- Key insight: Learn how on-site healthcare and career support drove retention and internal mobility.
- What's at stake: Employers risk talent loss and diminished resilience without integrated, accessible employee benefits.
- Expert quote: Owenby: "Employment experiences must build trust through communication and understanding beyond work."
Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review
Working in HR and benefits runs in the family for Aflac's chief strategy officer, Matthew Owenby. Like his father, a former HR professional, Owenby prioritizes the
"Everything about Aflac's employment experience is based upon relationships, which means you have to have a high level of trust developed through communication, focused engagement and taking the time to really understand the person outside of business," says Owenby.
In addition to Aflac's standard offerings, employees at its Columbus, Georgia headquarters have access to an on-site Acute Care Center and Health Clinic, on-site, discounted
For employees outside the Columbus area, the company provides child care subsidies, as well as online access to the career center's mentoring, resume and mock interview support, continuing education and other various services.
"I'm really proud of what we've done [at the center], because it shows we really care about their career, and we're focused on it," Owenby says.
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He shares more details about Aflac's on-site offerings, and why establishing a culture based on strong communication and trust can help companies navigate a crisis.
Why did you decide to bring healthcare on site for employees?
The idea of having healthcare on campus goes back to the good elements of the industrial age, where companies provided housing, healthcare, and education. This is something we did back in 2014. We [have] doctors and nurses on campus, [mental health] care [and] physical therapy. We offer virtual care, telemed and virtual prescriptions … [but] most people want to see their doctor in person. You can come in this morning, to this campus, and be seen within an hour [for] a general checkup, or something that's bothering you.
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Why is child care particularly important to your workforce?
We skew high with females in the workplace. We want parents to be comfortable with where their children are. You can just drop them off on the way to the office, you can see them on a screen and you get to see them during your lunch break. It's a convenience factor, but it's also a comfort factor.
How does the career center help with engagement, upward mobility and retention?
We have a philosophy to promote from within, and many years ago, we received verbal as well as written feedback that people didn't feel like we were doing a great job at that. So we created a Career Success Center that employees could access and get interviewing help, resume-writing help and career path help, and we saw our statistics go up dramatically.
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How has a people-first culture helped Aflac through tough times?
The COVID response was probably the most formative. We were, as a company, unusually positioned to survive the pandemic and come out on the other side largely unscathed, because we are employee-first. This meant that we could do things like evacuate all the workplaces within two weeks and have people still trust that we weren't going to eliminate their jobs. At the time of the pandemic, we had approximately 200 people working remotely, so to move 14,000 to fully remote was a big step, but we needed our employees to trust that we were putting their safety above our business.
A lot of lessons were learned from that. We didn't really experience the retention issue that other companies did. [It was] about repeating the approach that we take every day: Heavy communication. Tell people what you know when you know it. Treat them with dignity and respect. Be genuine. That goes a long way, particularly in a crisis.
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