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Totally Rewarding Chats

Totally Rewarding Chats

Written by: WRKdefined Podcast Network
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The Totally Rewarding Chats Series is brought to you by co-hosts Sean Luitjens, VP of Community Engagement and Strategic Partnerships at WorldatWork, and Paul Reiman, Founder & Managing Partner of Novo Insights. They will be jamming on all things total rewards and compensation technology with category thought leaders.All rights reserved by WRKdefined Economics Management Management & Leadership Politics & Government
Episodes
  • AI Adoption in HR Without Losing Control

    AI Adoption in HR Without Losing Control
    Oct 15 2026
    HR and compensation leaders get a practical look at bringing AI into their organizations without creating new risks. HR consultant Jodi Brandstetter joins Sean and Paul to cover where AI works best in HR, why governance has to come first, and how to decide between the AI already built into your HR tools and building your own. They also share real examples of AI adoption going wrong, from employees pasting company data into free chatbots to an intern pulling data from several systems without anyone approving it. You will leave knowing how to start small, test AI on work your team already knows well, and set guardrails so employees can experiment safely. Chapters 09:24 – Where HR sees the most success with AI 10:51 – What organizations need before adopting AI 12:27 – Why to start AI on work you already understand 14:11 – Vendor AI versus building your own AI tools 16:22 – How to choose the right AI tool for your company 17:37 – Job matching, leveling, and embedded AI in compensation 20:45 – Why HR still needs basic AI knowledge 21:47 – Common ways AI adoption goes wrong in HR 28:08 – Using AI to rewrite a pay philosophy for different audiences 32:57 – How HR can become part of the AI conversation
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    37 mins
  • Rising Healthcare Costs and Employee Benefits Strategy

    Rising Healthcare Costs and Employee Benefits Strategy
    Oct 8 2026
    Healthcare costs keep rising, and employers have to decide who pays for it and what gets cut. This conversation looks at what is driving benefits costs right now, including specialty medications and GLP-1s. It covers how cost sharing affects the value of merit increases and why employees have trouble comparing benefits with salary. It also covers why total rewards statements can backfire when pay transparency is in place, and what employers can do to control spending without losing value. You will hear practical ideas: review underused benefits every year, use payroll data to see what employees actually use, and set different contribution levels for spouses and dependents. The episode also explains how lifestyle spending accounts work and why benchmarking is the best place to start a program review. Chapters 08:03 – Top benefits trends driven by rising healthcare costs 10:16 – Why the GLP-1 coverage debate is different now 13:16 – Employer versus employee cost sharing and merit increases 15:23 – Why employees struggle to connect benefits and pay 18:21 – Total rewards statements and pay transparency fairness 25:02 – Using company culture to explain benefit cost sharing 29:38 – Practical steps to control benefits costs 33:25 – Spouse coverage, wellness incentives, and cost caps 37:12 – How lifestyle spending accounts work 40:16 – Where to start when reviewing a benefits program
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    50 mins
  • Lessons Learned From Changing Lanes

    Lessons Learned From Changing Lanes
    Oct 1 2026
    Sean and Paul bring in Jessica Pontious, a compensation leader who spent a decade inside one company. Jess explains what actually changed when she started advising organizations across industries, sizes, and countries. The conversation covers why she left a large in-house rewards role, the fears that kept her from making the move sooner, which of those fears turned out to be unfounded, and what she wishes she had known about how much of comp knowledge transfers between industries. It also gets practical about how an outside advisor starts a new engagement, how to work with the person who built the program you were hired to examine, and why company size is a poor predictor of how well resourced a comp team is. Useful if you are weighing a move from in-house to advisory work, or if you are trying to understand how consultants approach a comp problem. Chapters 02:17 – How a compensation career starts by accident 10:55 – Why leave a stable in-house rewards role 12:36 – The fears that come with switching to advisory work 14:00 – Handling imposter syndrome after one industry 16:01 – Why different backgrounds produce better advice 18:25 – What stays the same about comp everywhere 21:06 – Where to start with a brand new client 24:18 – Diagnosing the problem instead of selling a method 29:40 – The part of in-house work that does not transfer 33:42 – Why comp team size does not track company size 45:04 – One thing worth fixing about how HR shows up
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    49 mins
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