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Beyond the Status Quo: Rachel Aleknavicius on Reimagining Benefits
6 Plays8 days ago
Curtis sits down with Rachel Aleknavicius to explore how Nava is reshaping the benefits landscape. From tackling outdated brokerage practices to creating AI-driven tools that simplify HR’s toughest challenges, Rachel sheds light on how benefits can transform from a source of frustration into a competitive advantage. She also shares why listening, transparency, and pushing back on “the way it’s always been done” are critical for organizations that want to attract and retain top talent.
About Rachel:
Rachel Aleknavicius is a benefits consultant with a passion for helping organizations turn their employee benefits into a true competitive advantage. With years of experience supporting large national organizations, public sector entities, and small-to-mid-sized businesses, she’s known for simplifying complex benefits challenges and delivering strategies that save money while enhancing employee satisfaction. As a proud single mother by choice, Rachel brings a deep sense of empathy and advocacy to her work, drawing on her own experiences navigating healthcare and workplace complexities. She partners closely with HR and executive teams to create innovative, sustainable benefits strategies that drive both talent retention and organizational success.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Voices Behind the Build'
00:00:07
Speaker
Welcome back everyone. This is another installment of Mustard Hub Voices behind the build. In these fireside chats, I sit down with the people building, backing, and running better workplaces.
00:00:19
Speaker
I'm your host, Curtis Forbes.
Transforming Employee Benefits into Advantages
00:00:21
Speaker
My guest today is Rachel Aleknovichis. Rachel is a benefits consultant with a passion for helping organizations turn their employee benefits into a true competitive advantage.
00:00:34
Speaker
With years of experience supporting large national organizations, public sector entities, and small to mid-sized businesses, she's known for simplifying complex benefits, challenges, and delivering strategies that save money while enhancing employee satisfaction.
00:00:52
Speaker
As a proud single mother by choice, Rachel brings a deep sense of empathy and advocacy to her work.
Innovative Strategies Using AI in Benefits
00:00:58
Speaker
drawing on her own experiences navigating healthcare care and workplace complexities.
00:01:04
Speaker
She partners closely with HR and executive teams to create innovative, sustainable benefit strategies that drive both talent retention and organizational success.
00:01:15
Speaker
Welcome to Behind the Build. Thanks for joining me, Rachel. Thanks for having me. This is exciting. It is. So that was a mouthful. And I love that you are a self-proclaimed benefits strategy nerd.
00:01:33
Speaker
Me too.
00:01:36
Speaker
You know, us nerds have to stick together. you know, I mean, especially in this, uh, in the, in this space, in HR especially, but, um, So I've been looking forward to this chat for a little while. Your company, Nava, is an AI-powered platform for employee benefits.
00:01:56
Speaker
And it's it's robust, it's unique, it's very cool. I know I'm not doing it justice. So before we do anything else, I want to set the stage for this conversation by letting the audience know all about Nava.
Simplifying Employee Benefits with AI Solutions
00:02:12
Speaker
Tell me, what is it? Yeah, so Nava is a company that was started by our co our co-founders. um And they came from non-employee benefit broker space.
00:02:26
Speaker
So they grew up building companies. Their latest one, last one was in real estate, and they brought technology platforms into real estate. um So Donald and Brandon, in working with...
00:02:39
Speaker
um with with brokers build as they built their companies, they're just like, there's gotta be a better way to do this. Brokers have so much power in this healthcare care field and they just didn't think they were using it properly.
00:02:54
Speaker
You know, there's so much that a broker can do to help fix healthcare. care And so they put their minds together and decided that they were going to build a brokerage firm, putting the employee experience first.
00:03:08
Speaker
They really wanted to help employees have a better experience with the healthcare system, um better understand their benefits and really help them with the overall process of using insurance. Because as we know, it's complicated and, and if anything horrible should happen,
00:03:28
Speaker
you're getting invoices and bills and EOBs and you don't know what's
Nava's Vision for Accessible Healthcare
00:03:32
Speaker
coming at you. And it's so you need a dictionary for health care terms just to understand what what's going on. Seriously. And so their their vision, which they're they're bringing to fruition now is to have ai empowered tools to help both HR and employees for HR. It's better administer.
00:03:54
Speaker
ease the simplification on the user end for them, simplify their day-to-day. And for employees, it's really empowering employees with their benefits and how to use it, getting their questions asked in real time, in real terms that they understand.
00:04:09
Speaker
um, you know, i remember the first time that you had, um you know, told me all this and sort of explained the journey of those, co-founders.
