SummaryHow do you move employees from “using benefits” to feeling true ownership in the business? Keith Brown, Vice President of Total Rewards at Tractor Supply Company and a military veteran, shares practical ways to turn rewards into engagement, financial wellness, and better customer outcomes. Keith explains why transparency and empathy start with his own money story, then gets specific on how TSC boosts awareness—by communicating to families, building year-round education moments, and partnering with vendors for onsite and 1:1 support. He details a five-for-one stock split designed to make ownership accessible—framing ESPP participation as “$9 per paycheck” to drive uptake—and how the TSCme app centralizes pay, benefits, and wellness in one place. Looking ahead, Keith outlines the shift to choice-driven rewards, one-stop hubs, and AI agents that remove friction and multiply impact. He also offers a simple 30-day experiment leaders can run to kickstart financial wellness across their teams.Key Timestamps- [00:45] – Guest intro and money story: lessons from a cash-first family and the value of discipline- [06:20] – Early job takeaways: tips, pay accuracy, and empathy for frontline workers- [07:53] – Where comp/benefits break down: expectations, ranges, and benefits awareness- [09:50] – Raising utilization: family-inclusive comms, vendor partners, and timely education- [12:46] – Creating owners: five-for-one stock split and $9-per-paycheck ESPP engagement- [15:04] – The next 1–2 years: choice-based rewards, single-entry hubs, and AI agents- [18:52] – Measuring equity: the TSCme app, usage data, and third-party pay equity analysis- [20:36] – A 30-day experiment: “give every dollar a purpose” to build lasting habitsTakeaways- Involve families in benefits communications to increase awareness and real-world usage.- Program education around moments (open enrollment, holidays, tax time) for repeated exposure.- Lower barriers to ownership—use stock splits, discounts, and simple frames like “$9 per paycheck.”- Centralize benefits in one hub; reduce logins and make access mobile-first for frontline teams.- Offer choice-driven, modular rewards supported by AI and automated agents to keep admin light.- Validate pay equity with independent analysis, leveraging operational usage data to target gaps.- Run a 30-day “every dollar has a purpose” challenge to catalyze financial wellness and engagement.SponsorAllVoices brings all your employee relations work together in one place. No more jumping between spreadsheets, emails, and legacy systems just one place to document and manage reports, cases, investigations, and performance conversations. It helps you run a more consistent process, takes busywork off your plate with AI, and makes it easier to spot trends early, so you can work proactively, not just put out fires.See a demo at https://www.allvoices.co/
If your employees can’t explain how their pay is determined, you have a trust problem. Conner Shaw, Senior Vice President of HR Business Partners and Total Rewards at LiveView Technologies (LVT), shares how his team rebuilt compensation to scale—moving from a centralized, opaque process to manager-led decisions within clear ranges and guardrails. Drawing on his own money story and a career across tech and heavy industry, Conner explains why transparency, defined job levels, and visible paths unlock engagement, not risk. He details what changed when leaders got budgets, comp range access, and training on compa-ratio; why eNPS scores and comments surged; and how LVT is layering in performance rigor and sophisticated pay equity analysis next. Conner also tackles a bigger shift: as work becomes more transactional, benefits must be judged by utility over gimmicks. He closes with two 30-day experiments—one for HR to audit pay understanding, and one for individuals to track spending—that translate policy into practical wellbeing.Timestamps- [00:45] – Meet Conner Shaw and LVT: mobile security units, career path from oil & gas to tech- [02:42] – Early money mindset: value-maximizing kid to disciplined saver and what it taught him- [05:14] – First jobs and frugality: drum lessons, cement crew, and respecting hard-earned pay- [08:05] – How his money story shapes his HR philosophy: responsibility, freedom, and career paths- [09:52] – Where comp breaks down: the cost of secrecy and why paths, levels, and ranges matter- [11:11] – What changed at LVT: manager budgets, comp ranges, compa-ratio—and eNPS jumps- [12:52] – Next phase: tie pay to performance and install deeper pay equity analytics- [14:20] – The transactional workforce: utility over perks and rethinking benefits that truly help- [18:01] – Mindset shift for leaders: transparency as a trust engine (without posting everyone’s pay)- [20:01] – Tools and measures: guardrails for leaders, surveys, and scalable pay equity models- [21:40] – 30-day experiments for HR and individuals to boost clarity and financial wellnessTakeaways- Build pay transparency around clear structures—job levels, ranges, processes, and decision rights.- Equip managers to decide: give budgets, share ranges, teach compa-ratio, and set guardrails.- Measure impact beyond dollars: track eNPS and comments for signs of clarity, trust, and pathing.- Judge benefits by utility, not gimmicks; align offerings to real employee needs and usage.- Tie compensation to performance and impact, then audit with robust pay equity analysis.- Run a 30-day “pay clarity” audit: ask employees how pay is determined and fix the gaps fast.SponsorAura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations—Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence.With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track.See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/