Benefits That Actually Help: LEARN Behavioral’s CHRO on Financial Wellness and Student Debt

Summary

Most employees don’t need more perks—they need benefits they can actually use.

Maggie Ruvoldt, Chief Human Resources Officer at LEARN Behavioral, shares how her early money lessons (thanks, Grandma) shaped a people-first approach to total rewards for a largely hourly workforce.

She breaks down where comp and benefits often fail—financial literacy gaps, one-size-fits-all design, and confusing communication—and how to fix them with clarity, segmentation, and vendor partnerships that go beyond retirement.

Maggie details LEARN’s student loan support (including counseling via Summer), why HR should measure utilization and outcomes, and how listening tours revealed a childcare benefit no one actually used.

She also offers timely guidance for leaders navigating rising medical costs, plus a simple 30-day habit employees can adopt to build money awareness today.

If you’re rethinking financial wellness, pay transparency, and benefits equity, this episode gives you the playbook.

Timestamps

[00:10] – Maggie’s path to CHRO and LEARN Behavioral’s mission

[01:02] – Money lessons from Grandma: “Respect your money” and early habits

[04:22] – First paycheck: checking + savings, and “pay yourself first”

[07:15] – Translating money lessons to HR: hourly vs. salaried needs

[09:21] – Where benefits break down: literacy, communication, and one-size-fits-all

[12:28] – Student loans and vendor partners: education beyond 401(k), plus Summer

[16:44] – Measuring impact: utilization, surveys, and unsolicited employee stories

[24:20] – What leaders should do now—and a 30-day daily money check-in

Takeaways

- Segment your workforce and tailor benefits by population; hourly, salaried, and clinical roles need different solutions.

- Communicate total compensation simply and often; teach beyond base pay so employees see real value.

- Demand more from vendors: budgeting, debt reduction, and student loan guidance—not just retirement talk.

- Measure what matters: track utilization and contribution rates, then validate with qualitative feedback and stories.

- Reallocate dollars from low-impact perks by listening in the field and replacing what employees don’t use.

- Lead with empathy and transparency—especially in an employer’s market—to show employees they’re valued year-round.

Sponsor

Aura 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/