Episode 16: Caregiver Support, Financial Wellness & People First Benefits with Joy Awe

Join us for another episode of Bending the Trend hosted by Norm Volsky, where we sit down with Joy Awe, Wellbeing Manager at Insperity, to discuss how caregiver support, financial wellness programs, and personalized employee benefits can improve wellbeing while creating a stronger workplace culture.

In this episode, Joy shares how Insperity approaches employee support through innovative solutions that go beyond traditional healthcare benefits. From caregiver assistance programs like Cariloop to financial wellness resources and personalized coaching, she explains how employers can better support employees through some of life's most challenging moments while reducing stress and improving productivity.

The conversation also explores the growing importance of caregiver support in today's workforce and why many employees remain unaware of the benefits available to them. Joy discusses the role of communication, engagement, and proactive guidance in helping employees take full advantage of employer-sponsored resources. Looking ahead, she shares why the future of employee benefits will focus on personalized support and holistic wellbeing rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.

"Their coaches are incredibly kind and attentive."

Joy shares some of the solutions helping employees navigate caregiving responsibilities and improve overall wellbeing:

-Cariloop
-Financial Wellness Programs
-Personalized Employee Coaching
-Proactive Wellbeing Support
-Employee Engagement Strategies

Joy Awe is the Wellbeing Manager at Insperity, where she helps develop and promote employee wellbeing programs focused on caregiver support, financial wellness, employee engagement, and creating healthier workplace cultures.

💙 Caregiver Support: How personalized guidance can reduce stress and improve quality of life
⏰ Time Savings: Why Cariloop helps employees save an average of approximately 70 hours annually
💰 Financial Wellness: How financial support programs improve confidence and productivity
📢 Employee Engagement: The importance of communicating available benefits effectively
🚀 Future Benefits Strategy: Why holistic wellbeing is shaping the next generation of employee benefits

Like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations on bending the healthcare cost trend through smarter benefits and better employee experiences!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

We have to find real solutions, and this is bending the trend. Hello and welcome back to Bending the Trend with your host, Norm Bolski. And today we are thrilled to be joined by the well-being manager over at Insperity, Joy Aui. Joy, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

I didn't know that I was supposed to wear boxing gloves today. I would have gone down to my kids' martial arts bags and gotten them.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

All good. No, no, no. Not needed, but we're on the same team fighting rising healthcare costs. So super friendly podcast. And Joy, really appreciate your willingness to join and tell us about all the amazing things you've done, you know, in your benefits career. So, Joy, over Ad Insparity, what are some solutions and programs that you've put in place that have done really well that you would recommend to others?

SPEAKER_00 0:52

We've implemented a financial wellness benefit and a caregiver support benefit in the last several years. The one that I wanted to talk the most about today is our caregiver support benefit. We launched that in 2020 through CareLoop, and we have absolutely loved them.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

I love it. I love it. And talk to me about the financial well-being solution that you launched as well.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

So it includes a lot of stuff like budgeting tools, there's calculators to help you figure out how much you need to save, how much is needed for paying for college and retirement and all those things. We have a lot of webinar sessions scheduled with them, and our clients can schedule a webinar for just their employees if they want to do that. So that that one of my favorite things about that benefit is that they have resource centers organized by major life events. So you can say, like, oh, I'm I'm having a baby, I'm getting ready to retire or whatever, and it'll tell you here's all the things you need to think about for that.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Ooh, I like that. Very cool. And talk to me about why like Caraloop was the vendor you wanted to shout out most. Like, once you implemented them, what were the results? Not only in like cost savings or data, but also just like stories from employees that really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

So our employee population is about 62% female, and 82% of us are millennials or Gen X. So we have probably a disproportionate number of employees who would describe themselves as caregivers. And a whole lot of those people fall into the sandwich generation where they're caring for children as well as their aging loved ones. And we've just had an amazing experience with Carloop from day one. I'm really gonna age myself with this, and everyone's gonna know that I'm in my 40s. But you know that old commercial about the hair club for men where the guy says, I'm not only the president, I'm also a member. That is very much me with Caraloop. I'm the one that manages that vendor relationship, and I'm also a mom of two. I've personally opened a case with Caraloop for I think six different caregiving needs from finding a creative childcare solution during the pandemic to getting my child with ADHD on a 504 plan at school, end-of-life administration for an older loved one who was losing the battle with cancer, VA benefits for my husband. And in every incidence that I've opened a case, I've been blown away by the level of personal attention that my assigned coach puts in to help figure things out.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

I love that. And just as a user yourself, like how many hours did it save you? And what did it save you from not only the time and energy, but also just the burden of having to figure something out that like is not easy to navigate, and like having someone handhold you through that process not only saved you time, but also a lot of stress and anxiety.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Yeah, so Carolop estimates about 70 hours per case of time saved, and that sounds about right to me based on the things that I've used it for.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

