Summary
Julie Molloy runs compensation, benefits and recognition as EVP of Total Rewards at LPL Financial, a wealth management firm of roughly 9,500 employees whose entire purpose is helping financial advisors take care of everyone else's money. On this episode of Beyond the Paycheck, she tells host Kelsey Willock what happened when the company turned that purpose inward and gave its own employees free access to an LPL financial advisor. The early numbers are already moving: people who take even one meeting are raising their 401k contributions.

The conversation goes well past the program itself. Julie explains how she builds the internal case for benefits when the spreadsheet refuses to show a clean ROI, walks through a caregiver leave expansion at a prior employer that resonated so well it blew past every financial model her team had built, and names the two shifts she thinks HR is least prepared for: full pay transparency and the expectation that benefits will be personalized the way consumer apps already are. She also traces where her convictions about fair pay came from. She was raised by grandparents who lived on welfare, was the first in her family to attend college, made burgers at Burger King, and took her first grown up paycheck from a KPMG internship straight to the mall.

Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Julie's path through total rewards
02:26 What LPL Financial does and who works there
04:04 Burger King, KPMG, and the first grown up paycheck
05:43 Raised by grandparents on welfare
07:33 A free financial advisor for LPL employees
09:45 Why financial stress follows people to work
11:33 Making the case when the spreadsheet will not
14:25 Small round tables over three day conferences
16:43 The caregiver leave that worked too well
19:00 Pay transparency and personalized benefits

Takeaways
- LPL Financial gives its own employees free access to an LPL financial advisor, and employees who take even a single meeting are already increasing their 401k contributions.
- Julie treats financial well-being as the third leg of well-being alongside mental and physical health, not a nice to have bolted on at the end.
- Benefits investments rarely produce a clean ROI line, so total rewards leaders have to be storytellers first and back the story with engagement, turnover and internal promotion data.
- A caregiver leave expansion at a prior employer resonated so widely that it blew past every financial model, a reminder to pilot benefits changes and build in real financial contingency before going all in.
- The two shifts Julie thinks HR is least ready for are full pay transparency and employees expecting the same personalization from benefits that they already get from consumer apps.

Connect with the Guest
Julie Molloy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-molloy
Company Website: https://www.lpl.com

Sponsor
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