MODERATOR: Now about today's program, "Next Level Support: Evaluating and Evolving Your Family Care Benefit Strategy." To lead our program, we have Nigel Birtwistle, who is the senior vice president of client services at Bright Horizons. He has worked at Bright Horizons for 24 years, and he is responsible for supporting the strategic goals of many of the world's leading employers by developing and implementing tailored care and education support services that serve the unique needs of each organization [00:00:30.359] by meeting the needs of their workforce. 

We also have joining us, Kim Duck, who is the vice president of global benefits at News Corp. She has been with Dow Jones & Company and News Corp Benefits team since 2001. She is responsible for the strategy and daily oversight of the health and welfare programs, well-being initiatives, and events, as well as absent management for approximately 7,000 global active employees and 1,700 retirees in the U.S. Kim and the team are also heavily involved in the marketing [00:01:00.219] and promotion of their benefit programs to employees, including the global versions of their My News Corp Benefit websites. I'm pleased to turn the webcast microphone over to our speakers. 

NIGEL BIRTWISTLE: Hi, everybody. Great to meet you all, albeit virtually. I'm looking forward to a session with the team and obviously with Kim, who I will introduce again in a few moments. So let's jump straight in. So according to the Harvard Business Review, 73% of all employees now have [00:01:30.040] some type of current caregiving responsibility, making caregivers the fastest-growing workforce demographic. Two generations, the millennials and Gen Z, are in or soon will be in their prime caregiving years. And currently, they make up almost 40% of the global workforce, a figure that will rise to close to 60% by 2030. In other words, we're no longer talking about millennials and Gen Z as just the future of the workforce. They are now very much the present workforce. 

However, [00:02:00.200] these generations are a little different from the generations before them, who are a little more reserved in bringing their personal conflicts into the workplace. Today's workforce is emboldened. They are tomorrow's leaders who are taking a firm stand on what they want from their employees and what it will take for their employers to keep them. Seventy-eight percent of parents say that they are more comfortable than they used to be in speaking up to their employees about family-related responsibilities. Meeting their needs both in and out of the workplace is therefore becoming [00:02:30.080] more essential to attracting, engaging, and retaining today's top talent. So with that said, let me introduce today's esteemed guest, Kim Duck. Kim is the vice president of Global Benefits in News Corp. Kim, please tell us a little more about yourself and News Corp, and share a few introductory thoughts on your approach to supporting today's working caregivers. 

KIM DUCK: Well, Nigel, thank you for having me. Thank you for inviting me to come talk about News Corp and our story. So again, my name is Kim Duck. [00:03:00.319] I help to oversee our global benefits here at News Corp. And while you might not know us by our brand name of News Corp, you most certainly will know the brands that sit underneath our flags, our mask head. Many of you are getting your news from the "Wall Street Journal." I know even more of you are getting your news from the "New York Post." We also are proud to publish "The Times" out of London, "The Australian" out of Australia. 

So as you know, we are a global [00:03:30.479] organization. We also have a real estate business. You might know us better as realtor.com. I love those commercials when everyone wants to see what your home looks like. We also have another group, REA Group based out of India, again, in our real estate world. And many other small individual organizations that all lead up to our opportunity to really delight our consumers in our content and to be a trusted resource amongst those looking for knowledge. 

[00:04:00.080] So we know amongst our organization about a third of our population are parents or are caregivers. And so that makes the work that we put into our benefits hugely, hugely important. We also know that our average age is starting to drop, which means that we have a lot more of our employees within the caregiving, whether it be young children, it might be their elderly parents or those folks who are frankly stuck in the middle of that sandwich generation. So we know with a younger workforce that we really [00:04:30.319] need to be quite diverse. I mean, again, five generations in the workplace makes it almost impossible for employers to have something for everyone, which is what frankly we strive to do. We know in our organization that benefits have three very important opportunities for us. 

Our job is to attract new employees. Our job is to retain our employees. And we want to make a positive impact on the health and well-being of our employees, which caregiving sits now in the heart of. It's not [00:05:00.139] just a nice to have, it is an absolute must have. So as we approach having modern and holistic benefits, again, to suit all five of those generations, we really approach it across five pillars. So we look at lifestyle, we look at caregiving, we look at your physical health, we look at your emotional health. And lastly, but not any less important, right, the financial health of our employees, which I know we'll start to dig into all of those today. 

NIGEL: Great [00:05:30.139] stuff. Thanks, Kim. So let's talk a little more about the caregiving pillar. The workforce is indeed getting younger and therefore the needs of working caregivers are evolving and expanding at a pretty rapid rate. We're going to dive into some of the new data that we're seeing around working caregivers. Bright Horizons recently conducted our 10th annual Modern Family Index to measure the current state of family care in the workplace. 

Over 2000 working adults with children under 18 were surveyed, offering their insights into their biggest wants and needs as working caregivers. [00:06:00.959] Two thirds of those surveyed who are planning to have more children in the future say they would consider waiting to grow their families until they're at an employer that offers better family care benefits. Forty percent of employees with children feel the workplace has gotten worse for working parents in the last decade, with less than a third of parents saying their employer helps them with the cost of child care. So these figures in mind, Kim, what are some of the ways that News Corp is helping support working parents with their caregivers' needs? 