00:04:20
Speaker
And sometimes I feel like it takes, um you know, an individual or a group of individuals coming from an entirely different place, a different sector to see the problem through a different lens, to be able to offer a solution,
00:04:37
Speaker
um you know, that that can, you know, in theory sort of disrupt, right, um the old way of thinking. um You're right. It's complicated.
Challenges in Employee Benefits and Nava's Unique Approach
00:04:50
Speaker
It's very complicated for the employee, um you know, and the administration is not super easy for, you know, the HR teams, you know, or the business owner, right, depending on the size of the organization.
00:05:04
Speaker
And so, but yet all the tools, right, that are always, they always seem to be the same. you know They're generally started by people who are in this world.
00:05:15
Speaker
And so takes a little thinking outside the box from people who might come from a different space, you know looking at something from a different angle to be able to, I guess, sort of tear down those walls. Right?
00:05:26
Speaker
wow Yeah, it really is. you know, when i was approached by Nava, I was immediately drawn to the vision and and talking to Brandon. It's just like, yeah, I want to be a part of this. This is exciting. I've been doing benefits consulting for 15 plus years, and it's been the same thing over and over.
00:05:45
Speaker
I mean, the industry old. they the The consulting business has not changed in probably 50 plus years. right So to to say like we're going to do this different and and not have that bias of being in this business before, it's it's been fun.
00:06:01
Speaker
That's really cool. So I want to hear more about that mission. You know, as ah as a startup founder, I'm always kind of curious about the why. And so, you know, how do they or how do you kind of articulate?
00:06:17
Speaker
um Is it mostly around just the sort of antiquated way that it's been done before? Or
Founders' Motivation from Personal Healthcare Struggles
00:06:23
Speaker
is there something deeper? there a personal mission involved for some of them?
00:06:27
Speaker
You know, it's a I think it's a combo of both. um So I'll start with the the big picture vision as ginormous and ridiculous as that may sound is to fix healthcare. care So you will see Navinats as we call ourselves wearing our swag that says, hashtag fix healthcare or hashtag fix healthcare care everywhere.
00:06:50
Speaker
So that's the huge goal that we're after. We're starting the the focus is to start by helping employees with their benefits. So we're starting with employees who have group benefits.
00:07:08
Speaker
So we're starting at that group level um and fixing the health care for them by innovative apps, the AI integration, you know, the our our customer service support, all of that, that we bring to the table.
00:07:22
Speaker
I think the vision started because both Donald and Brandon had experiences of their own navigating the healthcare system. Donald shares his story where he was diagnosed with cancer and you know left his treatment with that tens of thousands of dollars in debt for his therapy.
00:07:44
Speaker
therapy um Brandon grew up in the outskirts of Alaska of all places and saw many of his friends or families going into debt because of medical care.
00:07:55
Speaker
and And so they really saw and and knew firsthand that this is an issue for a lot of Americans. yeah and um you know And they just felt this sense of responsibility to make it easier and help folks.
Importance of Benefits for Retention and Attraction
00:08:11
Speaker
Yeah. I, you know, it's, it's, it's not uncommon, right. For, for businesses or startups, you know, organizations really as a whole to evolve, um,
00:08:24
Speaker
out of a need for something, right? Somebody's journey, right? Caused them to see something or think of something or need something. I mean, in the Mustard Hub story is similar, right? we we We built, you know, this out of a need to solve certain problems, right? and and And built this proprietary software to solve these problems and these kinds of businesses and wound up, right?
00:08:51
Speaker
bringing it to the masses and so the fact that they had those personal ah experiences that they wanted to solve just i mean it makes it personal right you want to then dump all of that passion and energy into solving that problem and knowing that you can do that for everybody else too which is pretty powerful It is.
00:09:11
Speaker
It is. And, you know, the deeper they get into it, the more they see the games that are played, for lack of better word, with, you know, renewals or, you know, different strategies that will say that our competitors use. And it's just it gets very frustrating because they're playing this old game from years and years ago where we're trying to be more transparent and and and.
00:09:33
Speaker
more real with our our clients and and so and getting to know them. We're really true partners with our clients. And and so I think as the mission ah continues, it becomes more and more of, yes, we need to do this. It's it's more of an urgency, um and you know, from every year that we're we're continuing this mission.
00:09:56
Speaker
So what of what kind of customers come to Nava? I'd like to know more about the kinds of organizations that you work with and maybe what challenges that they're looking to solve when they sign up.
