Friends with Benefits: Episode 4 — The One with Steve from Autodoc: Radical Transparency, Reimagining Benefits from Scratch
About the guest
Steve Bianchi is the Chief People Officer at Autodoc and formerly led global reward at Unilever. With deep experience across both corporate giants and fast-moving startups, Steve brings a rare mix of structured thinking and adaptability to the world of benefits. He’s known for building people strategies from the ground up, questioning outdated norms, and bringing radical transparency to leadership. Whether navigating complex markets or pushing back on over-engineered perks, Steve always brings the focus back to what actually delivers value for the business and its people.
Summary
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In this episode of Friends with Benefits, Carl and David are joined by Steve Bianchi ex-Unilever, now Chief People Officer at Autodoc. Steve brings his systems mindset, startup grit, and global experience to the table as they unpack everything from UK healthcare policy to why payroll is the most underused channel in benefits comms.
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Topics on the table:
- What radical transparency really looks like in global benefits
- The myth of fairness—and why equal isn’t always effective
- When workations sound good but go very wrong
- Building a global benefits strategy with no budget or baseline
- Why payroll is an overlooked but powerful comms tool
- The danger of overpromising on flexibility
- How to prioritise what actually matters to employees
- Saying no to “nice-to-haves” in favour of real impact
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00:00 – Can companies fill the NHS gap?
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“Assuming companies will fill in for the NHS is a big ask.”
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“Business shouldn’t be a backup plan for broken public systems.”
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08:00 – What changed post-pandemic?
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“Nobody expects to be at a company for 40 years. Most tech people aren’t even there for three.”
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“We’re designing benefits for long-term loyalty, but careers have gotten shorter and sharper.”
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15:00 – Building benefits from zero
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“A benefit that’s just a tool isn’t really a benefit.”
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“Sometimes we overcomplicate the basics—people just want something that works.”
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27:00 – The myth of fairness
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“Benefits don’t have to be equal they have to be predictable.”
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“Trying to please everyone is the fastest way to build something no one loves.”
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38:00 – Why benefits comms fail
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“Most TRS statements don’t even have your company’s logo.”
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“If people can’t see their benefits, they don’t exist. Full stop.”
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52:00 – Steve’s Benefit Confession
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“We tried workation... and people started hiding in other countries.”
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“Flexibility without boundaries is just chaos.”
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Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Youtube, Apple Podcast.
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