The Stretch – Escaping Benefits Burnout: Jennifer Weinstein on Pressure and Purpose

Jennifer Weinstein 
So many people that I was having conversations with are people who once loved this job.

Kevin Fyock 
We'll talk about headwinds that are striking the nerves of so many benefit professionals today.

Jennifer Weinstein 
Feels like we're at a point where we're actually not solving problems, we're just putting band-aides on the problem and not getting anywhere.

Kevin Fyock 
We’ll talk about finding just the right formula for curbing the burnout that our professional friends feel.

Jennifer Weinstein 
Every time that I have an issue in my job that I cannot figure out how to solve, sitting at my desk is not going to help me solve that. But as soon as I step away and I get in that kitchen and I bake something or try a new recipe or paint a cow, all of a sudden the answer to that problem comes to me.

Kevin Fyock 
Today's guest is Jennifer Weinstein, benefits professional, baker, and believe it or not, a cow-painting enthusiast. Jennifer has over 25 years of experience in the industry within benefits, and she's also the author of the new book, Benefits Burnout. Welcome Jennifer. I'm so excited to have you today.

Jennifer Weinstein 
Thank you, Kevin. Thank you for having me.

Kevin Fyock 
So there has been a lot of conversation about burnout in the benefits industry as of late. And I certainly know that in the role that I have. Jennifer, I look forward to hearing from you about sort of your unique take around around benefits and burnout specifically. And it's not just employers that are feeling it. Benefit consultants, vendors, point solution providers are all experiencing similar pressures. And behind the scenes, many benefit professionals are also juggling more complexity than we've seen in past.

So today I'm extremely excited to talk about what is really fueling the burnout trend and most importantly identify maybe a few practical ways to prevent and cope with this increasing stress that we're all experiencing. So Jennifer, again, welcome. I'm really excited for today. Why don't you give our listeners the benefit of telling them a little bit about yourself? How did you get here? your background would be awesome.

Jennifer Weinstein 
So I have been in the benefits industry for about 25 years. I think probably like many people listening to this conversation, I fell into the benefits world, right? As a little girl, I didn't want to grow up someday and say, Wow, can I be a benefits professional? But I I did know at one point that I wanted to be in human resources. And so, after I got my master's in human resources, my first kind of big girl job, someone gave me the opportunity to lead the benefits function. And at that time, they were moving from 150 fully insured plans to this new thing called self-insured. And they wanted me to take on this project. And I just fell in love with benefits because I thought I could use my creativity in this industry. I saw such an opportunity to have an impact on people's lives and never turned back. Have been in benefits ever since. And for the last 15 years, I've written a lot on LinkedIn about benefits, baking and cow painting like you see here behind me.

Kevin Fyock 
Yeah, I was gonna say for our listeners who don't have access to any of the video and are just listening, behind Jennifer are a beautiful assortment of different cows, paintings, wooden sculptures that Jennifer's painted. And I was telling Jennifer earlier that there's a company in Switzerland that does you know, similar cow paintings. So, who knows? Maybe Jennifer will be going international with her hobby. And and like you, Jennifer, I similarly did not grow up thinking I was going to be a benefits consultant or in this industry.

But I'm thrilled to have in a circuitous way joined our paths here to have this conversation. So let's let's dive into your book. What led you to write a book about burnout in the benefits industry?

Jennifer Weinstein 
So as I mentioned, I've been writing on LinkedIn for quite a while. And actually about nine years ago, I wrote an article on LinkedIn called “Death by Benefits.” And it was really the beginning of what I was seeing in the industry around burnout. Now, flash forward to last year, I was at a benefits conference. I was speaking on actually building a benefit strategy. Part of that conversation was around burnout. And clearly, I struck a chord with everyone in the audience because after that conversation, you know, through the afternoon, through the cocktail hour, through the dinner party, even into the next day, people were coming up to me talking about this idea of burnout. I remember one lady came up to me and she said, I've been in benefits for 10 years. I think every day, how do I get out of this? Like, can I move to a farm and raise sheep? Right. Like, is there a world beyond this benefits job? 

And it was so eye-opening for me because so many people that I was having conversations with are people who at once loved this job. And never dreamed about changing careers or being at a place in their life where they wanted to get out of it. 

So, I came back home, I wrote an article on LinkedIn called Benefits Burnout. Yep. And it was one of my most viewed articles I've ever written on LinkedIn. So many comments, so many people reaching out to me saying, “Wow, you're talking about this stuff in public that we only talk about in private.”

Kevin Fyock 
Yeah. 

Jennifer Weinstein 
And then after that I wrote another article called the Multiple HAV Syndrome, just about what is driving burnout and all the different functions that a benefits person, especially on the employer side, has to deal with every day. Again, one of my most viewed articles. I've always wanted to write a book and thought this was a great opportunity to bring to the public what so many people are talking about behind closed doors.

