Peak performance is not merely the absence of illness; it is a sustained state of optimal health driven by proactive measurement. When the CEO of Roblox challenged his HR leadership to treat employees like elite athletes, the Total Rewards team had to rethink the traditional reactive benefits model. The result was a shift toward a four-pillar framework focused on measurement, nutrition, movement, and recovery.

In this conversation, Supriya Bahri, SVP of Total Rewards at Roblox, details the implementation of their Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) program. She explains how providing employees with a one-month window of biometric visibility allows them to understand the immediate impact of stress, sleep, and diet on their bodies. Supriya shares her framework for balancing employee choice through Lifestyle Spending Accounts while managing costs effectively for a global enterprise. We also explore her perspective on using AI agents to scale benefits education and the long-term ROI of investing in proactive health data.

What You'll Learn:
- The four-pillar framework Roblox uses to drive sustained peak employee performance
- How to integrate Continuous Glucose Monitoring into a standard benefits package
- Why giving employees choice in medical devices increases utilization and satisfaction
- The strategic use of Lifestyle Spending Accounts (LSAs) for targeted health outcomes
- How to manage the trade-offs between high-cost proactive investments and long-term claims reduction
- Using AI-driven agents to handle 70% of employee benefits inquiries
- Strategies for moving beyond annual checkups to a continuous measurement culture

Key Quotes:
— "What is looking like an expense today is an investment in health... if you have fewer diabetic cases, your claims ratios are going to be much better."
— "We decided we want to emphasize on a proactive approach so that we can drive peak performance beyond a healthy baseline."
— "Choice is always something people value... if you give people options on which device they want to use, usage increases."

Supriya Bahri is the SVP of Total Rewards at Roblox, bringing over two decades of experience in compensation, benefits, and HR technology.

SEO Indexing: This episode covers total rewards strategy, employee wellness ROI, proactive healthcare benefits, lifestyle spending accounts, and corporate diabetes prevention. It is designed for HR leaders at tech and enterprise companies looking for innovative ways to manage healthcare costs through preventative technology.

The paternalistic era of HR is over. For years, organizations have built benefits portfolios based on what they assume employees want, rather than asking what they actually value. With four generations now occupying the same workspace, a one-size-fits-all medical plan is no longer a competitive strategy—it is a retention risk.

Jason Desentz, CHRO at Toshiba Americas, joins the show to discuss why variability is the future of total rewards. Drawing from his experience as both a senior leader and a heavy user of the healthcare system—having navigated his son’s heart transplant—Jason provides a raw look at the gap between benefit administration and the employee experience. We explore how to balance the complexity of managing 15+ different vendor APIs with the necessity of providing personalized care options that resonate with everyone from Gen Z interns to Baby Boomer manufacturing veterans.

What You'll Learn:
- Why the 'cafe style' benefits concept is making a comeback to address generational needs.
- The specific impact of ancillary benefits like pet insurance and home/auto discounts on talent acquisition.
- How to use pulse surveys and conjoint analysis to stop guessing what employees value.
- Strategies for bringing healthcare directly to the workplace, from mobile mammograms to factory floor education.
- How to communicate double-digit Rx cost increases without destroying employee morale.
- The role of early access pay programs like Stream in supporting financial wellness for hourly workers.
- Why the HSA should be framed as 'tax-free, free money' for long-term retirement healthcare.
- How to leverage UKG and preferred partner APIs to reduce the administrative burden of variability.

Key Quotes:
— We’ve gone from curious to cautious as a society, and we need to go back. If you want a better employee experience, you have to be willing to ask the questions and meet them where they are.
— People marry up their benefits costs with their salary increase. If benefits go up 10% but the increase was only 3%, they aren't stupid—they see the difference.
— I am of the philosophy that I have to help myself in my career, but as leaders, we have to provide the tools so employees can be their own best healthcare consumers.

Jason Desentz is the CHRO at Toshiba Americas, bringing over 25 years of HR leadership experience across the automotive and manufacturing sectors, with a Doctorate in Business and a focus on aligning people strategy with business outcomes.