00:10:09
Speaker
Yeah. So a lot of customers are coming to us because, I mean, the easy ones are, you know, we're not happy with our current broker. Our relationship just isn't there anymore. you know, there just I just don't think that they're doing the right thing for us.
00:10:25
Speaker
um There's a pain of some sort. And so they're seeking out a change. um More and more, we're finding customers where we're bringing, um we're highlighting some of the pains that they didn't even realize they had.
00:10:40
Speaker
You know, well, my broker said that this 25% renewal was the best that they could do. Well, no, that's probably not true. Would you mind if we look at it and see what we can do? you know and And so we're bringing these innovative solutions where we're you know bringing renewal costs drastically down for for clients. We're giving them more service with our team, our customer service team.
00:11:05
Speaker
And then we're bringing these tools on top of it to help make everybody's jobs and utilization easier. ah So and it's across the board from businesses groups to large national accounts um and and and all industries that we're attracting because of this innovative and strategic thought process and and really bringing the customer first. It's not about
00:11:32
Speaker
you know revenue. And yes, we're here in the business to make money as everyone is, but we're really, we all are really deeply passionate about helping our customer.
Competitive Landscape and Innovation in Benefits
00:11:43
Speaker
You know, this new approach, is it, um I mean, is is it Blue Ocean?
00:11:50
Speaker
Or do you see a lot of organizations trying to either pivot and and sort of follow this lead or other small startups doing similar things?
00:12:01
Speaker
I mean, what does that competitive landscape look like? Yeah, you know, it's interesting because um the bigger brokerage firms who, you know, we compete with, they're They want to compete with us in the AI space. AI is such a big hot topic, right? In every industry right now.
00:12:21
Speaker
um And so we're, I feel, um i know that we're on the, we're the leading the pack there in our industry. We're leading the pack in our AI tools that we're bringing to market. We were first to market with this new platform And so we're,
00:12:35
Speaker
and so The bigger firms who are are trying to get in this space, they're already so far behind because they don't have anything available for their clients. um There are similar tools that can be white labeled, which usually come as a fee for groups if they want to use them.
00:12:53
Speaker
But to have a team internally like we do, where we're it's proprietary technology that we're building based on the needs that we've heard from our customers, that's really unique.
00:13:07
Speaker
That is really unique. That's, and I, and I love hearing that. I mean, it's, it's, it's very, very cool. So I think a lot of organizations don't, you know, even really understand what benefits are, the role that they play when it comes to maybe attracting and retaining the right people.
00:13:23
Speaker
Um, but I'm curious to hear from you, how common do you think this is, you know, and what what are the consequences of of seeing benefits just as another expense or or something that, you know, the organization just has to do?
00:13:35
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. You know, um, Maybe 10 years ago, it was you know much more just an expense. Let's just bring it down. But now employees have an expectation that they're going to have benefits their employer.
00:13:49
Speaker
They expect medical, dental, vision, and life insurance at the very least. And so if you're not offering those on a competitive level, you're really losing out because As employees are looking for jobs, they're really looking at those benefits closely.
00:14:04
Speaker
They've gotten wiser to know that, hey, I need this. And they're they're understanding a little bit more of their benefits, especially that you know mid-age population who have utilized benefits a little bit.
00:14:18
Speaker
And so, yeah, it it is competitive. You need to be able to attract employees with your your benefits. I see clients who are very generous with their benefit programs and their employees stay put.
00:14:34
Speaker
They don't want to leave. um They have a very easy job recruiting talent. um And those who maybe don't put as much effort into their benefit package,
00:14:47
Speaker
it's, it's struggled.
Perception of Benefits as Expenses and Communication Issues
00:14:48
Speaker
There's, there's lower morale. um Employees will complain about using their benefits and the, and the cost of them. And so it, they really do tie together as far as being, helping create that culture internally.
00:15:04
Speaker
I, I would a hundred percent agree with the statement that, you know, it's the expectation has been set. I mean, they're really table stakes now. If, if you don't have that or you're not putting the, the effort into delivering these in some competitive way, you're going to be missing out.
00:15:22
Speaker
Um, it's just, you know, the way that, the way that it is now and part of that sort of total, total reward strategy that a lot of businesses are adopting and benefits are a huge part of that. So, um,
00:15:38
Speaker
I do think though, you know a lot of organizations seem to not really understand what drives employees. Big disconnect between leadership and the workforce in this area, um you know in my opinion.
