Welcome to Ben’s podcast

The Essential Podcast for Reward and Benefits Leaders

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Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/6SrUIGyGuMnr0bFKco2sDJ)

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YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0d6_4uQ1RJe3TJ6P2svE8nRQ-aqv7O7e)

Our podcast features people from

Recent episodes

Honest conversations with the people rethinking how work… works. From scaling culture to designing inclusive benefits, Friends with Benefits dives into the messy, human side of modern HR.

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Episode 

16

The One With Gregg Hall from Santander: Rethinking Who Financial Wellbeing Is For \ Most financial wellbeing programmes are built around wealth accumulation and assume the highest earners have it figured out. Gregg Hall, Senior Compensation and Benefits Manager at Santander, joins Carl and David to argue both assumptions are wrong.

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Episode 

15

The One With Adam Newton from Fastmarkets: What a 15-Month Global Benefits Implementation Actually Looks Like \ Global benefits transformation looks straightforward on a slide. It is not. Adam Newton, Head of Reward at Fastmarkets, joins Carl and David to talk through what it actually took to centralise and implement a global benefits programme across a highly dispersed international workforce.
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Episode 

14

The One With Peter Varga from Kyndryl: Why Global Benefits Administration Is Still Being Run on Spreadsheets \ Benefits technology has been around for 15+ years. So why are global teams still managing admin in Excel? \ \

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Episode 

12

The One With Claire from WPP: Why “Jazzy” Benefits Don’t Work If People Don’t Know the Basics \ Benefits teams are under pressure — rising medical costs, mental health claims, disengaged employees, and finance teams demanding proof.
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Episode 

11

The Christmas Special: Reflections, Wishes, and the Future of Employee Benefits \ What happens when a global reward leader redefines the purpose of financial wellbeing — and argues that mindset may matter more than tools?](/content/podcast/episode-11/index.html)

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Episode 

10

The One With Josephina from British Airways: Why Financial Empowerment Beats Financial Wellbeing \ What happens when a global reward leader redefines the purpose of financial wellbeing — and argues that mindset may matter more than tools?
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Episode 

9

The One With Tony from Aristocrat: What 40 Years in Reward Reveals About Employee Benefits \ What happens when one of the earliest flexible-benefits pioneers looks at the industry today — and realises many of the same issues still haven’t been fixed?
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Episode 

8

The One With Christina from Cohesity: How Benchmarking Broke Benefits (and Why Flexibility Can Fix Them) \ What happens when benchmarking becomes a comfort blanket — and the industry forgets what flexibility really means?
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Episode 

7

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?
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Episode 

6

The One with Lee from Block (ex-Google): Inclusive Design, Why Benchmarks Aren’t Enough \ Fairness is misunderstood, inclusion gets watered down, and global strategies fall flat but people still expect benefits that flex locally, support real lives, and reflect who they truly are.
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Episode 

5

The One with Benefits Leader Mark: Global Rollouts, AI Caution, and Why Engagement Is a Design Problem \ Global launches are chaotic, AI is overhyped, and design is an afterthought but people still expect benefits that feel local, scale smartly, and actually work.](/content/podcast/episode-5/index.html)

Episode 

4

The One with Steve from Autodoc: Radical Transparency, Reimagining Benefits from Scratch \ Fairness is messy, flexibility is overpromised, and comms channels are ignored—but people still expect benefits that are clear, consistent, and built for real life.
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Episode 

3

The One with Joana from Eventbrite: Mental Health, Global Equity & Marketing Your Benefits \ Mental health is under-supported, equity is misunderstood, and communication is an afterthought—but people still expect benefits that truly show up for them.
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Episode 

2

The One with John from Workday: Decluttering Benefits, Proving ROI, and the Truth About Data \ Benefits are bloated. Data is broken. ROI is murky. But people still need support that works.
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Episode 

1

The one where David and Carl started a podcast about employee benefits \ Complexity, personalisation, ROI, AI, global scale, engagement, education, and the evolving expectations shaping today’s employee benefits landscape](/content/podcast/episode-1/index.html)

About Friend with Benefits

Hosted by the team at Ben, Friend with Benefits is the podcast for People leaders who are building better workplaces. Each episode features honest conversations with founders, CPOs, and thinkers shaping the future of benefits, work, and culture.

About Our Hosts

David Duckworth

Co-Founder of Ben

David’s on a mission to make benefits simpler, more flexible, and more impactful for businesses and their people. Expect big ideas, bold questions, and a healthy dose of curiosity.

Carl Chapman

VP Benefit Design & Partnerships at Ben

With 25+ years experience in benefit design at the likes of Mercer and Aon, Carl spends his days helping leading providers and businesses deliver strategic benefits people actually use and love. He’s known for sparking great conversations that challenge the status quo.

Join Us on Friends with Benefits

Help Us Build the Go-To Resource for Reward Leaders

Let’s be honest, there aren’t many places for reward leaders to hear what’s actually working in the world of benefits. That’s why we created Friends with Benefits: the podcast where reward and benefits leaders share real stories, bold ideas, and practical tips with the people who need them most: other reward leaders.

Become a guest

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