Kevin Fyock 
Yeah, I I totally agree. And I I've been sitting in a little bit of a different seat than I think you have, Jennifer. And I've observed exactly what you're saying. I've I've had the benefit of listening or or reading your LinkedIn posts as well. and similar to other folks, I think struck a chord with me because I think burnout is is real. And I'll get into sort of more questions I'd love to ask you around sort of the origin of burnout, among other things. but I think what I love so much about you raising this topic is, you know, the first step to like working towards some type of solve is just acknowledging that there is an issue. And I think you've done a phenomenal job acknowledging burnout in in the venue of benefits that I don't think anybody's done in the past.

Jennifer Weinstein 
Well, thank you. And I think it's such an important opportunity to have this open conversation because the last thing we need is people leaving this industry. There's so so many challenges right now, but so much in front of us that we need the smart, innovative, extraordinary people that we have in this space to stay here and join us to solve all of these problems. 

Kevin Fyock 
Sure. So Jennifer, in your opinion, why are we seeing more burnout among benefits professionals today than in the past?

Jennifer Weinstein 
I think it's a perfect storm. Right now, as we all know, we have healthcare headwinds in front of us. Many employers probably listening to this are facing double-digit trend increases going into next year. We're at a point where it's not just the trend increase, right? We are looking at pushing this gigantic boulder up a hill. And it feels like every point solution, every lever that we're going to pull that has an ultimate impact on employees is only chipping away at that boulder. It feels like we're at a point where we're actually not solving problems. We're just putting band aids on on the problem and not getting anywhere.

And I know for many of us, we're at a point where we're pulling levers where that are going to have impact on employees that we never thought we would have to pull before. And that's also very stressful. At the same time, we have thousands of point solutions in this space, right? Think about 10 years ago. We had nowhere near the number of benefit vendors and point solutions and partners that are available to us today. While that is amazing, right? The innovation in this space is just awesome. 

At the same time, benefit professionals on the employer side are being inundated every day with cold calls and emails of people trying to sell them something. And as a benefits person who has all eyes on them right now from their employer trying to figure out these healthcare headwinds, then you've got people knocking at your door every day. You've got all of the other complexities in job in your job. And maybe you actually have a life outside of your job as well and all of those personal issues. You can pile all of that together and it leads to a perfect case of benefits burnout.

Kevin Fyock 
Yeah. And, you know, I I appreciate you bringing up where we are. It's twenty twenty-six and looking forward to high trend. We're in a high trend environment today. You know, for you to talk about that being such a a contributor to burnout, I was with a few partners not too long ago and we were talking about this notion that, you know, for years throughout my whole career, Jennifer, we've we've heard the term like, healthcare trend is is unsustainable. It's unsustainable. But we say it every year, right?

And so unsustainable has become unfortunately sustainable. And I think that's like a key piece of empirical evidence that that burnout is real, that we hear the same things over and over again. And to your point, there are levers that you can pull, but the levers themselves are by definition overwhelming because you don't have a box, you know, the size of your palm. You have the box the size of, you know, a car or a house. And it's just it's overwhelming. So again.
The comment of like striking a nerve. I you know, I hear you loud and clear and I completely agree with you.

So, when we think about burnout and and the issues associated with like how it's come to be, the environment we sit in now, how can you counter burnout? Are there ways to prevent it or even work towards a solve?

Jennifer Weinstein 
I can only give you my personal opinion on this and what I have done for myself. For one thing, I'm a huge believer in having a life outside of your job. 

Kevin Fyock
Yeah. 

Jennifer Weinstein
I know when I started in my career for many, many, many years, I burned the candle at both ends. Right? It was at a time in life where sleep didn't matter. You knew that you're just gonna put in a lot of hours. but my whole life was my job.

And I would say a gigantic part of my life is my career and my job now. Cause I love working. I love what I do. I'm very passionate about it. But I have come to realize that I also have to have a life outside of my job. And that's why I write on LinkedIn about my passions and hobbies, because I want to encourage other people to have a life outside of their job too. For one, it's really important on the days when that job feels like you want to move to the farm and raise sheep. 

On those days when your entire identity is wrapped up in your benefits role, and you have nothing else to turn to, that can be extremely depleting. If you have something else that you like to do, you know, for me, it's creativity. I love baking. I found out that I like painting cows. you might be listening to this saying, I'm not a creative person. I don't have those kinds of outlets. I don't have things like that that I like to do. It could be a simple walk. It could be reading a book, it could be watching a movie, right? But if you turn to something that you enjoy doing, first of all, it gives your brain a break away from the stress of your job.