This episode explores enterprise benefits strategy, total rewards ROI, and employee retention through the lens of HR technology, API integration for benefits administration, and consumer-driven healthcare models for large-scale manufacturing workforces.

When a tragic workplace fatality occurs, most leadership teams react with raw emotion rather than a structured financial strategy. Relying on inconsistent site-level donations and taxable one-off payments creates administrative chaos and inequity across the enterprise. This episode explores how to move from reactive crisis management to a proactive, structured approach that honors company values while protecting the bottom line.

Monica Anderton, CHRO of DuBois Chemicals, joins the show to break down the mechanics of establishing a non-profit employee relief fund. She shares the specific catalyst—a series of catastrophic events including a house fire and a site fatality—that led her to move away from ad-hoc plant-level budgets toward a centralized, third-party managed solution. We discuss the bridge between high-stakes emotional events and cold financial data, and how to build a business case that earns unilateral CEO approval.

What You'll Learn:

• The financial risks of taxable ad-hoc employee donations and site-level gift-giving
• How to seed and structure a 501(c)(3) employee relief fund to ensure IRS compliance
• Strategy for shifting the burden of eligibility decisions to a third-party partner
• Tactics for leveraging employee survey results to measure the ROI of compassion
• Why an analytic foundation in benefits and comp is the ultimate lever for the CHRO role
• Managing the "extra 20%" trap and why manufacturing leaders must fail fast on new initiatives
• How to use AI and Co-pilot for raw data visualization in HR reporting

Key Quotes: — We had plants giving thousands of dollars to things we weren't even aware of... it became about the consistency and fairness of an approach that's not going to get taxed. — In the business world, everything is math and data. That analytic foundation of benefits and comp has been core to my work history because it allows you to speak the business language. — Don't get stuck in a do-loop. 80% is good enough—the extra 20% won't make a material difference in execution.

Monica Anderton is a seasoned HR executive with an extensive background in manufacturing, retail, and financial services, currently serving as the Chief Human Resources Officer at DuBois Chemicals, Inc.

This conversation focuses on enterprise benefits strategy, workforce crisis management, corporate social responsibility (CSR) for manufacturing, and data-driven HR leadership in the industrial sector.

Traditional mental health benefits often fail the populations that need them most due to deep-seated stigma and cultural barriers. When aggregated health data reveals high stress markers but zero EAP utilization, benefits leaders must decide whether to double down on failing campaigns or throw out the standard playbook entirely.

In this conversation, Kristen Ynclan, Sr Director of Total Rewards at JD Finish Line, breaks down a radical decision to introduce on-site puppy therapy for factory populations. We explore the transition from blue-sky brainstorming to navigating a P&L contraction, and how to sell 'crazy' ideas to a CFO by anchoring them in hard financial data. Kristen shares her framework for identifying underutilized benefits and the importance of thinking like a business person first and a benefits leader second.

What You'll Learn:

• How to use aggregated health data to identify specific stress patterns in manufacturing populations
• The blue-sky brainstorming framework for removing barriers to creative benefit design
• Strategies for pitching low-cost or free benefits to stakeholders during company contractions
• Why EAP utilization often lags behind medical claims for stress-related illnesses
• The logistical reality of partnering with charitable organizations for on-site wellness
• How to measure the ROI of novel benefits through claim reduction and qualitative feedback
• The necessity of trade-offs: when to cut underutilized benefits to fund high-impact programs

Key Quotes: — The crazier the idea, the better the data supporting it needs to be. — Benefits are supposed to take those potential stressors and help the employee manage them so they can focus on work. — It is more fun than anything in the world to start at crazy and end at success.

Kristen Ynclan is the Senior Director of Total Rewards at JD Finish Line, with extensive experience leading global compensation and benefits strategy across enterprise environments.

This episode explores total rewards strategy, employee stress management, healthcare data analytics, manufacturing workforce benefits, and the ROI of mental health interventions in an enterprise HR setting.