KIM: [00:06:30.399] I mean, it's such a big need amongst employees. And you said it earlier, right? They're under pressure. They are more willing to disclose that they're in these circumstances. So I would say we've been really lucky. So we have a child care center here. I'm actually on our Princeton campus today. We offer subsidized access to our employees and also to members in our community. Again, we're a global organization. And just because you have child care or elder care needs or caregiving needs here in the U.S., [00:07:00.220] it doesn't mean that it's really any different for folks outside of the U.S. And so we are very lucky to be able to offer and partner with Bright Horizons and offer our backup care to employees both in the U.S. and in the UK. We offer 20 days of backup care, which is a hugely successful benefit. I know we're going to touch on it in just a little bit. 

We also offer our families with new babies as they're coming back to the workplace in a additional 20 days in that first year of life under the infant transition program. Again, [00:07:30.079] wonderful opportunities for folks when you're coming back to the office from a parental leave. Life is crazy. Babies are getting sick. You need time. You know, you need to juggle. And so having solutions becomes really quite important. And then we're lucky to have access for whether it's here on our child care center for summer camp. We offer school breaks, so we tend to call it schools out, and having opportunities for folks to pool resources because it certainly is hard enough to [00:08:00.139] figure out care on your daily schedule. But then when that daily schedule changes, having resources available to you to make your life just that much easier. 

NIGEL: That's great. Great to hear that News Corp is so conscious of its working caregiver population and is going that extra mile to support them. So parents in the hidden middle, those with school aged children, and they're often sort of lost in the shuffle right between childcare and elder care. So it's wonderful to see a company like yours recognizing the unique needs of this group. What [00:08:30.079] kind of results have you seen from the programs that you're offering, Kim? 

KIM: So, it's actually been quite incredible. And I will say sometimes word of mouth is that best opportunity to help grow. So year over year, we continue to see people enrolling. I will say the pandemic probably sped that up even faster. People were desperate for care during the pandemic and then it hasn't slowed since then as people are coming back to work. So as you can see on the slide, you know, how many days we've saved [00:09:00.200] our employees over the last two years, 3300 days, which is incredible, about 1500 back in 2022 and just over 1700 in 2023. I mean, it's just growing like gangbusters. 

And I think, you know, Nigel, you touched on it before. People used to be so hesitant to disclose that they have this other facet of life. We used to walk in the door and you only talked about work because I think people, frankly, were afraid to disclose, "Oh, I have [00:09:30.039] a young child," or, "My child was home sick today and I needed to juggle." But now, especially, I would say with the millennials and the Gen Zers who are certainly more open to disclose, people are starting to feel much more comfortable about bringing their full selves into the workplace and being able to disclose it. 

So on our website, which as was disclosed in the earlier introductions, it's mynewscorpbenefits.com. We welcome anyone and everyone to come and peruse what we offer. But we use it as a great opportunity to [00:10:00.139] be able to showcase some testimonials from our employees. We also use it on our Instagram. So here's just an example of what we hear from our employees, which I'm sure many of you benefit professionals, you hardly hear from your employees when things are going well. We certainly hear from them when things are going bad. So it's really lovely when the Bright Horizons team can share with us testimonials like this, because you know you're really offering a program that's meaningful. I mean, this touches people's lives on a daily [00:10:30.220] basis. And I don't know that everyone can say that about their career, that you really bring value to people on a daily basis. It's a great opportunity. 

NIGEL: That's great. So you brought up an interesting point there, Kim, and I think I may have spoken earlier, so I'm going to reiterate the point that employees used to be afraid or at least they were hesitant to bring up family care responsibilities at work. But now they are much more comfortable in doing so. In fact, many feel that they have to do so. So I [00:11:00.279] remember the study that I referred to earlier supports the trend and shows that today's parents feel much more free about being candid than working parents were 10 years ago. They're more forthright about what they need. And now they're prioritizing companies that can actually provide it. 

In fact, 70% of employees now say that working for a company that offers benefits to support work-life balance is non-negotiable. And on a side note, I always wrestle with the term balance because I'm actually not sure it ever is a true balance, but [00:11:30.059] hopefully you understand the reference. Data also shows that working caregivers are having trouble striking this balance themselves. Sixty-three percent of working caregivers worry that they're unable to give their families their all, and 58% report that they're not giving 100% of themselves to work. So for employers, this means implementing programs that allows more flexibility at work. So Kim, how is News Corp enabling flexibility and that better work-life [00:12:00.059] balance? 

KIM: So Nigel, I couldn't agree more. I don't know that that word balance actually really exists, right? There are some days I think as a working mom, work has won, and there are other days that I think my family has won. And sometimes I sometimes feel like everybody actually is a loser, right? I don't know that that balance actually exists. But we do try to provide resources in multiple different ways to employees [00:12:30.059] because the journey that you walk is different than the journey that I walk. And so making sure that people have resources or opportunities to bend into work and to bend into home as they need, it becomes super important. 

