Mental health awareness is more than just one month out of the year. It's a year-round opportunity to continue to show up for your employees so they can do their best work and live their best life. And that's how Lisa Harris, Chief People Officer, and Jody Breault, Manager of Benefits and Wellness at VEIC, view their workforce strategy. In this conversation, host Jeff Cross chats with Lisa and Jody about the innovative ways they are supporting their employees' mental health and wellbeing to...

With the workforce becoming increasingly diverse year over year, employers are struggling with finding the right type of benefits that fit all their employees' needs. But there's one benefit that's ranked as the second most valuable employee benefit among all age groups, demographics, and industries: lifestyle spending accounts (LSAs). Tune into this episode as the host and guests dive into what LSA's are, why they are gaining traction amongst many different types of employers, how they work,...

In this quick hit episode, we'll cover why SECURE 2.0 was created, what the impact will mean for your organization + your people, what deadlines are approaching, and what employers should be thinking about now to implement in the future. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, accounting, legal or tax advice. Any tax advice contained herein is of a general nature. You should seek specific advice from...

In this episode, Host Jeff Cross is joined by Travis Dommert, SVP of Talent at OneDigital, for a candid conversation around why retaining your employees is not the answer when an organization is building their workforce strategy. Travis challenges the status quo by identifying how changing one word can completey alter the way leaders show up for their people and how employees view their managers - in the best way.  Music By: Colin Cross Music

Paul LaVoie, Chief Manufacturing Officer for the State of Connecticut, joins Host Jeff Cross for a conversation about the state of manufacturing in CT and the impact the current workplace challenges are having on this. The two dive into topics such as staffing, the great resignation, the impact of a recession, and bringing more work to CT. Paul gets into his time as General Manager at Carey Manufacturing, where he led a happily and fully staffed team and successfully put a succession plan in...

Before you press play, make sure you go back to Part 1 released on January 10th to hear the first part of this conversation between Host Jeff Cross and David Tate. Being able to promote accountability is essential for organizational success. But the realities of how work has changed demand a new approach to accountability that supports results, people, and a culture of continuous improvement. Host Jeff Cross sat down with David Tate, Psychologist, Executive Coach, Professor at Yale, and...

Being able to promote accountability is essential for organizational success. But the realities of how work has changed demand a new approach to accountability that supports results, people, and a culture of continuous improvement. Host Jeff Cross sat down with David Tate, Psychologist, Executive Coach, Professor at Yale, and Co-Author of his recently released book, "Conscious Accountability", to discuss why accountability is so important and how can leaders can leverage this idea of...

With being almost a full year into the new Connecticut Paid Family and Medical Leave program, we decided to sit down with a CT-based employer to find out how things are going. Kate Pikul, HR Director at Avid Marketing, shares her experiences with the state plan, how her team and employees are finding the process, what hurdles they are still facing and what's next as they look at the private plan options. This 40-minute episode is packed full of great insight into the CT PFML program - take a...

Rachel Waldmann, Sr. Manager of Employee Experience at Privy, joined us this week to discuss the shift we are seeing from the term "Human Resources" to this idea of the People Experience and how employees are expecting more from their employers, brought on by the pandemic and the Great Resignation. The two also get into this idea of being happy at work; why employers should care about their employee's happiness level and ways that HR professionals and other leaders in the organization can get...

Most likely, the vast majority of your employees have or are currently experiencing some sort of trauma brought on by current life events. Inflation, rising gas prices, the war in Ukraine, political divisiveness - just to name a few of the ongoing stories hitting the 5:00 news that are causing stress levels to rise and distracting us from being able to focus on our daily tasks. Adrienne Rouan, Executive Trauma Coach, sits down with Jeff Cross for a candid conversation around how we can better...

Karen Casey, Head of People & Culture at Canidae Pet, joined Host Jeff Cross this week to discuss an important topic that all human resource professionals run into at some point in their career: managing poor performers. The two get into a great discussion around coaching vs. managing, how much time performance improvement plans should be given, how the employee's role in the workplace culture may be just as important as their performance, advice for when you have to let someone go, how...

58% of those who are feeling stressed, depressed, and lonely attribute it to financial problems.* Whether employers realize it or not - a majority of their employees are dealing with financial stress which leads to distractions at work and decreased productivity. For business leaders who truly care about their employees and want them to be able to thrive at work while also being ready to retire on time, tune into this episode with Gordon Oliver at Cambridge Credit Counseling. You'll walk away...