When healthcare renewal rates hit double digits, the instinct is often to shift the financial burden onto the workforce. Choosing to move in the opposite direction—cutting a popular carrier to lower employee contributions while maintaining identical coverage levels—requires a masterclass in data-backed advocacy and change management.

Lisseth Zouhbi, CHRO at Child Care Resource Center, joins the show to break down a high-stakes medical plan transition. She details the specific calculus used to evaluate geographic provider density and the communication strategies that prevented a potential morale crisis. This conversation moves past high-level strategy to look at the granular work of Q&A tracking, broker-led webinars, and the push-pull of internal budget approvals.

What You'll Learn:

• How to conduct a quantitative carrier analysis to ensure coverage parity
• Strategies for presenting benefits changes to the board using competitive external data
• The three-pillar framework for complex benefit plan transitions
• Using internal budget approval windows to leverage better carrier terms
• Why over-communicating through office hours reduces enrollment disruption
• Balancing employee demographics with rising healthcare market trends
• Lessons in proactive due diligence versus reactionary benefit renewals
• The role of wellness programs in driving long-term healthcare cost containment

Key Quotes: — "It was about having a plan for the employees that would actually save them money instead of increasing their benefit costs by double digits, but eliminating a carrier that was one of the most popular." — "When you present it not just in 'here is the cost,' it’s explaining beyond what is the financial impact... this is where engagement, attraction, and retaining talent are important." — "Check off the boxes, but ensure there is participation; we created different forums to make sure we created opportunities for them to ask those questions."

Lisseth Zouhbi is the Chief Human Resources Officer at CCRC, bringing over 25 years of global HR leadership experience across hospitality and the non-profit sector.

Professional benefits leaders seeking to manage escalating healthcare costs while maintaining a competitive talent edge will find this analysis of medical plan renewals, carrier consolidation, and CHRO-level decision-making essential for their upcoming open enrollment strategy.

Negotiating medical insurance renewals often feels like a defensive maneuver against double-digit increases. When the carrier proposed a significant hike despite positive claims experience, Pamela Brown saw an opportunity to do more than just lower a number — she saw a chance to fund a culture shift. By aggressively bidding the business and peeling back the onion on carrier margins, she secured a 4% cost reduction that allowed Crunch Fitness to extend benefits to their critical part-time workforce.

In this conversation, Pamela Brown, EVP of People & Culture at Crunch Fitness, breaks down the executive-level math behind switching carriers. She explains how she moved from a 14% proposed increase to a 4% absolute savings, and why she traded the pain of employee disruption for a 25% improvement in retention. We explore the tactical side of manager enablement, the strategic value of a 20-year broker partnership, and the specific way to pitch a benefits overhaul to a CEO by leading with the business outcome.

What You'll Learn:
- The specific underwriter data points used to challenge a 14% renewal increase
- How to leverage competitive bidding to secure a second-year rate cap guarantee
- The internal messaging strategy that secured executive buy-in in a single meeting
- Why lowering the full-time benefits threshold to 25 hours transformed trainer retention
- Strategic use of voluntary benefits to provide value to the entire workforce
- How to manage employee frustration during prescription and provider disruptions
- The importance of bringing your broker on-site to meet the people the plans serve
- Negotiating margin back into the portfolio to fund expanded coverage

Key Quotes:
— "The outer layer of the messages the carrier is going to give you shows you what they want you to see. We dug deeper to see that they still had margin."
— "If you really do your homework, you're also going to be more confident in that one executive leadership meeting."
— "Our retention among part-timers has improved twenty-five percent... and a lot of that difference came after we changed our benefits."

Pamela Brown serves as the EVP of People & Culture at Crunch Fitness, bringing over 20 years of HR leadership experience to the enterprise fitness space.

Learn how senior HR leaders manage medical insurance carrier transitions, negotiate broker transparency, and use benefits cost savings to drive employee retention and EBITDA in enterprise organizations.

