{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Parenting at Work","title":"Work life integration is the new competitive advantage","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1765,"description":"\nSummary\nIn this episode of Parenting at Work, host Lindsey Topping-Schuetz talks with Ken Wechsler, VP of Global Total Rewards at Akamai Technologies, about what companies actually owe the families behind their workforce. Drawing on nearly 30 years designing compensation and benefits inside companies, as a consultant, and as a longtime World at Work faculty member, Ken explains why he has traded \"work-life balance\" for work-life integration, how he makes the business case for family benefits when finance pushes back, and why a benefit only one percent of employees use can still be one of the most valuable things a company offers. He also shares the deeply personal story that reshaped how he sees his work. This conversation is for HR and total rewards leaders, people managers, and any working parent who wants to understand how thoughtful benefits get built and championed.\n\n\nChapters\n00:00 Welcome and introductions\n02:45 Work life integration as a competitive advantage\n04:45 Winning the budget conversation with finance\n05:45 Why the benefits few people use still matter\n07:45 The real gap in mental health support\n10:45 The IVF story and what benefits really mean\n12:45 Embryo freezing, adoption, and listening to employees\n19:45 Rewriting the bereavement policy\n21:45 Where AI fits in total rewards\n23:45 One no budget idea and final wisdom\n\n\nTakeaways\nDesign for work-life integration, not balance. Families fold work and home into the same day, and companies that make room for that win on retention and recruiting.\nFamily support has shifted from something HR fights for to a core competitive advantage, accelerated by the move to distributed work.\nThe argument that moves finance is retention and employer brand. A benefit only one percent of people use is still worth it, because it shows everyone what kind of company they work for.\nBenefits are personal. Behind every program is someone building a family or facing a hard moment, so the work is human before it is...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/Xuk_bBiG6j3JtB5Arbb67-xPOyZS4LiSd5Jx6gnqEwY/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8wOWE3/ZGNlODU4ZTc5ZjQw/NDM3ZjhmODUxZThj/MmE0My5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}