But two, I know for myself, every time that I have an issue in my job that I cannot figure out how to solve, sitting at my desk is not going to help me solve that. But as soon as I step away and I get in that kitchen and I bake something or try a new recipe or paint a cow, all of a sudden the answer to that problem comes to me every single time. 

Kevin Fyock
Yeah. 

Jennifer Weinstein
And I just think it's really important to find something that you're passionate about, or if you're not passionate about it, that you least enjoy, it gives you an escape. To have an another identity outside of your benefits world.

Kevin Fyock 
Yeah, I I agree. And I'm not a baker. I do like to eat baked goods. I exercise as my outlet. And I agree. I think it's when you remove yourself from either burnout or a stressful situation, it gives your body to chance not only heal, but also think in a more creative way. So, certainly resonating with me what you're saying. 

So what about someone who has, you know, reached the point of burnout? Like what can they actually do to to move forward? How do you, you know, you're a writer, right? I'm sure you're familiar with writer's block. What about burnout block? Like what do you do to move forward from that that space that you're in?

Jennifer Weinstein 
Well, I'm gonna say something that might surprise people, but I I want to address the person that might be listening who really is at a stage where they could quit tomorrow, where they really want to go try something else. For that person, I would think about two things. One, do they want to leave benefits altogether? If they're on the employer side, could they try somewhere else in the ecosystem? Could they move to the consulting side? Could they move to point solutions side, right? Try something else so that you don't feel like you're completely starting over and you're learning, or you're taking the skills that you've learned from your career, but you're applying it somewhere else in the ecosystem. 

But the second thing I want to say is, as I've had so many conversations with people who have read the book, sometimes people say, I'm really at a point that I need to move on. And for those people, they really just need to tell someone, it's okay to go. You don't have to sit and suffer and try to continue to be in a career that you once loved. Maybe this is pushing you to try something new that you haven't thought of before.

You can always come back to benefits. Benefits will always be here. 

Kevin Fyock
Yeah. 

Jennifer Weinstein 
But I talk to people who are in a situation where they have fallen out of love with the work that they do every day. For them, I say, try to remember why you're in this industry to begin with. For most of us, it's because we like helping other people. 

Kevin Fyock
Yeah. 

Jennifer Weinstein 
They might find another profession that allows them to have that same purpose, helping people, but in a different way. 

I talk to other people who say, I have a terrible boss, right? If that situation's never going to change and that's what's causing the burnout, it's time to go, right? It's time to open up your eyes to other possibilities and and let new possibilities in the places that you can go in your careers that you can explore. 
I think for other people who have just been so heads down, and I think for benefits people, they do a great job of this, right? They keep their heads down, they get the work done, they're here helping everybody else or caregiving for everyone else, finding something that you enjoy during the day, the passion that we were just talking about, something that gives you a break can really reinvigorate you to at least find some love back in your career again.

Kevin Fyock
Sure. Jennifer, I have a question around, you know, we were talking about the origin of burnout or the increased prevalence of burnout. How much do you think is an inevitability within benefits? Because to your point, you're helping people, but by virtue of helping people, sometimes you're helping them in a very dire situation. So, I think oftentimes you put it on yourself as a benefits leader. How much of the burnout situation is an inevitability within benefits versus almost a structural deficit because of things like high trend and the noise in the number of solutions in that space. I would just love your take on that. that again, is it just an inevitability that we're dealing with?

Jennifer Weinstein 
I think you touch on such an important topic that I think for many they don't take a step back and even think of because it's just part of their everyday work. 

Kevin Fyock
Yeah. 

Jennifer Weinstein 
In a benefits role, you have employees coming to you at dire times in their life. 

Kevin Fyock
Yeah. 

Jennifer Weinstein 
If I think over the course of my 25 years, how many people I have sat with in conversations about someone's child getting diagnosed with cancer, a spouse having a terminal illness, the employee themselves going through a horrific health situation.

What does a benefits person do? They go into benefits mode and they triage the situation. They figure out how their benefits can help that person, whatever it might be. And as soon as they're done with that conversation, they make sure that employee is taken care of. They go back to doing whatever else they need to get done in that day. And they don't take a second to release the stress of that conversation. And over time, it's like filling up a cup day after day after day after day. 

And if you're not taking care of yourself, that cup will overflow. And one day you will wake up and realize the stress that you have inadvertently been dealing with, right? Because you think it is just part of your job. And for many of us, we're empaths, right? We're very feeling people. We take on the feelings of the people that we are trying to help and we squash it down inside. We don't think about it until one day it all bubbles back up to the surface. 

Kevin Fyock
Yeah. 

