Emily serves as the VP of Benefits at Navy Federal Credit Union, leading benefits, wellness, recognition and employee engagement events for over 25,000 employees. She has over 20 years of career experience in employee benefits. She values working with people and data and enjoys understanding the needs of the Navy Federal’s team to support them and their families best. Analyzing data, including utilization, spending, satisfaction, and more, helps her uncover the value of programs offered at the credit union.
Through this article, Emily emphasizes Navy Federal’s commitment to fostering a connected and inclusive culture in a hybrid work environment through reimagined onboarding, enhanced employee recognition and effective use of AI and data analytics to support employees.
Navy Federal remains committed to a hybrid workforce model and we’ve had to evolve some programs to ensure all employees feel connected to our culture no matter where they work. As a multicultural, global workforce with branches across 27 international locations, the Navy Federal prioritizes connectivity across teams and regions. We want our employees to feel excited about connecting in person when that is an option. We also want our branch and remote employees to feel connected to Navy Federal’s culture in their locations.
“We Know Our Members Are Best Supported When We Take Time To Prioritize Our Team Member Wellbeing. We Take A Holistic Employee Well-Being Approach And Recently Rolled Out Our Specific Wellness Dimensions”
Here are a few ways Navy Federal has adapted to a hybrid work model:
• We reimagined our onboarding program to better prepare and connect new employees to Navy Federal’s culture, how we operate and how we serve our members. New hire welcome kits and mentors are elements of our onboarding process that cultivate belonging and peer support.
• We continue to evolve our employee recognition program to enhance our culture of appreciation and gratitude. ‘Celebrate You’ empowers employees to recognize each other from big wins to small everyday accomplishments and over 500,000 ecards were sent across the enterprise in 2024.
• We offer employee social events across campuses and geographic hubs where remote workers can participate. In fact, 190 events were planned in 2024, including seasonal festivals, ticketed events, employee social happy hours and volunteer activations. Additionally, we host unique events that extend to our team member’s families and friends and spark connection and fun, like our Annual Big Day Out celebration, which engaged over 12,000 people across sites in 2024 with games, food trucks and more.
• Whole-person employee wellness is a top priority at Navy Federal. In 2024, over 3,400 employees designated onsite wellness centers as their primary care providers and our fitness centers had over 134,000 in-person and 18,500 virtual visits last year. Our employee assistance program supports our global workforce and exceeds industry standards with a 12 percent utilization rate.
• Our ‘Moments that Matter’ fund, which exceeds $1,000,000, allows leaders to create team-bonding experiences. Groups can gather in person and enjoy lunch, ice cream socials or team-building activities offsite.
Navy Federal is an employee-powered, mission-driven organization. We know our members are best supported when we prioritize our team members’ well-being. We take a holistic employee well-being approach and recently rolled out our specific wellness dimensions.
These dimensions remind our team members that wellness includes physical health, mental well-being, social connections, personal and professional development, community engagement, financial wellness and more. We continue to align our wellness programs to these key dimensions as they tie into Navy Federal’s culture. Team members can see how the programs support their overall well-being through these dimensions.
The future of HR is evolving rapidly and Navy Federal remains agile. We leverage AI and automation in HR processes when appropriate. Our data scientists analyze information to help solve complex business problems and we focus heavily on the employee experience. We aim to design and deliver new programs to meet the expectations of our team members.
Our HR service center manages HR service delivery and administration, which enables each HR Center of Excellence to focus solely on strategy and design. This helps us grow our future of work and continue to meet the evolving needs of our team members and their families.
In my experience, it’s important to focus on relationship building and demonstrate authenticity when interacting with others to create lasting change in HR. People are more willing to partner with you to accomplish strategic objectives when you are seen as a trusted advisor. Be someone who genuinely cares about others and their achievements as much as your priorities and goals.
I also recommend being receptive to feedback and actively seeking diverse perspectives from leaders, peers, team members and experts outside your organization. Feedback is a gift that boosts self-awareness.
Lastly, learn how to effectively analyze data and craft stories from the learnings to build a business case. Benefits data can be very complex and overwhelming, so it’s important to make it easily digestible to your audience. Refining skills that transform complex information into strategic priorities have helped me gain buy-in from executive leadership to benefit our entire Navy Federal workforce.
