Bart Trench, Head of Benefits and Wellness at Protective Life, shares why partnering with Maven is a “win-win” for the company and its employees.

Why is having a family benefits partner like Maven important for Protective Life?

We're a life and annuity insurance company—we're in the business of protecting families. It's a natural extension that we want to take care of our employees as well.

We have, on average, about a 10-year tenure with our employees. At some point, they are probably going to start a family or add to their family while they're working with us. Starting a family or adding to your family is very expensive, and it can be complicated. Maven is a great partner for our employees and their spouses or domestic partners [who are in this life phase]. [Plus], pregnancy is a big cost. So providing services to our new parents through Maven is a win-win for both the company and for our employees.

“Any number of obstacles might lead a woman to say, "It's too much to come back to work and deal with all of these things.” So the support that Maven provides during that process can be invaluable.”

Why did you seek a digital healthcare solution in particular?

We try to be innovative. We try to use more digital technology for our customers, and we're trying to do that as well with our employees. Maven is a natural outgrowth of that. We get a lot of testimonials from our employees about how great it is. The cool thing with Maven is that—from when the maternity benefit starts, early on in pregnancy, to six months postpartum—there are all different touchpoints that our employees can use. So it fits the needs of the employees when they actually need the services.

A lot of women leave the workforce reluctantly after having a baby. What were some of the retention issues that you wanted to address?

Maybe you had a complicated pregnancy and you needed to take [extra] time off. Maybe that has dampened your spirits or made it challenging for you to think about going back to work after your leave. And then coming back to work, maybe you have lactation issues or mental health issues. Any number of obstacles might lead a woman to say, "It's too much to come back to work and deal with all of these things.” So the support that Maven provides during that process can be invaluable.

Why did you feel it was important for Protective Life employees to have access to Maven Milk, a breast milk shipping service?

The breast milk shipping program, Maven Milk, that we adopted is important from a lot of different standpoints—including diversity and inclusion [at our company]. Because if you think about women who need to travel for work, those assignments are often really important [opportunities] to go and advance their career. We don’t want women to have to make a choice such as: "I'm going to have to have my male colleague go [on the trip] because it’s just too complicated to express milk, keep it stored, take it back home"—and all of those issues that they have traditionally run into.

We have a large number of our employees who are wholesalers who are on the road a lot and spend a lot of nights in hotels. We think this is going to be a great way to break down any kind of barriers that a female wholesaler might have. With Maven Milk, it’s super easy to get the delivery kit and send milk back home.

How do you see the future of family benefits evolving at Protective Life?

I think the future is continuing on the path that we have been on, [so that] parents don't have to choose between some of the challenges of raising a family and working and bringing their full selves to work. Anything that we continue to do for new families would be right in line with that, whether it's expansion of leave programs or continued support in the workplace for new parents. I'm a father of three and I'm super-proud of what Protective offers. I wish I had these kinds of services when I had my kids years ago!

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We’re proud to partner with Protective Life and help the company in its mission to support and advance women and families. Click the request-a-demo button below to learn more about Maven.

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