Jennifer Weinstein 
You add then to all the point solutions and all eyes on you right now as an employer benefits person, trying to figure out how to deal with healthcare trend and the person that just came to you with their health crisis and then maybe a team that you're managing, your own personal things going on in life. Oh, you need to figure out the trend. But you also need to make sure that benefits package is also attractive and retentive to your employee population. But then you also have people that come to you, no harm, right? What they're trying to do, but they also want to give you advice on how to do your job because maybe they could help you because their friends, brother's, cousin's employer does it better and they want to share that with you. And maybe you could just change carriers and maybe this and maybe that. 

And I bet listening to this, people feel that knot in the pit of their stomach, because that might be them right now. and then when you're a benefits person and you care for people so much, you're going into a fall open enrollment this year where you might be telling them changes that you don't want to be sharing with them because you know it's going to impact them. 

And all you do is care about people, but now you're the one who's the messenger of the bad information. 

Kevin Fyock
Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Weinstein 
It's very challenging in the benefit space right now for all of us, but especially those on the employer side.

Kevin Fyock 
I thumbs up 100% agree with that, Jennifer. Working with enough employers, I completely agree at the plight of the benefits professional today. 
So, Jennifer, there's a lot of conversation around artificial intelligence. And I feel like every time I interview someone, I have to bring up AI. It's actually a contractual requirement. So that's a joke, but when we think about sort of the anxiety that AI has sort of been felt by so many people.

I do want to ask the question, in light of technology, emerging technology like AI playing a part in so many solves, is there a world in which AI can play a part in impacting burnout and impacting, you know, the again, the issues that benefits professionals are dealing with here?

Jennifer Weinstein 
Definitely. I think there's so many different ways, but one way that comes to my mind immediately is around communications. I think for many of us who've been in the benefits industry for a long time, that is one nut we have not cracked yet is how to communicate better with our employees. We spend so much time creating communications for people not to read them.

And we go back to the same saying that we want to get to employees at the right place at the right time when they actually need the information. I am very hopeful that AI can help us finally do that, actually finally solve this problem of getting benefits to employees at the time that they need them because we can have great benefit strategies. But if people don't know about them, they're not going to be that useful.

Kevin Fyock 
Yeah. Jennifer, I totally agree. And it's a huge focus for us at Aon, for my team specifically. And I too am optimistic around how this technology can help in this arena and so many other sort of mental health, mental health adjacent arenas. 

So maybe, maybe one closing question for you. You talked about your own orientation to counter burnout. Let's envision an overwhelmed benefits professional today. What one piece of advice would you have for them for how they can manage the stress?

Jennifer Weinstein 
My one piece of advice is to actually have an open conversation. 

Kevin Fyock
Yeah. 

Jennifer Weinstein 
So the one way you can do that is actually tell people within your organization what you do. 

Kevin Fyock
Yeah. 

Jennifer Weinstein 
I know in the conversations I've had since I've written the book, a lot of people say, I don't feel appreciated. Well, people can only appreciate you if you tell them what you do so that they can appreciate you.

Everybody's got their heads down. Everybody's got so much on their plates. We've all got a to-do list. They're not thinking about you. But share what you're doing. Share your good news stories. Share the difficult times you're going through right now. People in benefits make their jobs look easy. And when you make your job look easy, sometimes people don't appreciate necessarily what you do because they don't know all of the things that you do. 
So, one takeaway today is start telling your story to people, all the good stuff, the bad stuff, show them behind the scenes. 

Kevin Fyock
Yeah. 

Jennifer Weinstein 
And have these open conversations around burnout and how you're feeling, not only with people within your employer, but your other benefit peers, because the worst thing that I see happening right now is people suffering in silence. And it's so nice to know that you are not alone. So let others know that you're feeling it too. 

Kevin Fyock
Yeah. 

Jennifer Weinstein 
So that they know that they're not alone.

Kevin Fyock 
I love that piece of advice because, you know, you're such a bright light one with your book, but talking about this this really important, you know, conversation and rising benefits burnout as a real issue that many deal with. So your advice to start that conversation is just an extension for what you're doing with your own book. So kudos to you. I think that's phenomenal because we talked about your book. maybe for the benefit of our listeners. Tell us where can we find the book? Where can we learn more?

Jennifer Weinstein 
You can find the book on Amazon. And then I love to continue these conversations. I feel like we're really building a community. So, I'd love to have you connect with me and follow me on LinkedIn.

Kevin Fyock 
Jennifer, it was super fun having this conversation. Thanks for sharing with us and even you know being a bit vulnerable with how you've approached burnout.

Jennifer Weinstein 
Thank you. Thank you for having me today.

Kevin Fyock 
Thanks so much for listening, and don't forget to subscribe across platforms. As always, we'd love to hear your feedback. And until then, we're really looking forward to our next conversation.