And so I think on the next slide, there's a stat that talks about...I'm going to read it because I know I'm going to forget it and say it poorly, right? So that just under half of millennials and only about a third of Gen Zers, they cite work as central to their identity. [00:13:00.000] Right? So different than what it used to be. And so we need to be able to recognize that. I mean, the pandemic, I think, jumped all of us from a working remote or a hybrid work schedule and how we all were accepting of that. And so as we think about benefits, you know, we really have three strategic principles that we've worked into our strategy globally, right? 

So one is flexibility. And part of flexibility is thinking about your overall benefit plan and how can you make it work best for you. But also falling [00:13:30.159] into that is that hybrid work. Can we create opportunities for employees to be in the office when it works for them, to be at home when they need to be. Maybe somebody needs to get off the bus and you just can't be in the office that day. So creating that space and that dialogue with managers, I think, becomes incredibly important. 

Our second strategic principle is to be supportive. It becomes so important to our employees that they are supported. You said it before. It's non-negotiable. [00:14:00.059] Now they need to know that we are with them across this journey and that we've met them across all of those unique moments that matter. And then the third is to be inclusive, right? That falls into so many of our strategies about how do we bring DE&I in. How do we bring everybody to the party? And we think about things like, you know, we have a compassionate caregiver leave, which here in the U.S. is really just paid FMLA. But it gives people the freedom that, you know, if your family [00:14:30.259] member is sick and you now feel that you need to be here but you don't need it, if it was just regular unpaid FMLA, you wouldn't have been able to prioritize being home with your family to take care of them when they needed you. 

So offering it as a paid benefit really gives people the opportunity to feel seen, to feel heard and to be where, frankly, they're needed the most, as much as I would love to say that that's always working. Not always work. So being able [00:15:00.399] to be flexible, to be open to change, to having a dialogue between managers and employees to understand what is most important to you today and how can we all walk together to make that happen, I think, is a balance that I don't know that we've totally cracked yet but we're certainly putting our best foot forward to it. 

NIGEL: That's great. So I think the consistent underlying message there is more [00:15:30.399] and more leading employers, organizations are recognizing the importance and the benefit of having to focus on work-life balance and to terminology we've referenced several times, it is becoming a non-negotiable. The employees in the workforce today and in the future workforce expect it. And I would suggest those employers that aren't addressing it are those that will be left behind. Again, I can elaborate on that later if necessary. [00:16:00.179] So here's a short clip of another Bright Horizons client, this one unique Mister Car Wash and what they're doing to address the work-life balance needs of their population. 

VIDEO START: 

MARY PORTER – Chief People Officer, Mister Car Wash: Recruiting and retaining frontline employees has never been more difficult. I mean, it's challenging. Frontline employees really have a lot of choices today. There's lots of different options, lots of companies [00:16:30.059] doing a lot of really creative things. And so we really have to find ways to differentiate why Mister. How we show up in terms of caring for our employees really matters more and more today. And, you know, I think balancing the demands of home and work for caregivers today has never been more complex or difficult. 

Backup care is one of those benefits that I think is really special. It's really about creating a peace of mind for [00:17:00.240] our employees and creating a little bit of a safety net. We've all faced that morning call when our caregiver has fallen through or there's an unexpected closure and you're left with this kind of helpless feeling of, "Well, geez, what do I do?" And so for us having this contingency for our team members allows them to know that when they're faced with that, they have choice, they have options. And then that also allows us to, you [00:17:30.099] know, help them continue to maintain pay because missing a shift, one shift or two shifts can have a profound impact. 

This idea came about through conversations I had with several field employees, as they raised, you know, concerns and challenges with the things that they face when they have to miss work. When we looked at our locations and map them to Bright Horizon locations, the overlap was well over 90%. And to us, that meant we could really serve our employees in a meaningful [00:18:00.140] way through this partnership. When you're operating a wash and a team member calls off for their shift, other team members have to step in and carry the weight. And so I think we'll see an uptick in productivity. I think team morale will improve. And at the end of the day, that means better service for our customers. So I think it's a win-win all the way around. And we're hearing stories around their excitement to cover planned closures. So, you know, there's a couple holidays coming [00:18:30.099] up, they're like, "Oh, my daycare is going to be closed. I've signed up, I'm excited that I have this option." We have a people-first culture where we're super focused on creating an environment where our employees can really shine. 

VIDEO END. 

NIGEL: That's great. Great to see one of our clients and great to see a little video testimonial like that. So awesome. So let's move on to the topic of academics. So higher education is obviously a major point [00:19:00.059] of emphasis in the benefits world. However, often the focus is from the employer solely on the pursuit of education of that employee despite the children's academic plan and being a major stressor for parents. So at News Corp, I know you provide academic opportunities for your employees and their dependents. So can you speak a little more about that? 

KIM: Yeah. So I mean benefit professionals, I think, are super aware everyone has been struggling with the fact that millennials and Gen Zers are coming out [00:19:30.000] with debt. Their parents have debt that have been putting them through college. And so they are prioritizing sometimes paying off their loans before saving for retirement, which is so critical to be able to start. You know, when you get into the workplace to save time and time again as it compounds to get you ready for retirement. It's kind of like a big circle. 

