|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Jenni Lee took time away from her day job as director of US benefits and employee programs at Amway—the family-founded health and wellness company whose products can be found in households across the world—to talk about her career and the world of benefits at a local school’s career day. She asked four different students to stand together and join hands with two of their peers.
Those students represented the different situations and setbacks that can impact an employee’s life, be it financial, social, emotional, or physical.
Moving one single individual from their place inherently moved everyone. That’s exactly the point Lee was trying to make. One challenge in a person’s life isn’t a singular or isolated experience. It affects their entire life: financial health impacts physical health, emotional health impacts social health, and so on.
“We are a global family of people . . . who lead with heart, live to serve, and love to learn.”
Jenni Lee
It’s not just a great illustration of how vital the benefits role is in any business, it highlights Lee’s dedication and feeling of responsibility for her people, whom she calls her family, at Amway.
“We are a global family of people—employees, business owners, and the communities we serve—who lead with heart, live to serve, and love to learn,” Lee explains. “We are empowered by our mission to help people live better, healthier lives. But this starts with our employees. We support and bring balance to their lives so they can feel like products of the products.”
Lee and her team have a unique opportunity to bring Amway’s mission to life for employees by integrating products into more experiences on campus. They are also introducing more group activities, health and wellness education, and well-being communities. This focus on evolution for Amway’s benefits team—even through challenging times—continues to define Lee and her people.
Over ten years, Lee has continually found a variety of ways to support more than fourteen thousand Amway employees across the world. More than any other time, the pandemic years and the aftermath have shown a light on just how much Lee and her team are emphasizing their strengths and building out new ones for the betterment of their organization.
Lee served as one of the key leaders of Amway’s COVID-19 task force. She worked around the clock to ensure safety at all of Amway’s US sites and made adjustments as quickly as new protocols were being released, often daily.
“Helping our employees through this difficult time is probably the number one accomplishment of my career,” Lee explains. “I think the pandemic brought a lot of exposure to just how many difficult situations those in benefits have to tackle every day. We dealt with the hardest issues: death and serious illness, just heartbreaking circumstances, and my team’s ability to be resilient was just incredible.”
Lee has strived to create new ways to attract, retain, and recognize talent. For Lee and her team, that means taking care of each employee who brings their talents to the table by considering all different parts of their lives. Health and wellness, time off, appreciation events, specialized programs and resources, and other benefits that offer balance are all part of the package.
“There isn’t one specific approach and that’s the point,” Lee says. “Every person’s journey is different and can change over time. Our goal is to create meaningful opportunities that fit their unique path and meet their needs along the way.”
But there is a constant theme in Lee’s efforts. Every idea always traces back to the concept of family. This year, Amway is bringing back its family-friendly Fall Fest celebration, as well as a few other family-themed holiday events to appreciate employees and those who support them.
Lee, who was nominated for a Solvies award by her team, says that while her team was able to truly demonstrate its lasting value during the pandemic, she’s not interested in looking back for any other reason than to help build strategy moving forward.
And the progress continues. Amway’s employee wellness programs have achieved great success already, providing health screenings, consultations, and health risk assessments along with guided education about how it all connects.
Tami Eckstein, vice president at Optum Financial, works closely with Lee. “Jenni’s dedication to developing benefit programs that support the whole person health of employees is inspiring,” Eckstein says. “Prioritizing flexible health and wellness benefits enable employees to focus on doing their best work, while also having better health outcomes.”
It’s just one part of the broader benefits team strategy, but it all adds up to something fundamental. Lee says she’s stayed at Amway because she knows her organization truly cares about its people.
And she gets to put that care into action.
