Education & Communication: Benefits FOR LUMINAIRES 2022 Honors

As members of a complex and ever-changing industry, utilities professionals must continually learn and adapt to succeed. Education and communication remain key to growth and development, and the number of individuals and organizations leading the way is increasing.

2022 Luminaria honorees in Education & Communication have gone beyond their roles to enhance their partnerships in this field. These people and companies are recognized for the dynamic and inclusive ways they lead the health care industry. Each one has been selected by a distinguished and diverse group of industry leaders with input from our editorial team.

We hope you enjoy this year’s awards show!

Details

Rebecca Kuzemchak

Rebecca Kuzemchak, senior consultant, Engagement Practice at Bucks

Rebecca Kuzemchak joined the Bucks in 2015 as an intern, and quickly became one of the firm’s up-and-coming stars. She was named part of the Bucks Future Leaders (BFL) program in 2019, where she helped lead organizational changes during the pandemic.

As part of that effort, Kuzemchak helped develop a communications strategy for temporary salary reductions due to the pandemic, as the company sought to avoid broader job cuts. He also helped create and lead the company’s first-ever virtual summer internship program. His input on the proposed change of provider networks led the company to withdraw the proposal so that no provider network changes were made during the pandemic.

She also served as a mentor for internal and new hires and was requested as a “reverse mentor” for one of Buck’s top executives after she noted her insights into the BFL program. https://buck.com/

Becky Seefeldt

Becky Seefeldt, president of strategy, Benefit Resource, LLC

Becky Seefeldt is an industry veteran who has used technology to reach out to others in the HR field with the latest consumer driven benefits and help promote a virtual solution in recent months.

In his role at Benefit Resource, Seefeldt used a website, podcast (Bright Part of Benefits), and blog posts. In addition, Seefeldt has written extensively for industry publications, including SHRM, BenefitsPRO, Employee Benefits News, California Business Journal, and others. He is also a member of the Forbes Business Council and serves on the Board and Communications Committee Chair of ECFC, an organization dedicated to the education and promotion of pre-tax benefits.

As businesses looked for new ways to communicate and educate, Seefeldt used his experience to craft resources to facilitate industry experts and create useful connections. Topics covered include legislative updates, mental health issues, and how the pandemic has changed employee benefits. https://www.benefitresource.com/

Heather Smith

Heather Smith. CPO and senior account executive, Flimp Communications

After nearly 25 years at Fidelity Investments, Heather Smith joined Flimp Communications in 2020, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic made effective communication with employees more critical than ever.

Smith responded to the challenge by helping to create virtual benefits markets, which allowed employees to access benefits information remotely, and digital benefits support centers that provided employees with quick, universal access to changing company policies and important benefits information.

Smith’s work was called foundational, in part because of his success in the labor movement. In recent campaigns, its program has 72% employee engagement, and it has worked with more than 100 employers and buyers on social media campaigns.

In addition to her work in the field of HR communications, Smith runs a community non-profit that provides food pantries and other services to underprivileged members of her community. She is also active in education and currently serves as president of an education foundation. https://www.flimp.net/

Deb Smolensky

Deb Smolensky, SVP, Wellness and Management, NFP

Managers are increasingly seeing mental health benefits as a crucial part of their value proposition. Deb Smolensky has worked to help businesses recognize mental health as a key to helping employees in this area.

Smolensky works with organizations to build a strong mental foundation to foster greater resilience, productivity and happiness at work, providing employers with the tools and knowledge they need to facilitate mental well-being development so that their employees can perform at their best at work.

These services include a series of master classes, webinars, podcasts and white papers. She also created a 48-session mental fitness training program and is the author of a book on how to achieve more resilience, energy and happiness based on working with mental fitness and mental well-being based models. https://www.nfp.com/

Glenn Turchi

Glenn Turchi, managing director, MGM Benefits Group

Great communication skills, attention to detail, and sensitivity are among the conditions brought by Glenn Turchi’s collaborators. The company’s leadership training program is well-regarded, and it recently received applause for training employees about the benefits they offer. Turchi realized that with the growing use of mobile technology, workers needed a tool that could be smartphone-based and include all the learning information available from other platforms.

In addition, Turchi has led the company to ensure that marketing materials are available in both Spanish and English.

Company officials also credit Turchi with the transition to easing the acquisition of MGM in 2021, providing transparency and reassurance that people’s businesses will be retained after the merger. The MGM Benefits Group currently provides services for 397 groups, has 83,843 employees, and owns 126,992 member clients. https://mgmbenefits.com/

Organization

Health Financial Network The Chicago-based Financial Health Network educates, innovates and advises to improve financial health outcomes for all, with a specific focus on underserved populations. Our mission is to help business leaders and planners understand that financial health is the key driver of business and financial success. Initially focused on financial inclusion through the power of fintech, the impact of the Financial Health Network is now widely recognized as having shaped the industry’s transformation towards financial health for all.

The organization recently cast its net to the human resources community in an effort to convince employers that better economic health outcomes for employees will create even greater long-term value for companies. The network has more than 200 organizations in several countries, with almost 220 million customers, and is currently involved in designing programs that help customers manage their cash, in addition to risk, leverage and responsibly use credit and plan for the future. https://finhealthnetwork.org/

MGM Benefits Group MGM maintains its position as a leader in employee benefits products and services by providing clients with effective and easy-to-use technology and education to help make informed choices. Simply put, Richardson, a Texas-based company, believes it will educate. It does this through animated videos, targeted campaigns, quick access to flyers and useful brochures, and other educational tools that offer fun and engaging ways for employees to learn more about the various benefits.

MGM recognizes that printed materials are among the most popular methods of learning during enrollment periods, which is why its MGM Marketing Tools website allows partners to order strategic guides, product flyers, open group ads and other tools that can then be downloaded and printed. The firm also provides clients with templates and tools to simplify and humanize employee use of options. The MyBenefitsAide app was recently added to simplify the process even more. https://mgmbenefits.com/

New Care Administrators Inc. The new system aims to make healthcare less complicated for its industry partners, customers and members. To this end, its business model enables cross-functional team members to participate in strategic planning and look for trends in care, cost and service. Additionally, the New Relationship Care Care Navigation program provides high-touch support to advise participants on any policy-related issues, with “care navigators” serving as a single point of contact for members.

In addition, New Care Navigators are trained educators to be compassionate, thorough, respectful and truthful (“CARE”). The new integrated medical management program allows care navigators and the client account management team to work together to address trends and protect clients and their members. One recent example is the development of a transitional care program to train and educate members about hospital admissions, strengthening and improving compliance with medical care, both pre- and post-admission. https://www.novahealthcare.com/home