So they've saved you like hundreds of hours personally.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

It's giving me so much time, and my my coaches have all been amazing. The 504 plan, especially, was a big time saver just because there is so much paperwork that has to be done, and there's just a lot to navigate, and the coaches will actually come with you on an iPad if your school district will allow it. They'll sit in on those meetings and ask questions and be part of the conversation with you and the counselor and the educational assistants. So that was huge. I just told them, here's what we need. I don't know what to do. Like, help. What do I need to do to get this 504 plan set up? And they told me, okay, well, here's all the documentation you're gonna need. Here's the paperwork that needs to be filled out, and we can come to the meeting with you and just every step of the way, they were there, and they made it so much easier than it would have been to try to navigate that whole process by myself.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

That is so incredible. I love that. What are some other like edge cases of things that they've helped you or your employees do that you're like, I didn't even know when I brought it in as a new solution that like it included these things in addition to like you know, the things most people think of when they think of a caregiving benefit?

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Um so they've expanded the offering since we launched. Uh we started in 2020. We actually had our launch date planned for March 1st of 2020. So we couldn't have planned. But the most interesting thing that they added since then was education support, which includes the 504 plan thing. Yep. But also navigating the FAFSA paperwork, how to apply to college for maybe students whose parents didn't go, so they're not able to help them with that process. If you have a person in your family about to attend college, they can help you figure out the admissions, give you some tips on writing your essays, or what to do to increase your odds of acceptance, success, find scholarships and student loans to apply for, just generally help with the financial aid, and all of those things that if you are new to the college experience would be very overwhelming and confusing.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

It sounds like it's literally helping people become either a better parent or a better child for their aging, you know, parents because it knows all the tips and tricks. Like you have to do the personal touch, but like all of the logistics, it's almost like pressing the easy button.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

It really is. And we've had all kinds of stories come in from employees from you know, I got them to help my parents figure out Medicare enrollment, or they helped this first-time college student who English was their second language figure out that whole process. And really, I don't know what the secret is with the recruiting team over there, but every single person that I've met at CareLoop, from my individual coaches all the way up to the CEO, everyone in between, they are just the nicest, most genuinely kind and caring people. And I would love for them to write a book about here's how to find these people and hire them at your business.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

I love it. Well, I love to hear a great recruiting story that's kind of where I came from, you know, in my career. So it's got a special place in my heart. So that sounds amazing. You know, you've implemented a great solution, you've seen the results, um, excited to hear like the new things you guys do at a disparity over the next handful of years. I guess my question is what doesn't exist in the benefits world that you wish did?

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Just understanding of what's out there. If I could find a magic bullet that would make everybody know what's in their benefits package and how to use it, that's the greatest struggle that I need to overcome is every time I do a presentation about here's all your well-being benefits that are available every single time without fail. I will have somebody afterwards tell me, oh my gosh, I had no idea we had all that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 7:27

And I think you at that point are like, oh my God, you've received so many emails and so many outreaches. Like, how don't you know? But I can't even describe how common that is. So don't pull your hair out. One of many, you know, the majority dealing with that same issue.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

There's just so much noise that you have to cut through. And we have a well-being specific microsite that we have monthly articles about something that's timely and trending in that space, and just getting people to get there and read it and understand, like, oh, okay, I do have all these things available that maybe I was already paying for the call map and I didn't know that we can get the call map for free, or you know, the caregiver support, or whatever someone is reaching out saying, you know, I'm getting ready to experience a loss in my family. We know that it's coming. What do we have? Like, here you go. There's all this stuff to support you. And it's always a surprise. And every time I'm like, please, please read your benefits materials. There's so many things that people are not using. Uh, we like we want to make your life better, we want to make things easier for you, but you have to take advantage of the resources that are there.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Totally, totally. Well, it's an issue, you know, every employer I've ever talked to, you know, is dealing with that. And I think with where technology is and like what artificial intelligence can do, it can really streamline all of these documents and like make them easily searchable and even do proactive outreach based on, you know, if you're able to get certain data that can really make people aware of what they have exactly like in real time before they even know they need it. Um, and Joy, you've done just such an amazing job of sharing what's worked at your company. Which benefits leader or in well-being leader would you recommend come on this podcast next? Who's uh who are you nominating?

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Um my friend Summer Rector would be an amazing guest. She's the executive director of executive compensation and benefits at Healthcare Service Corporation.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

I love it. Awesome. Well, we're really excited to have her. Um please you know make the intro and then we'll uh get it scheduled. We uh would love to have her and uh more excitement to come, but thank you so much, Joy, for you know joining us on uh Bending the Trend. Love what you shared about Caraloop and what you know caregiving support has done for your employees. And thanks for sharing. Really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. This was fun. Thanks for watching Bending the Trend, where we are looking to fight rising healthcare costs. We are asking benefits leaders what digital health solutions they've implemented that has helped them bend the trend.