As the war for talent heats up, employers are becoming more and more critical of their employee benefits package to attract and retain top talent.
Proactive MD is a healthcare provider committed to bringing holistic, primary care centered around patients and their needs. Employers use Proactive MD to give their employees personalized support from a doctor, whether mentally, emotionally, or physically.
John Rhodes, the Director of People Operations at Proactive MD, takes the same holistic approach when designing a benefits package for his nearly 300 colleagues.
As he was researching must-have employee benefits, a holistic financial wellness solution to address the financial needs of every employee topped the list.
Proactive MD is expanding—they currently have 280 employees located in 15 different states. With the company’s rapid growth, Rhodes’ focus is on recruiting and retaining talent.
“We’re in the war for talent, so we have to think of ways to offer benefits that aren’t offered by other employers or that are outside of the traditional health, dental, vision package,” Rhodes said.
He is also careful to select benefits that can serve all employees, no matter their life stage or income level.
“We have to be cognizant of the fact that we are dealing with people across the board, and there is no ‘standard’ employee we are dealing with,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes was looking for a financial wellness program that had:
Rhodes believed Origin was the right solution to check all of the boxes.
Proactive MD partnered with Origin in Q4 of 2020 to begin implementation.
Origin and Proactive MD worked together to identify key areas of support and strategic value drivers to ensure the success of the benefit. Origin put together an action plan to address priorities, which included:
Building on this understanding, Origin’s lead Certified Financial Planner™ delivered a custom webinar to address topics specific to Proactive MD employees.
Since Origin planners are fiduciaries, meaning they don’t make commissions or are incentivized to sell certain products, Origin also emphasized the value of the unlimited 1-on-1 financial planning sessions with Certified Financial Planners™ offered as a core aspect of the Origin benefit.
After Proactive MD introduced Origin, Rhodes was pleased to see an employee engagement rate of 24% and well-attended webinars.
In September 2021, right before Open Enrollment, Origin hosted a webinar about Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts. With Origin, Rhodes saved on the cost of hiring outside financial consultants to speak to employees about financial literacy, and ensured custom content was provided to the Proactive MD teams.
Following the financial wellness webinar, Rhodes noticed an increase in the number of employees interested in accessing their 401(k) retirement plan, a non-Origin benefit, to edit their contribution amounts and update investment allocations.
Every month, Origin provides Proactive MD data-driven insights to determine how to help its employees. The most common questions Proactive MD employees had are around analyzing current financial situations, understanding equity, managing expenses, optimizing investments, and planning for retirement. Planning for life goals, like purchasing a home or saving for a wedding, was also high on their list of priorities.
Proactive MD also includes Origin in its offer letters as a company differentiator.
“We start preaching we have Origin from the very beginning of the conversation because it is such a fight for top talent right now.”
As Rhodes is onboarding new employees, he said the ease of onboarding is one of the best parts of Origin.
“We have so many employees in so many different places. It’s just one link to send out, and they’re in Origin within 10 minutes.”
An important component of Origin’s relationship with Proactive MD is to continue ongoing wellness programs. As Proactive MD’s partner in financial wellness, Origin is creating courses and customized group sessions delivered by Origin’s lead CFP.
In the coming months, Proactive MD will be an early user of Origin’s Benefits Center. Employees can see a personalized view of their benefits plan to see how much their total compensation is worth easily.
“Origin is useful to every employee at every stage,” Rhodes said. “It’s not just the certified financial planning benefit; it’s way more comprehensive overall, providing a holistic view of your benefits.”
