‘There isn't a silver bullet; it depends on your workforce and where your organization wants to go,’ says Kristine Dionne
When it comes to the intense, fierce battle employers are currently facing around talent recruitment and retention, Meridian Credit Union’s VP of total rewards and HR operations believes offering discounted mortgages and 100 per cent employer-paid health and dental coverage has helped make them standout as a competitive workplace.
“We offer discounted lines of credit, mortgages and loans to our employees because it's more generous than what the other financial institutions and the big banks offer,” said Meridian's Kristine Dionne. “And we have a huge uptake. More than 50 per cent of our employees take advantage of banking with us and using those loans. What happens is that the interest rate that the employees would pay is significantly less than what we would offer to other members, which help from a financial wellness perspective. So, they can pay off their mortgages or loans quicker and hit the hit the principal faster."
Paired with service-fee-free banking on everyday products like chequing accounts, that package is designed to directly support employees’ financial well-being rather than treating it as an afterthought, she added.
That outcome is not coming from perks on the margins but one that is rooted in a total rewards strategy that aims to hit employees’ biggest pressure points: money, time, health access and psychological strain, while also staying in the limits of what the business can afford over the long term.
Dionne oversees everything from compensation and benefits to disability management, recognition, people analytics and payroll for roughly 2,200 employees, and she has spent the past few years pulling the pieces of that strategy into a deliberate roadmap, pointing to the organizations paid time off policies and core benefits as deliberate differentiators.
According to Dionne, Meridian’s vacation program was rated better than market, and employees receive an additional five supplemental “flex days” on top of their regular vacation, plus an extra day off this year from the CEO as an employee recognition day. That is layered with unpaid time-off options and top-ups on legislative leaves to keep income stable during life events.
Dionne positioned Meridian’s wellness strategy as both comprehensive and deliberately targeted at gaps that were clearly holding employees back. For example, she acknowledged the company realized its previous $500 cap for mental health services was being exhausted after only a few sessions given market rates of $150 to $200 per visit, leaving people without sustained support.
In response, Meridian boosted coverage to $5,000 per covered individual per year for mental health practitioners and has since seen much higher usage of the benefit alongside a drop in mental-health-related short-term disability claims, because employees can now access professional help long enough to manage their challenges properly.
That investment is also backed by an integrated well-being program that does more than just fund therapy. It’s one that also matches employees with the right practitioners through an online questionnaire that pairs them with someone who fits their needs and preferences, with negotiated discounted rates so the $5,000 goes further and people can “pretty much get through the year” without running out of coverage.
Dionne underscored that continuous relationships with therapists or counselors are built into the model, rather than being cut short by low limits. Additionally, Meridian has added a virtual health program to close a growing access gap for employees in Ontario who do not have a family doctor, giving them on-demand access to medical professionals and reducing both physical and mental health risks that come from delayed care.
Now in its second year of running, Dionne acknowledged the focus is shifting to retirement and health security, starting with deeper pension benchmarking in 2025 and then a full review of benefits so the team can “look at holistically redesigning the pension and benefits together” and modernize that offering to Meridian employees through 2026 and 2027.
Consequently, she underscored that not every legacy element deserves to survive unchanged, noting that “the traditional employee support program is underutilized,” suggesting that EAP models no longer have the impact they once did, given the range of alternative supports now available to employees.
As a result, that reality is pushing Meridian to scrutinize utilization and “potentially shift” where it invests in the future so dollars land in channels that reach more people. She pointed to virtual health and expanded mental health benefits as programs that clearly resonate, noting she’s received several positive comments about the mental health coverage they have since instated.
Dionne believes a well-being ecosystem needs to go far beyond basic insurance and give employees practical tools they can use everyday. That’s why virtual health is embedded in the program so staff can quickly reach medical professionals; Meridian also utilizes Mercer 365, which bundles several supports into a single platform, including virtual physical activity tools employees can use as often as they want, sleep assessments, and streamlined access to practitioners ranging from mental health providers to physiotherapists, noted Dionne.
Beyond surveys, which she sees as a strong signal that recent investments in total rewards and well-being are landing with staff, Meridian tracks a set of hard metrics on a quarterly HR dashboard that senior leaders and the board follow closely.
She acknowledged that turnover remains low compared to industry benchmarks, time-to-fill stays reasonable even for tougher roles, and high-potential employees tend to stay, all of which reinforce her view that “we're seen as a good employer.”
As a result, she expects these successful elements to carry more weight as the broader review plays out over the next few years.
“It's important to look at the market data, but you have to do what's right for your organization,” Dionne asserted. “There isn't a silver bullet. I think it depends on your workforce and where your organization wants to go. The financial sustainability also plays a role too because we have to be able to afford these programs and meet the needs of our employees at the same time. That’s a tough balancing act to do.”