So, you know, like many organizations, we have put in place a program where you don't have to prioritize your school loan versus saving [00:20:00.440] towards your retirement that if you, whether you're the parent because you had a loan for your child or you have a loan for yourself, you can continue to pay down your student debt, which is certainly an important, and I get it, right, the first opportunity that you want to get out of that debt. If you can showcase that you have been paying down that debt, we will then use that as an opportunity to put the match into your 401(k). 

So if you before were saying, "You know what, I can't just can't afford to save for retirement, [00:20:30.200] I'm going to pay down my debt," you don't have to choose anymore. We're going to help you along the way and continue to put money into your 401(k) so that you're not behind the eight ball when you're done with that debt. So that's piece number one. Piece number two is we know that education for your child is so important. And so we have great opportunities through Bright Horizons through our enhanced family solutions where there's opportunities for virtual tutoring, for in-person tutoring [00:21:00.160], for child learners, for adult learners, right, giving you the opportunity to jump your game. 

Definitely, I love the SAT and ACT prep, which is huge, as I'll fully disclose, I have a student who's going to be rolling into college. It's an excellent opportunity to get them just comfortable and acclimated and ready to take these big tests. We offer College Coach which was a newer program we [00:21:30.079] put in, I don't know, probably go 8 to 10 years ago and that provides an amazing opportunity for families. Nigel, you talked about it, how going through this higher education process is so stressful. Again as a parent who just went through it. I use College Coach myself to be able... 

There was a lot of delay and concern in understanding what the fast foot means. What do we have to do? What does this delay mean for us? How am I going to be able to move forward with [00:22:00.160] what our financial packages look like? But they also offered my students the opportunity to review his essay. So when he was going ahead and creating his profiles and submitting his applications, we already had a resource. Somebody who had been a college admissions counselor who had provided him edits and not just one round of edits. I think they went through two or three. And I knew his essay was tight. 

I knew that it addressed what college admissions counselors were looking for. It [00:22:30.019] wasn't me, big, bad mom being like, "You need to fix your essay." It was somebody from the outside really being able to lend in with their expertise. And then I didn't have to be the hammer that kind of sat on him for that. So huge kudos to you families who are using College Coach. The word of mouth on that once people get through it, they're like, "This is amazing. This answered my questions." They can help curate lists of colleges to understand, you know, based upon their wants or their needs or [00:23:00.000] where they think they want their wants and needs to really kind of get them on the right path which anybody who's a parent, you wear your heart on your sleeve. And when your child is all stressed out, you're super stressed out. And College Coach just made this process, at least for me as a new mom into it, so much easier. It's just a phenomenal opportunity. 

NIGEL: Thanks, Kim. I can tell you as a almost 25 year veteran of Bright Horizons, I have two girls, junior or freshmen in [00:23:30.220] college. And I can tell you back in the day I leveraged...we received College Coach as an employer benefit. I leveraged College Coach to help figure out what my savings strategies should be. And then when they applied, I use them for the essay, particularly for the essay portion. And super valuable, really helpful tool. Certainly cut through a lot of time and angst and stress from my family's side. So a great benefit. 

So another key benefit that young employers are now looking at is well-being support. And that seems to be quite [00:24:00.099] a sort of a buzz term used out nowadays according to Willis Towers Watson, a Boston-based consultant firm, obviously almost 70% of employers prioritize well-being initiatives to enhance their benefits. So moving to well-being, Kim, what are some of the offerings that News Corp is now providing to support their working caregivers? 

KIM: So that's such a big topic. And, Nigel, it really is kind of like the buzzword of the day. And no surprise, you know, we offer an EAP [00:24:30.160] which is pretty generous, and offer folks 10 sessions whether it's virtual or in-person for every incidence that they might have. So if you are for example, you're worried about money, you are having relationship problems, and your parent passed and you need to talk to someone, in that instance, somebody gets 10 sessions for each of those instances. So 30 instances. So a really great opportunity. 

I think which sets us apart from many organizations is we spend the month of [00:25:00.000] May as our Mind Matters month. And so last year was our first year out with it. We did it just in the U.S. This year, year two, we went global. So we went global across almost 24000 employees at News Corp. And we devoted the entire month's communications to mental health and emotional well-being. So we have a website and we offer information about the resources we have about your EAP. Our publications [00:25:30.099] have great articles or podcasts that cover all of these topics. So we're already reporting on it. And so bringing that content in to employees so that we know that you might have your own stress. You might have your stress about your career. You might have stress at home trying to hit multiple different areas, making sure that there were flyers available. And like I said, podcast or short videos. So we really spent the month devoted to Mind Matters month. 

Subsequently, we also [00:26:00.180] have Headspace. So when the pandemic rolled around, we knew that the EAP, which jumped dramatically in utilization which is fantastic, but we also rolled out Headspace. So our opportunity to purchase Headspace for every employee. So we pay the membership fee and then you can use it. I am not going to lie. I'm a huge proponent of Headspace. They have some fantastic sleep apps and sleep meditation. I teach [00:26:30.240] Sunday school on the weekends and I teach it to kindergartners and pre-K, and we meditate every class. Sometimes you just need to bring that energy down ever so slightly. And we sit and we meditate, which is a lovely way that I can take a resource that work has offered me and use it in my everyday and personal life. 