00:15:53
Speaker
do you agree? i mean, how do we start bridging this gap? you know We've talked about you know how to get people in the door, attracting them, retaining the right people with you know these benefits that that employees essentially expect to have.
00:16:08
Speaker
What drives them when they're there?
00:16:12
Speaker
Yeah, I think, um you know, having open communication with employees is really important. We help our clients with employee surveys. And I'll put that out there very lightly because I'm a firm believer that if you're going to do a survey, you need to be prepared to take action.
00:16:31
Speaker
Right. Employees are going to expect some change if they're going to be answering a survey. So if you're going to put a survey out there, make sure that you're ready to make necessary changes, even if it's enhancing a life insurance benefit or something. But employees will expect to see something from it.
00:16:48
Speaker
um But yeah, I think keeping that that communication channel open is really key. And having a good internal customer service or someplace for employees to go and get their questions answered easily um also really helps.
00:17:05
Speaker
yeah we have HQ for employees, which is an app where employees can ask either AI or our advocate team their benefit questions. And we get so much positive feedback from employees on how it helps them understand their invoice, understand their benefits.
00:17:22
Speaker
And that alone really helps settle their minds internally within the organization. And so the organization as a whole is benefiting from it because the employee understands and is satisfied with their benefits.
00:17:36
Speaker
i
Employee Engagement and Actionable Surveys
00:17:37
Speaker
I 100% agree with, you know, what you're talking about in terms of those those surveys. um You know, I think that that pulse and and and, you know, real-time feedback methods and mechanisms are,
00:17:56
Speaker
they risk fatigue and and you know this this action gap, right? Constant pulse surveys can lead to a ah feedback fatigue. I see it all the time, right? if if If teams feel like they have to respond, you know, weekly, but then don't see changes, trust erodes, right? I think execution is a big thing that matters, you know, and without that system level accountability,
00:18:23
Speaker
you know feeding insights into manager development, resource allocation, whatever, you know frequent feedback becomes noise. ah you know And I think that that's an important thing for a lot of organizations to remember. And so pointing that out, I think, is is so critically important to folks that engagement is important,
00:18:46
Speaker
you know Pulse surveys and and feedback is super important, but then without action, you can actually erode the trust of your of your employees and just see that time and time again that a lot of organizations don't necessarily or may not feel that engagement is doing what it's supposed to be doing at the same time.
00:19:08
Speaker
you know, engagement for engagement's sake, right? Without actually taking the action that's necessary simply becomes performative data, right? And and that can be that can be problematic and counterproductive.
00:19:21
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, it absolutely can. And then that just, it breaks the trust from the employee perspective. And I've seen that happen where they're like, well, I'm not even going to participate because nothing's going to happen, come from this. Right. Or I'm just going like click until I get to the end of the survey. Yeah. I'm going to be angry about
Data-Driven HR Decisions and New Options
00:19:39
Speaker
it too.
00:19:39
Speaker
um But yeah, so, you know, and with, With um with our our clients, we have, again, I mentioned the HQ app for employees. um And within that, we we consolidate all the questions that we get from the employees. you know it's It's done anonymously.
00:19:56
Speaker
But we consolidate those and we give employers the feedback, the breakdown of the questions we're receiving. So then we can address those things in real time with some of our clients and say, OK, employees are not understanding this. This is a common question we're getting.
00:20:14
Speaker
Let's draft a custom communication or education piece or something to help ease their mind. So um that's something that we're actively involved with clients to just to help bring that um awareness to the employees.
00:20:27
Speaker
I love this. So that's ah that's really interesting to me. Let's talk then about some of the communication, about some of the culture, about building some of these shared values. I mean, these are all really important things for retaining, right? For engaging employees.
00:20:40
Speaker
You're getting ah tremendous amount of data from this stuff. um But you know this is' it's not just important for retaining folks, um you know also even getting people, you know the top talent in the door.
00:20:54
Speaker
I think a lot of organizations are missing the mark here. Why do you think? i mean, how can organization and their ah HR teams begin to fix all of that stuff? You know, a lot of it is because we don't have the data, right? Some organizations, if they're not getting data from their carriers, if they're you know under that credibility mark that the carriers say, which is often about 300 employees enrolled on plan,
00:21:20
Speaker
they're not getting any data, so they don't have any insights from if they're fully insured. No insights as for what their utilization looks like. um they're They're really relying on what they hear on the streets and or you know and internally from employees.
00:21:35
Speaker
And oftentimes that's just going to be complaints. You never hear anything good, right? No, yeah, that's true. You're just hearing the complaints and, you know, okay, is that credible? Maybe, but is it affecting everybody or just one person?
