When I first starting supervising Susan, I had no idea what all she did. I assumed she simply took care of all the administrative stuff related to benefits. But what I discovered she REALLY does is make people feel seen, heard, and valued. She listens to them and empathizes with their struggles. She takes the time to answer questions in a personalized way. She facilities warm hand-offs to our various vendors to ensure people have a positive experience getting what they need. She helps them navigate the confusing web of health insurance and Play Flex. She advocates on people’s behalf when our processes or benefit designs aren’t serving them. She guides new employees every step of the way with well planned out communications and individualized outreach.
Additionally, I can’t tell you how many times Susan has uncovered an issue with our benefits that she believes disadvantages someone and she presses for change. Just this past year, she made a HUGE difference in several individual’s lives that lead Hilltop to doing the right thing and putting people first:
- Someone who lost their husband and thought she had live insurance – and didn’t for reasons that were partially our fault – still got paid.
- Someone who thought she had full health insurance coverage – and because of a confusing fine print issue didn’t – received help and led us to adjusting our communications.
- Two people with diabetes who needed live-saving medications and devices that were cost-prohibitive under our current plan got what they needed – and our entire plan was altered to better serve all employees with diabetes.
- A termed employee who was about to lose $1,800 in her Payflex account was able to use it up in time with Susan’s coaching and support.
Simply put, Susan puts people first, even when it means more work and inconvenience for her. And she does all of this behind the scenes, never expecting praise. She does it because she genuinely cares about people.