Moving an enterprise with decades of tradition toward a modern benefits philosophy requires more than just data—it requires deep cultural conviction. Consolidating 27 competing legacy time-off plans into a single, unlimited model is a high-stakes play that most conservative industries avoid.

Kristine Karnath, Group VP of Global Total Reward at Moog, Inc., explains how she successfully navigated the internal resistance of transitioning an aerospace and defense giant to an unlimited PTO structure. Despite initial skepticism from the C-suite and manufacturing leaders, she leveraged the company’s core value of trust to replace outdated accrual systems with a recruitment-forward model. She details the critical lessons learned about implementation timelines and why the 'black and white' data of medical billing doesn't apply to the gray areas of corporate culture change.

What You'll Learn:
- The strategic process of consolidating 27 disparate legacy PTO plans into a single enterprise-wide policy.
- How to pitch radical benefits innovation to a conservative C-suite without a traditional slide deck.
- Navigating the specific challenges of implementing flexible time off within manufacturing and engineering environments.
- The 'liability side-benefit' of reducing millions in banked vacation payout obligations from the balance sheet.
- Why the timing of your benefit announcement could be creating unnecessary organizational anxiety.
- Strategies for managing high-tenure employees who view legacy benefits as a 'savings account' for retirement.
- Real-world advice on distinguishing between theoretical change management and actual behavioral shifts.
- How to use culture and trust as the primary defense for unconventional benefits decisions.

Key Quotes:
— There were teams told to consolidate everything but not take anything away and not add costs. When you have 27 plans, that is impossible to do.
— This wasn't just about a plan design. This was about actually working with people to get them to understand the concept of what we're doing.
— You don't learn that much when things go well, but you learn a ton when things don't go well.

Kristine Karnath is the Group VP of Global Total Reward at Moog, Inc., a world leader in flight control systems, where she has led benefits strategy and compensation for over two decades.

This conversation focuses on Total Rewards strategy, benefit consolidation, unlimited PTO implementation, and change management for HR leaders in aerospace, defense, and manufacturing enterprise sectors.

Summary
On this episode of Build Your Benefits, Aditi sits down with Michael Bodziner, Co-CHRO at Gensler, to explore what benefits leadership looks like when empathy drives the decision-making process. Michael shares how Gensler navigated one of the most debated benefits decisions of recent years — offering GLP-1s for weight loss — and what it took to get a cost-conscious executive committee to say yes. He also opens up about the tension between empathy and scale, and why some benefits decisions that feel like the right thing to do have to wait. In his closing remarks, he offers a simple but powerful framework for career success that cuts against the grain of today's hustle culture.

Chapters
00:00 Michael's 40-year journey from summer intern to Co-CHRO at Gensler
03:30 The co-leadership model: how two CHROs split the role without a rulebook
06:00 The GLP-1 decision: cost, culture, and a committee
10:00 What data couldn't tell them — and why gut instinct filled the gap
13:00 Seeing the transformation: when results show up in the room
16:00 Benefits communication: why you can't overcommunicate
19:00 Life-cycle based outreach and what AI could unlock next
21:30 What keeps a CHRO up at night: the one employee with a story you can't ignore
24:00 What Michael wishes more people understood about benefits work
26:30 Slow and steady: career advice from someone who's been at the same firm for 40 years

Takeaways

1. Offering GLP-1s for weight loss wasn't just a cost decision — it was a values decision, and framing it that way is what got it approved.
2. When data doesn't exist yet, common sense, empathy, and gut instinct are legitimate decision-making tools for a benefits leader.
3. The hardest part of the job isn't saying yes — it's saying "not this year" to a benefit that matters deeply to a real person with a real story.
4. Overcommunicating benefits isn't spam — people only pay attention to what feels relevant to their current life stage.
5. Relationship-building isn't soft skills advice — it is the career strategy, especially in a people-first culture.

Connect with the Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-bodziner-4236352/
Website: https://www.gensler.com/

Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Multiply Mortgage, helping employees unlock the value of homeownership. Learn more at http://www.multiplymortgage.com