How much of your benefits budget actually helps people live and work better?In this episode of the HRchat Podcast, host Bill Banham sits down with David Duckworth, Co-Founder and COO at Ben, to explore why so much global benefits spend gets wasted—and how a smarter, more human approach can turn perks into performance.David draws on his background in payments, financial services, and HR tech to reframe benefits as what they really are: complex, recurring payments that deserve the same precision and transparency as payroll. That mindset, he argues, is key to building cleaner, simpler, and more impactful experiences for employees everywhere.The conversation covers:The shift from work-life balance to work-life integration—and how policy design must evolveHow Ben encourages real-time off and embeds wellbeing into daily workflowsWhy boldness and resilience define great hires and high-performing teamsThe mechanics of fixing a fragmented benefits ecosystem with AI, automation, and open architectureHow to measure ROI in practical ways—through adoption, engagement, experience scores, and retention impactWe also preview Disrupt London 25.0, hosted at Ben on November 12, 2025, and discuss why bringing innovators together accelerates progress in employee experience and HR tech.If you’re rethinking your benefits strategy or building the next generation of workplace experience, this conversation is your playbook.Support the showFeature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here. Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our newsletter Check out our in-person events