapters 00:00 Welcome to Beyond the Paycheck 01:15 Nine years at Epicor from Monterrey to the Bay Area 02:30 A $400 first paycheck and a digital camera 04:15 Growing up in a family that talked about money 05:30 The four pillars of benefits at Epicor 07:15 Why cutting benefits to fund AI backfires 09:00 Benefit stability and psychological safety 10:45 Trusting your gut when the ROI isn't on the spreadsheet 15:15 Build, buy, or don't use: evaluating AI in benefits 20:45 The rising cost of benefits and a final message Takeaways -Benefit stability creates psychological safety. Companies that pulled benefit dollars to fund AI initiatives are now seeing dissatisfaction and turnover, while steady offerings tell employees the ground under them is solid. -Don't overspend when the market is hot and don't take away in a downturn. People are what make the products and services, and they notice when that stops being true. -Some of the highest-impact benefits, like benefit fairs and human connection, never show ROI on a spreadsheet. Trust your gut, start small, and reevaluate frequently. -The real AI question in benefits is build, buy, or don't use. Who supports the product and who owns data security matter more than what AI can theoretically do. -Cut through the AI noise with peer conversations. What has actually worked for other practitioners beats what vendors promise. Connect with the Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristabellim Website: https://www.epicor.com Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations—Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track. See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/

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