In this episode of Friends with Benefits, Carl and David are joined by Steve Bianchi ex-Unilever, now Chief People Officer at Autodoc. Steve brings his systems mindset, startup grit, and global experience to the table as they unpack everything from UK healthcare policy to why payroll is the most underused channel in benefits comms.

They discuss the limits of fairness, the value of radical transparency, the true cost of “workations,” and why benefit strategies need to move from one-size-fits-all to hyper-personalised at scale. No fluff just sharp, structured thinking from someone who’s built benefits from the ground up.

00:00 – Should companies fill NHS gaps?

08:00 – The real shift post-pandemic

10:00 – Why prevention gets ignored

14:00 – Reimagining the value of healthcare

15:00 – How to build a benefits strategy from scratch

19:00 – Recognition as a benefit

25:00 – Career frameworks as proprietary benefits

27:00 – Trust and transparency over fairness

30:00 – The problem with intangible rewards

35:00 – What matters changes with life stage

38:00 – Why we’re failing on comms

40:00 – Hyper-personalisation is already here

44:00 – Should performance-based benefits exist?

49:00 – What great rewards leaders do now

52:00 – Steve’s Benefit Confession

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