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When Jennica Christiansen came to Utah-headquartered CHG Healthcare in 2013, she still had the kind of HR naivete that can allow people to do incredible things, because they don’t yet understand just how challenging the tasks can be.
One decade and four promotions later, the current head of people operations and total rewards stood up an entirely new compensation team, expanded the benefits, people analytics, and introduced a new people services team. But most importantly she keeps finding new ways to serve her internal clients that have grown exponentially from 1,500 to over 4,100 employees during her tenure.
Filling the Gaps
Christiansen says that she loves being able to look across her organization and understand the gaps that may exist in the employee experience, gaps that she and her teams can work to fill. Those gaps come in all shapes and sizes, and the executive says she never wants any of the total rewards programs to be the reason an individual elects to leave CHG, but she also knows it’s not always just about compensation or benefits.
“In the benefits space, we’ve really been focused on improving accessibility to care and making sure that our people are able to get care at an affordable cost, when and where they need it,” Christiansen says. “It’s been slow but steady work to ensure that we’re competitive and flexible in order to meet our people where they’re at in every stage of their life.”
That has meant making some big moves. A large healthcare system in Utah wasn’t available to CHG employees, an issue that caused frustration and customer service issues to boot. So, Christiansen took her organization to the market.
In the meantime, CHG also created a people services team whose entire charge was to provide concierge-level support to internal staff for all its employee-related questions. This team was created both to provide better service to employees and prepare them for the big changes that were to come.
CHG successfully moved to a new healthcare provider that provides a much broader level of care for employees. It also moved its pharmacy carrier to CVS with the objective of reducing costs for both employees and CHG and providing more wide-ranging options at the same time.
Accessibility, Parity, and Flexibility
CHG also operates on a self-funded plan. That flexibility allows it to offer mental health coverage on an unrivaled level.
“No matter what mental healthcare provider our people want to go see, we will pay the bill as if they’re in network,” Christiansen says. “We do not want accessibility to be a barrier for our people to receive the treatment that they need and deserve.”
Christiansen has also made great strides in creating internal structures for pay ranges and transparency. After some examination, her team found a gender equity issue that needed to be resolved.
“There weren’t any massive issues, but we did find gaps,” Christiansen says. “We spent a good handful of years just educating the organization and figuring out how to align our values with the issues we knew needed to be handled.”
That gender equity gap was closed in 2018, and processes and procedures were put in place to monitor that initiative continually. CHG also signed the ParityPLEDGE, a nationwide commitment to gender and racial parity.
“We spent a good handful of years just educating the organization and figuring out how to align our values with the issues we knew needed to be handled.”
Jennica Christiansen
There are broader initiatives on that front when it comes to benefits as well. The organization is examining student loan repayments, different retirement planning tools, and menopausal and long-term care benefits that don’t penalize older employees for remaining committed to their careers.
“We continue looking at unique benefits that help with the inclusivity of our workforce and meet the unique needs of our people at different times of their lives,” Christiansen says. “Putting people first is our central core value at CHG.” It’s an organization that places these values into every decision it makes.
The Currency of CHG
The same autonomy that Christiansen has been granted to work toward these unique offerings is underlined by a phrase those at CHG know well: relationships are the currency at CHG.
Christiansen has invested years building the kind of relationships across her organization that make her so effective in her role. And the time she’s spent learning about those within her organization has allowed her to see both the reasons that CHG has been selected as a Fortune “100 Best Places Companies to Work For,” while refusing to settle on past accommodations to make tomorrow better for its people.
Christiansen came to CHG with just enough experience to be dangerous. After having spent enough time in the financial services world to let her know it wasn’t where she wanted to build a career, CHG came across her radar.
It’s been just under a decade, but Christiansen has already accomplished a lifetime of innovation on the HR front. No day is the same, and every challenge is a little bit different. That’s what she loves about the job and what keeps her happy at CHG.
Mercer takes immense pride in its partnership with Jennica Christiansen and CHG Healthcare, renowned leaders in the healthcare industry. Their unwavering commitment to their employees drives meaningful change in critical healthcare moments. Mercer is honored to partner with Jennica and CHG Healthcare to provide a world-class benefits program for their employees to care for the caretakers. This collaboration shapes a brighter future for organizations and individuals alike, making a profound difference in countless lives and transforming the broader healthcare landscape. For more information on how Mercer is helping employers make a difference in the moments that matter, visit mercer.com.