Not surprisingly, we offer a great opportunity for some voluntary benefits, [inaudible 00:26:56] insurance, auto and home, extra critical illness [00:27:00.380] or accident coverage. Many of you do offer programs like that and you would think to yourself, "Well, that's really more financial well-being." But frankly, it brings peace of mind to employees to have these extra kind of coverages. 

One really unique piece that we offer is a membership to DoorDash. So again, I'm a huge proponent of this one especially on the days that I'm in the office and I spend eight hours here, I have my commute in, I have my commute at home. I don't want to go home [00:27:30.259] and cook dinner for my people who are waiting for me to cook dinner. And so I'll cheat and I can order DoorDash before I even leave the office and my meal and I arrive home at the same time. It's a great way to save myself a little bit of stress. And frankly, it's ready to go right when I get home and it's easy [inaudible 00:27:50]. And frankly, then my kids will text and be like, "We'll eat Chinese," which is a lovely opportunity. 

And then because we are a very decentralized organization, [00:28:00.980] we allow some programs that are specific to some of our business units. And so Dow Jones particularly has a relationship with Virgin Pulse. Our realtor.com has a relationship with Grokker. So even that physical outlet of energy can really relate right to that mental well-being. Certainly, if your body is feeling better and you've had the opportunity to expel some energy or go for a walk, you know, there's opportunities [00:28:30.140] for you to mentally feel better. So it's a great opportunity, I think, for employees and the opportunity to bend in as fits for you. We certainly know not everything fits everybody, but I tend to think we have a little bit of something for everybody, which I think kind of resonates there. 

NIGEL: I've got a vision, Kim, I love the fact that you say your people. That's what you refer to as your people are waiting at home for you to cook. I think you've got to hope someone at home actually gets a cookbook and maybe they [00:29:00.099] can figure it out for you. That'll take the stress off you. But I get the DoorDash reference. 

So let's do a quick poll of the group. Let's hear from the group what you're doing to prioritize health and well-being at your organization. So take a look and select your response. Okay. All right. Interesting. Perhaps not a surprise, actually, that the high percentage of you selected to [00:29:30.099] improve and increase communications to your employees. So an interesting stat that's worth highlighting is 55% of employees wish that they had a better understanding of their benefits. So I think this certainly is aligned with that statement. So from a communication of your benefits to your employees standpoint, Kim, what's News Corp doing? 

KIM: So I will say a lot. I think that we tend to, and for a media company, I guess it's probably no surprise, we tend to communicate a [00:30:00.500] lot. And I have to say from watching that poll come in, I'm very heartened by the fact that no matter where we all are located or frankly what industry we're in, we all kind of are facing the same challenges, right? Nearly 50% of you picked communication. And thank you for teeing it up because this was literally the next topic that we were getting to. 

But we do a ton of communications. And so the hard piece becomes just because I announce a benefit doesn't mean [00:30:30.039] that you the employee are going to remember it when you need it because you might need it today, you might need it seven days from now, you might need it seven years from now. And so that makes the communication campaigns that we all go on incredibly important because it's the way that we drive and measure the utilization and engagement in our program. 

So for us, part of our strategy really hinges on being able to provide benefits that matter to you in a very concise communication campaign [00:31:00.380] and using technology. So I mentioned earlier before our website again, please everybody can feel free, the mynewscorpbenefits.com. We actually have those sites in all of our different regions. So I have one for retirees. I have one for Canada. I have one for Latam, I have one for EMEA, and then I have one for AsiaPac. So having a website that sits outside of a firewall so that way you don't have to remember a user name or password, and your benefit information is there. 

It's also a great opportunity [00:31:30.500] for your recruiters to be able to leverage these sites because frankly, your benefits really showcase the brand and kind of who you are underneath the covers for people. So if you're considering coming to work for News Corp, you probably want to know what do we stand for, what do we offer, what makes us a really good choice for you to come put your stake down, and build a career with us. So having an external facing website, we found, is an excellent way of [00:32:00.140] getting our name out there, of getting our brand out there, and of advertising our employee value proposition. 

We also do things which are much more traditional. I can't tell you how many times home mailer really purely actually work. We know that we can measure a campaign. We send out, I will tell you postcard, because heaven forbid you actually have to open an envelope. That's a barrier to you getting information. So we rely a lot on postcards or oversized postcards [00:32:30.460] because sometimes you, my employee, are not the person that I actually need to communicate with. It might be your partner who is at home who might be your decision maker or the one who books the care. If I just send it to you at work or you only see it at work, this person might lose out on the opportunity to help you participate and [inaudible 00:32:50] into our programs. 

But that said, it's not just about home mailer. You know, we have posters in the office. We have digital displays in all of our offices. [00:33:01.039] We do an Instagram, which I know sounds kind of crazy to be able to put together an Instagram. We post. I actually run it myself. I post usually like three four times a week, whether is it a story or is it a post. Please, feel free. You can follow us as well at newscorpbenefit. Again, it's a lovely way for you to get bite sized information. People really struggle with those long verbose emails, or again you can't open [00:33:30.240] an envelope to open an 8.5 by 11 piece of paper. So Instagram is a great way. I snag you in with a really great image. And then I give you one or two sentences about what is this program or what are we trying to drive or what do I want you to click on. I will say that that's a work in progress. 