00:21:49
Speaker
So I think the lack of information that HR is able to get sometimes really makes it difficult. um You know, and then i also think that,
00:22:01
Speaker
and this is no follow-up of HR, but a lot of my counterparts in our our, you know, there's, it's just an old industry, right? People are not wanting to be innovative unless they absolutely have to. Nobody wants to work harder unless they have to.
00:22:19
Speaker
So, so HR, unfortunately, i don't think it's often brought a lot of these newer ideas or solutions or educated on these
AI's Role in Transforming HR
00:22:29
Speaker
options that,
00:22:30
Speaker
would allow them to either get more information and or cut costs and or improve and benefits for employees, yeah all these different things. Although the industry has stayed the same, there are a lot of new options that have been created in the past three, five years that really can help the employee experience, the cost, all of it.
00:22:52
Speaker
on And unfortunately, don't think that's being brought to HR or the executive team often enough.
00:23:01
Speaker
You know, it's, it's, there's just the world of HR, you know, I think that, that historically, right. had There's been just, um there hasn't been a ton of innovation and you know, oftentimes the innovation can be, can be, you stonewalled, I guess, um you know, especially in a space like that.
00:23:24
Speaker
um So it's pretty remarkable time you transformative AI is and how it's starting to affect this world, it's essentially forcing, you know, the ah HR space to ah to change and and pretty rapidly.
00:23:40
Speaker
are there Are there other things that you'd like to see changed in the world of employee benefits or even human resources in general? I mean, what would you want to be different? I'm curious to hear your thoughts on that. Oh, what would want to be different? Where do we even start?
00:23:56
Speaker
Yeah. You know, i I'd want, I would love for everybody have more transparency. You know, I, I get HIPAA. We can't see what everyone's sicknesses or ailments are.
00:24:07
Speaker
um But, you know, i used to be an underwriter and, and that, that, that data is really, important for groups to understand. They can make better choices with it. They can implement supplemental benefits that could help bring down their costs or, you know, they could increase benefits sometimes. So I think The lack of data that HR has to go with often to make decisions is really difficult.
00:24:35
Speaker
It puts them in it gives them ah in a hard place. um So I would love if we could be a little bit more transparent from the carrier side, ah i'm just giving them something to make an informed decision.
AI's Impact on HR Practices and Job Roles
00:24:48
Speaker
well and then, you know and also these the customer service You know, we've all talked about AI and how great it can be, but also those those customer service lines where you have to click press the numbers and, you know, take forever to get to an operator. yeah i wish the carriers would get away those.
00:25:11
Speaker
i People are calling them often in in critical times. They can't get their prescription drug. they're They're at the doctor's office and they have to go through this menu. They don't, they're not getting their question answered. And it's just so incredibly frustrating.
00:25:26
Speaker
And so I just think there's a lot of things that we can do to simplify, or I wish that we could do to simplify the overall like experience from both HR and the employee.
00:25:37
Speaker
Um, yeah Some of those things that you just mentioned are some of those things what Nava solves? We do. We do. So, you know, like I said, the employee not being able to get their prescription ah ah the pharmacy, they, that's something that they could go into the app and ask our team or ask AI saying, Hey, you know, the pharmacist says I i owe $200 for this drug. What's my true copay?
00:26:03
Speaker
The app will tell them exactly what they should expect to pay for that drug So pretty powerful. Yeah. Yeah. So they they they can't they we are giving them some of those resources in their hands. um And then as far as H.R. and the and the data or or lack thereof from some of the carriers, you know, we're really digging in and trying to give as much information as as we can, even if if it's not.
00:26:30
Speaker
you know written But it's breaking down the renewal and really finding solutions that will provide ah HR in the future with more information, whether it's looking at captives and self-funding. there's a Those captives are allowing a lot more groups to explore things.
00:26:50
Speaker
there's different plans that offer a preferred network that you can go into for lower costs. So there's a lot of different innovative ideas out there to allow h r to really get more information from how their plan is being utilized and then allow them from there to make more informed decisions to help control costs overall.
00:27:12
Speaker
Very cool. I want to dig into AI a little bit more. I know that I, to some degree, I think it's a ah divisive topic for some people. Um, you know, for others, it's been a but huge game changer.
Future of AI in HR and Predictive Modelling
00:27:26
Speaker
um you know Talk to me a little bit on your thoughts on AI's overall application to the world of hr benefits in in some generalities. I know we've kind of touched on it a little bit, but by this I mean like what do you think has been the most beneficial, for example? I mean, is it totally – and it's totally okay if you say Nava, you know. Or what what can be done what can be done better?
