How Employee Feedback Drives Ally Financial’s Benefits Strategy

As employers face rising healthcare costs and pressure to control spending, many organizations are reexamining their benefits offerings. In fact, data from insurance broker and HR consulting firm Gallagher from late last year found that 40% of employers have considered reevaluating their benefits strategy or philosophy as a result of changing economic and business conditions. 

But for some employers, like Ally Financial, the focus remains on benefits investments. 

The Detroit-based financial services company has spent the past several years expanding benefits across the employee life cycle, from fertility and adoption support to paid parental leave, childcare resources, student debt assistance and, most recently, menopause support. The strategy, said Nader Salah, Ally Financial’s executive director of total rewards, reflects a broader philosophy — that benefits should evolve alongside employees’ changing needs. 

“Overall employee well-being is really at the center of everything,” he said. “And a lot of the shift [in benefits strategy] has been from, ‘What’s market competitive?’ to ‘What do our employees need?’ ” 

That approach appears to be resonating. Salah points to strong employee engagement, high retention among top performers, and a steady stream of employee feedback that continues to shape the company’s offerings. 

SHRM recently spoke to Salah about why family benefits have become a priority, how employee feedback drives decision-making, and what today’s workforce expects from employers. 

SHRM: Family-focused benefits have been a major area of investment for Ally. What has driven that strategy? 

Salah: In some respects, the idea of family planning has evolved over time. It’s not just having a baby. There’s obviously a lot more to it than that, and it’s not over the day of delivery. 

People are becoming much more open about the challenges of having a baby, and they’re sharing that. It’s an opportunity for us to be there for them in the moment that matters, show them that we care, and do the right thing. Depending on the path someone takes toward starting that family, we want to make sure we are addressing each of those along their path. 

SHRM: What are some of the family benefits Ally offers today? 

Salah: We have fertility coverage; we’ve enhanced our adoption reimbursement; and we introduced doulas in 2023.  And we have a very strong leave program for up to 14 weeks paid leave, and we also have leave prior to birth as well. 

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We have a childcare support benefit that we offer. On the financial side, we introduced a 529 program we call the Save Up program, where as a company we contribute $100 a month into a 529 plan for the employee’s child. The employee doesn’t have to contribute —it’s just a company contribution up to $10,000. As we think about the full family-planning life cycle, there are a lot of elements to try to be there. 

SHRM: Ally recently added menopause support. Why was it important to introduce that benefit? 

Salah: Our menopause benefits don’t apply to a lot of people. But even those that don’t take advantage of that benefit see what we’re doing. We don’t just talk to a very specific group about that benefit or just give that demographic information. We talk about all of these things to all employees because we want them to know everything that we do. We don’t just have one-size-fits-all.  

Menopause is one space where I think it’s been a bit taboo. It hasn’t been talked about. That’s why we’re starting to talk about it more, and we’re able to lean in this space. 

SHRM: How has employee reaction been to these newer benefits? 

Salah: It’s fantastic, and it’s one place where we can continue to lean in. 

We [offer benefits and expand them] because it’s the right thing to do, but of course there are benefits to us for doing it. The retention rate for our top talent is 93%. 

We have testimonials every year around enrollment time. We always get some really nice notes around all these different things, and not even just that time of year. So far, we’re very pleased with the uptake and the response, both anecdotally as well as what we’re seeing in the numbers. 

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SHRM: Many employers struggle with benefits communication. How important is that piece of the benefits puzzle? 

Salah: It’s massive. You need to have a competitive program. We differentiate ourselves with [our benefits]. But if [employees] don’t know [what benefits] there are, they’re not going to use them, and they’re not going to appreciate it. 

We’ll sit down with our employee resource groups on a regular basis. We’ll go out to our customer service facilities and have education sessions. We have virtual benefits fairs, regular newsletters, company-wide communications, the intranet, video boards. 

It’s really about the different ways people consume it. It’s trying to strike the right balance of not bombarding them so it becomes noise, but mixing it up so they realize we’re talking about something we’re providing as a benefit to them. 

SHRM: How much does employee feedback influence benefit decisions? 

Salah: It absolutely does. 

When we’re doing these onsite sessions, that’s when we’ll get a lot of good ideas. They’ll say something like, “Do we offer this?” or “Does it do this?” And the response may be, “It doesn’t today, but is that something people find interesting?” 

We’ll take note, and we’ll look into it. That’s really how a lot of these benefits have evolved and been introduced, because we are hearing from our employees about their needs. 

SHRM: Some organizations are reducing benefits or shifting more costs to employees. Why does Ally continue to invest? 

Salah: Our purpose-driven culture is our key differentiator. That’s really what positions us as an employer of choice. In order to maintain that, you need to invest in your people. 

Our culture’s been ranked in the top 10 globally for engagement for several years in a row. You don’t stay there without continuing to invest. 

It’s a very conscious decision that this is how we want to continue to engage our workforce. We’re seeing that those investments are paying off.