And then we do a newsletter. So every month we send out a newsletter to our employees in the U.S., and we'll highlight one or two big [00:34:00.079] stories. And sometimes it relates to a celebration that's going on during the month or a deadline that's coming up. We'll give you a couple three or four short stories about stuff that might be happening with some of our vendors. We feature an app of the month. All of our Benefit vendors have an app. So making sure that you're aware of it and you're downloading it and how do you find it and what do you do with it. 

And then frankly, events of partners like Bright Horizons are amazing and provide us events every single month, [00:34:30.000] workshops and webinars that employees...or podcasts frankly that employees can can log into and share within a community. And so making sure that all that is out there. We're probably about three four years into that, and still our open rate is hovering about the 60%, 64% open which I am actually...I take that as a huge sign. 

You might not click further, but 60% of them are opening it and at least perusing to get through, which again [00:35:00.219] short, smart, little tidbits might be just the way that we keep it right here in the back of your brain. So when something comes up and you say to yourself, "Oh. I think my employer has something about that. Let me go find it." Versus, which is the worst thing to happen, which is something happens in your life, you could have needed a resource, and you never even knocked on our door to come in and utilize. So I think communication, we're all struggling with it. I would love to say we have the magic bullet. I don't think we've [00:35:30.320] nailed it yet, but I think we're certainly open to trying almost anything to get in front of you, our employees, to just again, jar you when you need us the most. 

NIGEL: Still grow some really good examples though, Kim. And I think some of them sound like they're being really effective. And you sound busy, so you need a vacation. So my last little problem, my last little question to you, Kim. So 44% of working [00:36:00.000] parents anticipate that the workplace will actually get better for working parents over the next decade. So as you look towards the next five years, what are some of the key areas of focus for News Corp? And how do you see your caregiving benefits evolving? 

KIM: Well, I think parity is probably pretty important and equity. I touched on it earlier to say just because your body might be in the U.S. doesn't mean that you have any different caregiving opportunities from someone who might live in London or Barcelona [00:36:30.260] or Singapore. And so I think we really need to continue to evolve our strategy so we're not so U.S.-focused that we need to be able to expand. I think it's easy in the U.S. to expand because there's so much innovation. There are so many point solutions. There are so many vendors out here to partner with. 

And so a lot of times as we talk with companies like Bright Horizons and it's a lot about where are you going next, where are you growing next and sharing, here's where we are, and are you looking to go here so that we can really [00:37:00.019] start to bring some of that equity to employees. I mean, I frankly will hear from employees maybe in AsiaPac who look at our fertility benefit in the U.S. and are like, "I want this." But this doesn't exist where you are. And so how can we start to break down some of those barriers and start to deliver? 

I will say right, the UK menopause support. You are farther along, you folks in the UK, than we are and having that conversation here in the U.S. I think we're just starting to crack that, to crack [00:37:30.099] women's health and really start to differentiate between just general health care and understanding that depending upon your body's makeup, you are going to react differently to medications, to treatments, and how do we really start to drive services and solutions to you that work for you, and frankly, give you a greatest chance of is it an illness and beating your illness, or just being healthy. 

But I too, I really am [00:38:00.059] encouraged by our future. Like I said, there's so much innovation coming, whether it's on the health care front, whether it's in the caregiving or the emotional. We're starting to have conversations that frankly weren't happening 10, 12 years ago. Benefits were nice to have and you were kind of tucked in a corner. We're now front and center. And that is a great opportunity not only for benefit professionals to know that you deliver but for organizations to really be able to say that you take care. We [00:38:30.000] make a difference. And if that's the trend that we continue on, I think the future is definitely a brighter place. 

NIGEL: Great. Sounds good. Okay. So before we go into the Q&A section, I did want to sincerely thank my partner in crime, Kim, for joining today's webinar and sharing how they are supporting their employees over at News Corp. Sounds very impressive and a great place to work. 

MODERATOR: Fantastic. Thank [00:39:00.019] you so much, Nigel. So let's dive into the Q&A. So first question that an audience member wrote in. What do you hope shines through about the culture you're creating at both your organizations for current and prospective employees? Do you want to take this one, Kim? 

KIM: Sure. I hope that people recognize the fact that we talked earlier, right, there's five generations in the workplace. [00:39:30.000] It's diverse. No one's journey is the same. But I think it becomes important for organizations to have such a large breadth of services. Again, I said it earlier. I know not everything I have fits everybody, but I know I have something for everybody. And so I hope that people take away from this and think to themselves, "News Corp is really...they're really trying to make a difference for each person as it relates to their unique needs." I mean it's [00:40:00.079] just no one's going to walk your journey. But I think it becomes a great opportunity to be able to say, "My employer was there when I needed them." And frankly, I think that helps you to make that decision to stay with us and to continue to build your career. 

MODERATOR: That's great. Another question that came in. When you're looking at introducing new benefits and programs, what are some of the steps you take to sell the need and the spend at the executive level? 