00:27:51
Speaker
How do you see its use, you know, in the next – six months, 12 months, three years? I think we're just really at the cusp of it. And I am no tech geek at all. So the vision that our internal team has, it blows my mind sometimes because I'm like, well, I never thought about asking something like that.
00:28:12
Speaker
But I think there's a fear in AI taking over jobs. And, you know, well, if AI is going to be there to answer employees questions, what do I do? Well, within hr you're doing 15 things at the same time.
00:28:27
Speaker
You know, this AI tool is meant to really just help streamline, help make your life easier. It's not meant to take over anyone's job. It's just really there to help be an assistant for you. um And so and then as we grow, I think this the The AI is only going to get smarter. You know, we're we're version one right now where we're able to ask it and help with a lot of questions and put together emails and pull documents and and that type of stuff. But i I think in the future, we'll be able to see it really um maybe dig in a little bit more with protecting predicting predictability, perhaps.
00:29:10
Speaker
That would be awesome. You know, hey, We're seeing some of these claims thrown up. And so we you know, the prediction models are would come a little bit better. ah But, you know, it's hard. you know, hr has to be so secure and and HIPAA rules. And so you really have to have you you know, your, your compliance and order and, you know, hit the certification set in order to have HR be even wanting to talk about AI. Cause it's, you any information gets loose and that, that's no good for anybody. Yeah.
00:29:45
Speaker
No, you're right about that. I am kind of curious to touch a little bit on how it's impacting workers. Cause you know, you talked about how there are a lot of people who feel like AI is coming for their job. Mm-hmm. maybe they don't understand it well enough, or maybe they understand it too well.
00:29:59
Speaker
I guess it all really depends on on who it is we're talking about.
Ensuring AI Security and Strategic Implementation
00:30:03
Speaker
ah you know i I probably tend to lean towards kind of your perspective on it, that you know it's a tool for us. you know It's probably not going to replace as much as we thought it was going to replace, but rather give us the ability to 2, 3, our output.
00:30:19
Speaker
um From your what what you've seen with your customers, you know are the employees, are these workers generally taking to AI? Do you see there being a lot of adoption? Do you still see it mostly as you know those who've adopted AI to be ah just a small insular network and most people really haven't explored it or maybe have used chat GPT once or twice in their lives? you know Or do you see a lot of them really recognizing how it can benefit them or could be beneficial?
00:30:50
Speaker
Yeah. You know, we just rolled out this much that this month, our HQ for HR. So HR is just now getting on it. um And the feedback has been completely positive and good they're off, they're off struck by it.
00:31:09
Speaker
So I think even some, some who were maybe a little skeptical are like, this is amazing. I can just ask it any question. And so It's not necessarily even taken away from us. You know, our clients come to us for a lot of questions and maybe have to wait an hour or whatever, go back and forth while we research things.
00:31:29
Speaker
um And now they can just ask ai and they have it right there. If they have an employee in their office, they don't have to wait for me to pick up the phone or answer an email. They just ask AI and they get the question immediately. So it really helps just...
00:31:44
Speaker
everyone ah with customer service all the way around. And, you know, for HR, like I said, they're doing hundred different things during the day. So to have to pivot from one thing to another, this assistant really just helps, helps with that. And i so the, the feedback has been how much easier it's making their day to day, which is what was the ultimate goal.
00:32:08
Speaker
Yes, exactly. i was just going to add that that's true. And so I, as As more and more ai is applied to all the the the aspects, I guess, of of this employee experience, you know how we work, is there something that leaders need to be doing in order to sort of incorporate AI in the best way? our our employees sort of left to their own device to figure out how they want to incorporate it? What's ideal as they infuse it and into the organizations you know when it comes to operations and processes and workflows?
00:32:40
Speaker
Yeah, I think, um you know, you have to have, i think in general, you probably have to have some rules in your employee handbook or something about AI. You know, are our platform's very secure. It's limited to that particular client's benefit program.
00:32:57
Speaker
It's locked down. So it's not on the open internet. It's within, you know, a lockdown system. So it's never going to be used in chat GPT or anything. they're Their information is secure. So I think, you know I've talked to other clients who are like, well, we we can't use chat GPT because were um it's it's it's unsecured. right and And so I think making rules around it and and bringing it, if you're going to bring it in-house, you probably want it to be a little bit more secure rather um so people can use it. And you know I think it's great.
