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A day in the life of a global benefits specialist at Unity

January 24, 2023 in News | 7 min. read
A day in the life of a global benefits specialist at Unity | Hero image
A day in the life of a global benefits specialist at Unity | Hero image
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My name is Esther. I’m based in Columbus, Ohio, and joined Unity as a benefits specialist last year. Since starting my career in human resources (HR), I’ve worked at companies ranging from 1,000 to over 90,000 employees. I bring a passion for mental, physical, and financial wellness – as well as employee retention – to my role, and am tasked with supporting the Americas benefits program, communication, and employee education, which means I cover the U.S., Canada, and Colombia.

In the past, we’ve offered a look at our team members’ day-to-day through our Faces of Unity series. With this blog post, we’re taking a new approach and diving into an actual day in a given role.

Without further ado, here’s a typical day in the life of a tech industry global benefits specialist and what makes that unique at Unity.

Esther standing in front of a whiteboard with staff-made drawings at the Unity Austin office
Esther standing in front of a whiteboard with staff-made drawings at the Unity Austin office

Answering tickets

Our HR ticket system is an important aspect of my job because this is where the majority of employees send questions for me and my team. Ticket topics vary, but I will say that this is the part of my day where I feel like I’m on a benefits Olympics team… and we really want to win the gold medal.

As an example, over the last 30 days our Benefits team has answered around 800 tickets. In general, this is a consistently busy area of work, but the payoff is huge. When employees understand their benefits and have their questions answered, our team is giving them one more reason to stay with Unity as well as helping them to maximize the resources available to them.

Managing projects

This past year, I was tasked with managing the 2023 U.S. benefits open enrollment period as a core project to complete before the end of 2022. This included coordinating education sessions with our team and vendors, human resource information system testing, and traveling to our Seattle and Austin offices. It was stressful, but also really fun to set up and manage different sessions and office hours. It was also great to see so many employees show up to virtual and in-person sessions.

Based on attendance alone, I can see myself working on projects like this again in the future. I think our employees want the opportunity for constant communication about benefits with our team, and that's super neat. 

Wellbeing tip: Learn about your benefits, no matter where you work. Unity’s Global Benefits intranet page is well organized, and our team takes care to keep it up to date across all of the countries we operate in. Find out how your HR team manages benefits and, if it’s a web page, bookmark it – that will always be the best place to learn about and take full advantage of your organization’s resources.

One-on-one meetings

Every day, I meet with employees who are looking for a better understanding of the benefits offered at Unity. My favorite calls are the ones with people electing insurance for the first time or those who thought all hope was gone. Seeing someone’s attitude completely shift during these sessions as we find a way to improve their situation gives me a feeling of satisfaction that can’t be beat.

My team and I make time for these one-on-one meetings because we’re always working on plan improvement. We are strong believers that benefits help retain top talent, and we encourage employees to continue sending us feedback.

Esther kneeling down in the leaves with her dog Tracy
Esther kneeling down in the leaves with her dog Tracy

More about me

Having a career in benefits was not something I planned on right out of college or when I joined corporate America. But, I saw a chance to grow professionally and learn a field that, unfortunately, many people aren’t knowledgeable about. From there, I gained a passion for helping others understand their full compensation packages and corporate offerings.

Here’s a look at more about my role, the tech industry, and Unity from my perspective.

Why I joined 

I had my eye on Unity for quite some time before actually joining because of the company’s values – Users First, Best Ideas Win, In It Together, and Go Bold – and how Unity lives those values with empathy, respect, and opportunity. I had also always wanted to gain experience in the tech industry.

What keeps me here

I was told so many things about the tech industry before I started working in it. Now that I’m here, I have to say that it’s really great to work with so many creative and intelligent people. Unity’s people push me to learn more about benefits in general and how we can continue to offer top-tier benefits that are not only aligned with what other companies in the industry have, but that also help us blaze a trail in tech.

My favorite part about my day-to-day work is collaborating with my teammates. This collaboration can take many forms, such as training each other, learning something new together, or even discussing innovative benefits that are being offered elsewhere and the steps we would need to take to have them implemented at Unity.

Advice for future applicants (in any role)

Don’t be discouraged if you apply and a recruiter reaches out to let you know they are going with another candidate. Try again in the future!

To continue following Esther’s Unity journey, connect with her on LinkedIn. If you’re interested in joining Unity on our quest to build a more inclusive and diverse workplace, check out our Careers page. We’re hiring in more than 40 locations around the world.

January 24, 2023 in News | 7 min. read

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