# The One with Will from Halfords: Why Benefits Lost Their Way — and How to Get People to Care Again

What happens when employee benefits get too complicated, too noisy — and people stop caring?

[Listen on Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-one-with-will-from-halfords-why-benefits-lost/id1833945380?i=1000731669840) | [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0rj0cNmeBRFUv5O3KDqeS5?si=1W7UQzsSSoaJV8buPLHzyw) | [Listen on YouTube](https://youtu.be/jjBsMsfdqLc)

## About the guest

**Will Winter Smith** is the Reward Director at **Halfords**, leading benefits strategy for over 13,000 colleagues across the UK and beyond. With two decades of experience in retail and financial services, he brings a no-nonsense, commercially smart approach to engagement, value, and communication — and isn’t afraid to call out what doesn’t work.  
[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-winter-smith-36b279b/)

## Summary

In this episode of _Friends With Benefits_, we explore why traditional benefits strategies are no longer landing with today’s workforce. From private medical that “lost its way” to too many bolt-on products and confusing comms, Will shares a refreshingly honest look at what’s broken — and what actually gets people to engage.

## Topics on the table:

- Why private medical benefits have “lost their way”
- Breaking down real barriers to access and engagement
- Cutting through the noise of too many products and platforms
- Why “we’re retailers to our colleagues”
- Communicating benefits like marketers, not administrators
- Making tough ROI calls and stopping what doesn’t work
- How AI fits in (if at all) for reward teams

### **00:00 — Engagement Is Key**
**"Engagement is key to everything that we do."**  
Will Winter Smith, Reward Director at Halford

### **03:00 — Private Medical Has Lost Its Way**
**“Private medical has lost its way a little. How much does it really help with that immediacy of need?”**

### **08:00 — Product Overload and Noise**
**“Every insurance broker, every provider — it feels like everyone’s trying to offer some kind of wellbeing solution. One of the challenges employers have is: which one do you recommend?”**

### **16:00 — Benchmarking and the Same-Same Trap**
**“I think it’s important to point out that most organizations we talk to are benchmarking what everyone else is doing. You end up with all these same-same programs.”**

### **17:00 — We’re Retailers to Our Colleagues**
**“Effectively, as reward professionals, we are retailing to our colleagues.”**

### **21:00 — Guerrilla Marketing and Disruptive Moments**
**“What you’ve really got to do is make your communication stand out. How can you really wow your colleagues?”**

### **25:00 — ROI and Knowing When to Stop**
**“If it isn’t working and it’s expensive — stop it.”**

### **31:00 — AI Is Like Teaching a Toddler Origami**
**“AI is like trying to teach a toddler origami. One minute you’re close to a swan — and then it decides it likes the boat and sticks with the boat.”**

### **38:00 — Culture and Trust Around AI**
**“Some pretty strong comments have been made — things like, ‘I’m not really interested in what ChatGPT has to say about it, I’m more interested in your view.’”**

Listen to the podcast on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0rj0cNmeBRFUv5O3KDqeS5?si=1W7UQzsSSoaJV8buPLHzyw), [YouTube](https://youtu.be/waMiUc3S9H4), [Apple Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fwb-ep6-the-one-with-lee-from-block-ex-google/id1833945380?i=1000728014725).