00:33:28
Speaker
I think you know for me, it's a mind break. if If I'm tired and need to draft emails or whatever, I can put it in chat GPT and like tighten this up for me because I can't think of what I want to say we're very well. And it's amazing.
00:33:44
Speaker
um So I just think for organizations, they really probably need to sit down and figure out
Balancing Tech with Mental Health Awareness
00:33:51
Speaker
um the rules around it and, and, you know, and, and, and step into it and lean, just kind of lean into it and start using it because I don't see it going anywhere and use properly. It really is an amazing tool to help streamline. It's an amazing tool.
00:34:07
Speaker
It can do fireside chats. I'm not even here right now. I'm having coffee over there. Yes. Yes. I love that. We're, we talked about that for our open enrollment meetings. We can like put this into a podcast for employees to listen to on their benefits.
00:34:21
Speaker
yeah So do do you see other applications for AI when it comes to the world of work? I mean, what what what's next, right? I mean, we've talked specifically about how um you know it works with but Nava, but what about the broader picture for HR in general? you know what's What's coming after after this or should anything come after it?
00:34:45
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I don't know. i mean, I think there is room for it if they want it. you know I see it could be used probably for recruitment and and maybe initial interview scopes. you know I'm not sure.
00:35:01
Speaker
ah that's That's tricky because HR is such a personal space. you know yeah eight folks are typically very, they're people, people, people, right? that's the fact We say that at Mustard Up sometimes. We're people, people.
00:35:18
Speaker
Yeah. And so i I don't really see it taking over too much of HR. I just, I really see it being, like I said, an option to allow for efficiencies. so um You know, you talked before a little bit about data, right? And about how some of it can be helpful how some of it having some more of it could be more helpful.
00:35:44
Speaker
Um, as all this stuff is going on, you know, do you feel like business and I'm, to I'm talking generally speaking and not necessarily only about healthcare. Um,
00:35:55
Speaker
But do you feel like the business leaders are paying attention to the right kinds of data when it comes to people's signals? I mean, they have access to more information now than ever. And that has to, it comes from, you know, their healthcare and benefits, employee engagement, productivity tools, um you know, messaging.
00:36:17
Speaker
It's literally, it's coming from everywhere, right? They have access to more than they ever have before. But what, do you feel they should be monitoring when it comes to engagement or workplace happiness and culture?
00:36:30
Speaker
Yeah. um And in that regard, all these different systems that they're pulling from and looking at, you know, that's, it can be overwhelming, right? They they don't know where where to look at.
00:36:41
Speaker
How do you separate the signal from the noise? Right. Right. So um yeah, that, that's tough. And, Perhaps that's ah a place where you can use AI to integrate it all and summarize it for you a little bit better.
00:36:54
Speaker
But I think um the productivity and the... is it the psychological health of employees is, is pretty well-being for sure.
00:37:08
Speaker
Their well-being. Yeah. Yeah. You know, for the longest time we've been, we've been focused on people's physical health, which we still are and still ought to be, but ever since COVID that, that mental strain, and I think it's only going to get worse because are our, our day-to-day is only getting faster. And, and so it's it's hard to adapt and,
00:37:31
Speaker
and the world and and our lives are constantly changing. So it gets to be exhausting as an employee. So I think, you know, really kind of focusing on that and, and, and normalizing it and acknowledging it with employees could be a ah big key.
Advice for HR Leaders to Challenge the Status Quo
00:37:51
Speaker
You just said something that I feel like I, I want to call out in a meme that, um, you know, as, you know, as time is rolling on, our, our days are just getting faster and just thinking about it in those, I mean, you put it so simply, but like, it's, it's true.
00:38:15
Speaker
i mean, all of us, you know, that the more tools we have at our disposal, the more things that we can do, right. Our output is growing exponentially.
00:38:27
Speaker
know, you know The more things we can do means the more things we are doing, right? And it's um it they it can feel overwhelming, right? And I think stop, like you're saying, just stopping to acknowledge those kind of things, right?
00:38:43
Speaker
um So that we all know that we all know. Yes. It's a really good step that... maybe not every business leader is is is making.
00:38:54
Speaker
um yeah so how how can they get better at it? You know, what what are your recommendations here? You know, I'm sure technology even can play a role. It's funny because technology is partially what's creating this, but it doesn't play a role in also solving it.
