- Key Insight: Discover how aligning benefits with "moments that matter" transforms employee experience.
- Expert Quote: "Participants actively connected ideas, creating ripples of implementable strategies," says Eric Silverman from Voluntary Disruption.
- Forward Look: Prepare for a move toward personalized, outcomes-focused total rewards and agile vendor partnerships.
- Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review
Contrary to Nevada folklore, sometimes whatever happens in Vegas has no business actually staying in Vegas. Case in point: Key takeaways for benefit brokers and advisers from last week's
Co-masters of ceremony, Eric Silverman, founder of Voluntary Disruption, and Ed Ligondé, a partner and market director with Nava Benefits, regaled attendees with light banter for the second straight year
"I love how everyone seemed to lean in and the audience seemed very engaged in each session I witnessed," Ligondé reports. "That's not too common at big events."
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What stood out for Silverman was the level of openness and collaboration across the industry. "Audiences weren't just listening," he says. "They were participating, asking questions and connecting ideas across sessions." The result, he adds, was a ripple effect of new ideas to implement, new relationships to pursue and renewed motivation to drive better outcomes for clients.
Conversations largely centered around delivering high-value, personalized benefits that resonate with employees' needs —
In exploring benefit trends on a deeper level, she was inspired to see how innovative strategies like aligning benefits with the moments that matter can transform the employee experience and foster a culture of care that truly makes a difference. "The future of successful total rewards programs belongs to those willing to challenge conventions, harness innovation and deliver the moments that matter," she adds.
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Quinn-Miles was struck by a comment Michelle Johnson, senior director of total rewards and HR operations at MAG Aerospace, made during a session on aligning healthcare benefits with employee expectations: That turning challenges into opportunities for connection can deepen engagement and build loyalty.
She believes that benefit consultants who are driven by innovative thinking will enable organizations to seamlessly transition from traditional models to more agile, personalized solutions that add real value to both their business and people.
Blair Booth, a senior benefits consultant for Innovo Benefits Group, appreciated the clear movement toward strategies that transcend one-off solutions and instead build long-term value for both employers and employees.
"For me, the real insight was in how these trends can be translated into practical strategies for clients — designing plans that not only help control costs but also provide meaningful support to employees in their daily lives," she notes. "That dual focus on cost sustainability and real employee value is where employers will see the greatest return."
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Booth also found value in candid exchanges that cut through some of the typical industry noise. One key talking point that stood out was an emphasis on ensuring that one's benefits broker is a trusted adviser and not just a friend to catch up with once a year.
"HR leaders and executives have a fiduciary responsibility to evaluate benefits each year and ensure their programs are aligned with both organizational goals and employee wellbeing," she explains. "That kind of honest peer-to-peer conversation reinforced the value of approaching benefits with both strategy and accountability, and it's a perspective I bring back directly to the work we do with our clients daily."
The conference exceeded expectations for Paul Ashley, vice president and corporate benefits consultant for NFP, an Aon company, who attended to celebrate Keystone Cooperative Director of Total Rewards Marie Yorn's recognition as an Excellence in Benefits Award winner. "What I gained was even more than expected," he says, citing new connections, new insights and best practices to support the clients he advises.
