Moving an enterprise with decades of tradition toward a modern benefits philosophy requires more than just data—it requires deep cultural conviction. Consolidating 27 competing legacy time-off plans into a single, unlimited model is a high-stakes play that most conservative industries avoid.
Kristine Karnath, Group VP of Global Total Reward at Moog, Inc., explains how she successfully navigated the internal resistance of transitioning an aerospace and defense giant to an unlimited PTO structure. Despite initial skepticism from the C-suite and manufacturing leaders, she leveraged the company’s core value of trust to replace outdated accrual systems with a recruitment-forward model. She details the critical lessons learned about implementation timelines and why the 'black and white' data of medical billing doesn't apply to the gray areas of corporate culture change.
What You'll Learn:
- The strategic process of consolidating 27 disparate legacy PTO plans into a single enterprise-wide policy.
- How to pitch radical benefits innovation to a conservative C-suite without a traditional slide deck.
- Navigating the specific challenges of implementing flexible time off within manufacturing and engineering environments.
- The 'liability side-benefit' of reducing millions in banked vacation payout obligations from the balance sheet.
- Why the timing of your benefit announcement could be creating unnecessary organizational anxiety.
- Strategies for managing high-tenure employees who view legacy benefits as a 'savings account' for retirement.
- Real-world advice on distinguishing between theoretical change management and actual behavioral shifts.
- How to use culture and trust as the primary defense for unconventional benefits decisions.
Key Quotes:
— There were teams told to consolidate everything but not take anything away and not add costs. When you have 27 plans, that is impossible to do.
— This wasn't just about a plan design. This was about actually working with people to get them to understand the concept of what we're doing.
— You don't learn that much when things go well, but you learn a ton when things don't go well.
Kristine Karnath is the Group VP of Global Total Reward at Moog, Inc., a world leader in flight control systems, where she has led benefits strategy and compensation for over two decades.
This conversation focuses on Total Rewards strategy, benefit consolidation, unlimited PTO implementation, and change management for HR leaders in aerospace, defense, and manufacturing enterprise sectors.