KIM: I would say it's data, [00:40:30.260] data, data, data, right? And it can come in multiple different forms. So all of us as an employer, you have an HRIS system, right, that has your demographics. You can easily build business cases to talk about if you're putting in a women's health service, if your population is 50, 60, 70% women, there's your business case. You can look at your claims data that comes in from your insurance carrier. Maybe you're seeing you're spending a lot of time and [00:41:00.059] money and you have a lot of claims that are in cancer. 

So that's going to help direct you down the path of finding a cancer solution. And that's what you're using to help them build the business case back to, is it your head of HR, in my case, multiple heads of HR across all of the businesses, your CFO, right? They want to know that you're being a good fiscal steward of the money that they're putting in your charge and that what you're putting in, you're not just doing it randomly. There is a rationale and a reason behind why this [00:41:30.099] proposal is on their plate. And it's data, data, data. 

NIGEL: You know, Kim, I would just add to that as someone that's usually at the other side of the table walking through the benefits that can be offered, we're often asked by prospective client partners and existing client partners for data to support the value. So the ROI, what is this going to do to impact my retention, what is this going to do to impact my recruitment. And obviously, having been in this space for 38 years, we've got a lot of that data [00:42:00.119] and a lot of the history. So we're sometimes brought in to help support and help make that business case. Even if we're not physically at that table with the C-suite, it's often a lot of our trend data and analytics that we can help provide that helps make that case. 

MODERATOR: You know, Nigel, that's actually a great follow up to a great question that just came in. What types of companies does Bright Horizons work with? 

NIGEL: Every and all. I don't mean that flippantly or facetiously. [00:42:30.380] I think all employers, any shape size and geography, have similar challenges. There are obviously industry verticals that have accentuated challenges. You know, for us, our greatest buying vertical for one of a better word is health care. And arguably, they have different challenges from your financial sector, you have different challenges from your tech sector, you have different challenges from your front line workforce, and so on and so on and so on. But to [00:43:00.260] the theme of this call today, caregiving challenges, dependent care challenges, work-life balance challenges exist for all individuals, for all people regardless of geolocation, industry, etc. So that's not a way to avoid the question but it is quite an honest response. There are very few industries. Again, we have stronger buyers in certain verticals and certain industries [00:43:30.159] than others. But it really does cover the gamut of all industries because it's relevant to all working parents and caregivers and employees. 

MODERATOR: An audience member wrote, "How do you measure employee benefit usage and satisfaction?" And that's directed to you, Kim. 

KIM: It goes back to data, right? I mean, you're going to sit down with your vendor partners. Is it on a quarterly basis or semi annual or annual basis? [00:44:00.079] And I want to see the numbers. I want to see agent numbers, I want to see number of people who have signed up for the program, I want to see a number of people who have actually used the program. I want to measure communications. If we did it on this day, what does it look like 8 weeks out what does it look like 12 weeks out? 

So I think there's so many different ways that you can measure it. I mean frankly, to supplement it, I mean those testimonials are a great... It's [00:44:30.039] a qualitative, not quantitative opportunity that you can use to get feedback. Sometimes employees are less comfortable with giving feedback directly to the company. Some employees are totally fine with telling every thought and wish and thought that rolls into their head to their employer. Some are very standoffish. So frankly, sometimes those testimonials I only get because the vendor is able to provide them. And I take as much stock in those as I do in looking at some of those ROI metrics [00:45:00.019] that the team is bringing me like I said on a quarterly or semi annual or annual basis. Engagement surveys is another great opportunity that companies can use to measure the engagement of their employees in some of their programs. So there's lots of different ways. 

MODERATOR: I would encourage the audience to still submit in your questions. This is a great Q&A so far. Actually, an interesting question just came in from an audience member. If your employer is in a rural area, small town, without a lot of options for child [00:45:30.000] care, how would you go about finding resources to assist in this situation? 

NIGEL: Could be either you or I Kim? 

MODERATOR: Either one. 

NIGEL: I'll take a sort of run at the question. So I think this group is probably aware that there is a significant challenge right now in the caregiving arena. COVID shut down a high percentage, particularly in the child care industry, of care provision. So that [00:46:00.199] shortage that we mentioned in rural areas has actually expanded into other parts of the country. So you'll hear a media people talk about child care desert specifically. And those are areas where there simply now is no child care. There is not an option for child care. And I can tell you candidly a much higher percentage at a much greater rate of employees right now are having to lean more heavily into how can they solve to child [00:46:30.000] care provision in areas where there is no child care. And for many, that means the additional investment and it is a significant investment of considering creating their own on-site solution. 

And please don't get me wrong. This is not a plug for on-site Bright Horizons child care centers. This is simply a reality that employers recognize that if they don't step in to the lane of being part of that solution, then their employees may well have no option for [00:47:00.159] child care specifically. So from the recruitment and retention standpoint, that's going to have a significant impact on that business because they simply can't recruit and they simply can't retain because those employees will say, "I need child care. And if you don't have any and if this geography doesn't provide any, I need to find somewhere that does." 

So at the far end of the spectrum, you have leading employees looking at potentially creating their solutions. And that may mean standalone exclusive [00:47:30.719] employer-sponsored, that may mean partnering with local businesses and creating some type of consortium. We have a number of employees now that recognize the community has a significant need and they see themselves as a community champion. So they're actually creating solutions that will serve their need for their employees, but also solve a dire need that is in the community at this point in time. 