00:39:09
Speaker
No, no, it doesn't. I mean, you can get ideas, you know, put in chat GPT, how do I help my employees with their day-to-day angst or whatever, i bet, you know, you can probably get that. um But I think, I think acknowledging it and then just humanizing it a little bit, like, hey, let's all take a ah moment to realize that this is not easy.
00:39:28
Speaker
You we're all feeling the same thing. We're all feeling the same pressures. and And so folks don't feel alone. I think a lot of people think Sometimes it's it's only them. um You know, we work in a remote environment at Nava. And so the fact that we we can talk with each other and stuff and and share these, um we we do often over Slack or whatever and just vent to each other. But, um you know, with hybrid and and remote work, it's I think it's even and more important to really make sure there's a culture of openness and communication
00:40:05
Speaker
and to bring to bring that to light. and just for And it has to come from upper management for folks to realize that, yes, we understand it's not easy. This is hard um because you know life is busy. You have families or pets or homes to take care. it There's always something there to do.
00:40:29
Speaker
Um, hundred percent, you know, and I think that that, you know, sustainable impact, you know, is is going to come from these ongoing systems, right? Not just, not, not just static, uh, you know,
00:40:43
Speaker
one-off pulse surveys like we talked about before, um you know circumventing that stale feedback issue um you know is is super important. And it's going to take leaders right who who kind of see this, I think, and have the have the foresight to see it and understand it and are willing to take a beat.
00:41:02
Speaker
Yep. Let everybody know that we're all dealing with it and we and we get it. oh So to to to sort of wrap up the conversation, I mean, I i want to know... you know What else, tell me what leaders need to get better at when it comes to benefits, you know, or in general, if, you know, when it comes to their people, if you were to even separate them, because they could be two different things.
00:41:31
Speaker
um I think, um for what I'm seeing now too, I think a big part of it could be asking and pushing harder on on on the brokers, on us, expect more from us. Right. I want my clients to push me and really challenge me with the status quo.
00:41:55
Speaker
And I expect myself to do that, too. So I think I think oftentimes, especially Because HR, you know, benefits is not their whole world. it It's a side thing. They do once a year, really focus on it, and that's it.
00:42:10
Speaker
Although it's usually the second highest cost item within an organization right behind payroll. So, you know, to focus on it just a little bit. um But yeah, expect more from your broker. Expect more than status quo.
00:42:25
Speaker
Ask the hard questions. Push back. And, you know, Don't be afraid to explore options. if if you're If you're not getting results year over year, you know explore your options. I get it that your broker could be golf buddies with the CFO, but is that worth hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars to your bottom line?
00:42:49
Speaker
right So i yeah, I think just keeping an open mind, um you know we're we're leading the charge to to make our our space more competitive and, and, and change.
Podcast Conclusion and Call to Action
00:43:04
Speaker
Um, and so I think I'm proud of that for, for all of us here at NAVA that we're, we're really out there challenging that status quo and and helping leaders understand the importance of asking questions and, and, um, pushing back a bit more.
00:43:21
Speaker
I love that that was, um I love that answer. the answer of help make us in this whole industry basically better um by challenging us, you know, and, and, and leaders oftentimes get, you know, they, they, they get ah advice or recommendations, they get feedback or data or whatever it happens to be, um you know, from their, their brokers or from, know,
00:43:51
Speaker
you know whatever companies they use and they, they don't often challenge it. This is what I get. And, you know, I, I accept that as status quo, but it doesn't have to be. Um, so I think that that's, I think that that's really awesome. So i appreciate that. Uh, I appreciate you saying that. And it sounds like Nava is kind of doing all the right things to, um,
00:44:12
Speaker
you know, tip to help everybody that it that it can. So thank you. that's ah That's some pretty good advice for everybody. Hopefully they'll ah they'll they'll take you up on it. That'd be great. I'd love to, you know, even if it's just to give my two cents, I'm happy to do that anytime.
00:44:30
Speaker
Well, this was really insightful, Rachel. I'm i'm grateful for for all the time. I'm really ah appreciative, you know, that you were willing to join us today.
00:44:40
Speaker
but thank you. No, this was fun. i enjoyed the conversation as well. Appreciate it And i I want to thank everybody for joining us. This is Mustard Hub Voices behind the build. Be sure to like and share this episode.
00:44:54
Speaker
Remember to subscribe so you don't miss the next installment. I'd also like to recommend visiting us at mustardhub.com. There you can learn more about Mustard Hub. You can get started for free and discover how we help companies become destinations for workplace happiness and turn culture into a competitive edge.
00:45:14
Speaker
Till next time.