Tune into this episode with Rebecca Sarkosi, Associate & Director of Interior Design, as she dives into something most employers forget about when putting together their strategy for combatting the great resignation: the physical workplace. During this discussion, Rebecca shares with Jeff how employers can leverage their office space to help their employees feel more comfortable coming back into the office. Topics include what changes employers are making to the workplace since COVID-19,...

Stephanie Johnson, Training Consultant, joins Jeff Cross on our first episode of 2022 to chat about hiring diversely. Employers have been prioritizing their DE&I efforts over the past few years, but many are still struggling with where to start. Stephanie dives into what it means to hire diversely, the steps HR professionals should take to ensure they are increasing the diversity in their applicant pool, where she finds they usually get stuck and how blind resumes and interviews play a...

Sara Martin, CEO at WELCOA, joins the podcast to discuss her thoughts on the Great Resignation, how mental health has played a role, what employers and leaders should be doing about it and where she sees the future of work heading. An impactful 30-minute episode for any organization looking to support their workforce holistically in 2022.

Sleep happens outside of work hours - so why should employers care about their employees sleeping habits? Patrick Yam, CEO at Somnology, joins Host Jeff Cross, to dive into this and address the impact sleep has on employer-sponsored health plans as well as employee wellbeing, in addition to what HR professionals can do to better support their employees during the Q4 stress.

With less than 3 months to go before Connecticut Paid Leave Benefits kick-in, employers and HR professionals across the state are looking for answers as it relates to the process of applying and tracking claims, if a private plan option is still advantageous, and why employers should be holding on to their STD plans. Ben and Chris from the Principal join Host Jeff Cross to answer these questions and more while providing insight into what they've been seeing in other states. If you still have...

Dr. Mary Mulcare, Chief Medical Officer at Summus Global, joins Host Jeff Cross in a lively discussion around "care delay," covid regulations on telemedicine that are expiring and how to continue the momentum around leveraging telehealth services. A timely episode as many are heading into Open Enrollment season and are looking to continue to support their employees from a virtual standpoint.

Should we be mandating the vaccine? Can I make non-vaccinated employees pay for weekly COVID-19 testing? What about health-related exemptions? Reilly Billian, HR Strategy Consultant, joins Host Jeff Cross to tackle these questions and more in this quick-hit episode that explores what decisions employers are facing and the HR implications behind them.

If you're looking for inspiration around how to create an intentional culture - one that goes beyond the "fluffy stuff" (like a pool table) and greatly impacts recruiting and retention - you've found the right episode! Maureen Gallo, Executive VP at Beekley Corporation, joins Jeff to share her secrets when it comes to hiring (known as Selecting Winners), achieving consistent low turnover, putting an emphasis on 'Caring to Communicate' (the name for their feedback initiative), implementing...

Connecticut State Senator Kevin Kelly joined the podcast to discuss the future of healthcare and what impact that may have on employers in 2021 and beyond. Jeff plays devils advocate to have a candid, open discussion with the Senator on various topics including the recently-vetoed public option (SB-842), prescription drug costs, and what we can learn from Massachusetts to build a better program in CT.

Although May is Mental Health Awareness Month, it doesn't mean we stop talking about mental health the other 11 months out of the year. Meghan Stokes, VP of Clinical Services at BHS, joins the podcast this week to discuss how employers can (and should) build a mentally healthy workplace to better support their employees. We dive into where the best place is to start for supporting mental health in the workplace, how to determine what your employees are most concerned about, and best practices...

With the IRS releasing additional guidance surrounding the COBRA subsidy in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Jeff Cross sits down with Bob Radecki, Senior Regulatory & Public Policy Analyst at Benefit Comply, during this timely podcast episode to answer your most pressing questions. What are the employer responsibilities with this COBRA subsidy? If someone is on COBRA and they paid their April premium, does the employer have to cut them a check? Who is eligible for this subsidy? How...

You're in for a treat with this episode! Jon Pace, Chief People Officer at Compass MSP (formally IT Direct), joins Jeff for an engaging discussion on a myriad of topics including their plan for returning to the workplace (or "returning to people"), how they've maintained their tight-knit culture during a recent acquisition, what workplace happiness truly means for their workforce and much more. Jon was our first guest on the podcast back in 2019, and we are excited to welcome him back.