So that is the sort of nth result, that for many, is sort of the Holy Grail. [00:48:00.320] But that's becoming much more of a consideration and a possibility. In other areas, they're using programs such as our care programs where they can source care from the community if it exists. If not, they source care families and friends and they get that reimbursed. So they're all sorts of options dependent on the geography, depending on the extent of the problem. But it can be addressed on any aspect of that spectrum. Kim, I don't know if you [00:48:30.059] have any additional thoughts. 

KIM: I mean, I can weigh in. Certainly, the reimbursement piece, we don't use that as heavily, I will say on a day to day basis. But the pandemic from a Bright Horizons perspective, it was the only way that we could help deliver child care to people who... Remember you would have your bubbles or your pods whatever you called it? And so you needed to work, but you were sharing maybe one child care provider across your little pod of four or five families, and that you [00:49:00.059] were able to then submit for reimbursement. So like I said we don't use that much today. But pandemic, that was a godsend. 

The other opportunity through Bright Horizons is our membership through Sittercity, which we get through our relationship and the great opportunity about that. And again, this happens only in the event that you actually have childcare providers in your area. But the Sittercity program is a fantastic ability that they go out and source all of these providers. [00:49:30.260] It could be child care. It could be you need someone to walk your dog, get your child off the bus, come clean your house. That would be lovely. 

And so you then go into Sittercity, you put in the kind of provider or what help do you need. They go source all these folks. They do the background check. They service up this to you, and then you can go through and look at those resumes and figure out, "Okay. Well, I'd like to interview person A and person C." And then you interview them, you offer the job, you negotiate what you're going to pay them. That's a great opportunity [00:50:00.500] and a resource to folks that wouldn't exist otherwise because then they're going out and they have to go find these people, and how would I place an ad? It's a lovely resource that just frankly saves you time which is a lot of also what Bright Horizons can do for you. That's an amazing opportunity. 

MODERATOR: So I think we have time for one more question. What are some of the areas where you see similar benefits needs when you look at the various generations in your employee [00:50:30.340] population? 

NIGEL: Kim, you want to take that as the benefit specialist on the call? 

KIM: Well, I think it's blurred so much these days right. As someone who's in a sandwich generation, right, you may be caring for your parent and caring for your child. Millennials are put off buying homes because they had too much student debt. And so they're worried about paying down debt and paying for [00:51:00.300] retirement. Then their parents were actually, as different generations, are actually worried about the exact same thing. So I think to be honest, I think we're honestly more alike than we really think. And I would love to say that every generation thinks that like their problems are so unique unto them and no one has ever seen this before. Sometimes what's old is new again. And things continue to circle around. I don't know that I gave you a [00:51:30.320] great answer about that. So Nigel, if you have any other thoughts, feel free. 

NIGEL: I mean, I would say when we're talking to employers, obviously, we need to understand sort of the dynamic and the consistency and then we'll figure out what the needs and objectives from a business standpoint may be. But we always try where possible. And I think News Corp does a great job. It's really to address that there are a myriad, probably at the peak of its time right now, a myriad of different life [00:52:00.059] stages that need to be addressed. So you have to create a solution that allows all those life stages. 

There are users and age groups within the sector that will opt in and will need to leverage multiple services. There are some that will only operate and leverage maybe one or two of the services. But in order to really address the need across the workforce, you have to offer programs that really does address the full life stage. So whether [00:52:30.199] it's from the newborns or whether it's from then the child care piece, whether it's then how do I save for college, whether it's then how do I start repaying my own debt having come out of college and got into the workplace. And then it runs right the way through the gamut of critical elder care issues. So I don't like to ever use the term sort of cradle to grave. But literally, with the workforce we're operating in right now, you need to be able to offer that broad scope. That sweet spot in the middle doesn't exist. There is such a broad [00:53:00.320] variety of age groups in the workforce right now that you have to be able to offer a number or a program that addresses multiple needs for multiple age groups. 

KIM: And actually I'll tag on to that because, Nigel, that's such a great response to it, especially from an employer perspective. I think what employees struggle with is you have such a broad suite of programs. How do I know? What do I do? Where do I go? And it's so overwhelming. And you have to have so many because to your point, there's so many different age groups. There are so many different [00:53:30.039] cohorts in. So if there is a vendor that you are able to grow with and that it can span your entire career, that's a great opportunity for you as an employer because then I don't have to get a different vendor to do this and then another one to do this and another one to do this. If this vendor can remain consistent and help that person grow, frankly, it's one name they have to remember. It's not three. And as an employer who's looking at point solution, and we have [00:54:00.139] point solution fatigue let alone our employees, I mean that's the dream. That's the dream from an employer perspective. 

MODERATOR: Well, before we come to the close of this program, Kim or Nigel, do you guys have any final remarks before we come to the close? 

KIM: Just to say thank you. Thank you to Bright Horizons for this opportunity to tell our story. And thank you everybody for your really thoughtful questions. 

NIGEL: Thanks to the group and obviously a special thanks to Kim. Appreciate [00:54:30.159] everyone's time.