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Strategic Support for the "Team of One":
How Vestar Reclaimed 380 Hours and Resolved a $150k Legacy Crisis
About Vestar
Our Customer
Redefining Commercial Real Estate Development
Vestar is a powerhouse in commercial real estate management, acquisition and development. Founded in 1989,with over 140 employees spread across six states, Vestar operates in a high stakes, conservative industry where stability and precision are the standard.
Vestar’s mission is to create community centric retail environments that stand the test of time. To maintain this mission, they need a workforce that is supported by a robust, reliable benefits infrastructure that operates without friction.
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Our HR Leader
Melody Yerman, VP of Human Resources
As the VP of HR, Melody is the architect of the Vestar employee experience. Operating effectively as a "People Team of One," she manages everything from employee relations to total rewards. With over five years at Vestar, Melody stepped into a legacy environment that required a massive shift from administrative firefighting to modern, strategic operations.
HR Challenges
Vestar was caught in a "perfect storm" caused by a legacy broker that focused on high-level placements while ignoring the day-to-day operational needs of the HR department and the workforce.
As a VP of HR managing a lean team, Melody knew that in order to stabilize Vestar’s benefits foundation, she needed a partner who could act as a true operational extension. With employees spread across six states and a workforce that holds high expectations for traditional coverage, Vestar’s systems had to be designed to handle complex administrative troubleshooting without overwhelming the solo HR lead. Melody recognized that to stay competitive and resolve deep-seated carrier issues, her benefits management process needed to evolve from manual oversight to a tech-enabled, high-advocacy partnership.
1. Prior Broker's Negligence
Resolving a $150,000 Crisis
The legacy broker failed to catch a catastrophic oversight where life insurance premiums went unpaid for 18 months. Melody inherited a massive financial liability and a broken trust with carriers. Bennie negotiated down legacy debts that had gone unnoticed by Vestar’s prior broker and accumulated over time.
2. Administration Drain
The "Team of One" Bottleneck
As a solo HR lead, Melody found herself bogged down by manual claims troubleshooting because the incumbent broker offered no direct support for the workforce. Without a partner to handle individual employee issues, a lot of the administrative burden fell entirely on Melody, siphoning time away from critical workforce development and planning.
3. Cost Containment
Mitigating a 30% Renewal Increase
Vestar faced a 30% increase at renewal. In a conservative industry, simply cutting benefits was not an option. Melody needed a partner who could connect with the CFO to model non-traditional funding mechanisms and negotiate aggressively with carriers.
Bennie’s Job Duties
Vestar didn't need a new vendor; they needed an extension of their department. Bennie deployed a "Whole Product" solution that combined aggressive financial negotiation with high-tech administrative relief.
The "Ask Bennie" Advocacy shield
Bennie deployed a High-Advocacy Shield, utilizing benefits experts to bypass carrier phone trees and secure immediate pre-approvals for urgent care. Bennie’s live healthcare concierge and mobile app provided a centralized source of truth. By giving employees a direct line to advocates for claims and billing disputes, Bennie removed Melody from the administrative middle. This high-advocacy model ensures employees feel supported during "moments that matter," even in a "team of one" environment.
I redirect all the time... knowing that they can go right to Ask Bennie for benefits questions with things that maybe they don't feel comfortable sharing. It takes a lot of those day-to-day questions out for me, but also really, I feel more confident the employees are getting that support that they need.
Data-Driven Negotiation & Modeling
Bennie approached Vestar’s renewal as a strategic, data-driven negotiation rather than a routine transaction. By exploring alternative funding models, non-traditional offerings, and a comprehensive market analysis, Bennie effectively reduced the renewal increase by almost 50% while maintaining benefits and a seamless employee experience. This transition to a new funding mechanism now allows Melody to leverage real-time claims dashboards and Bennie Insights, providing her leadership team with data transparency.
Bennie's negotiation with carriers is an incredible asset. They bring insights to the table that allow us to model different scenarios and truly digest the financial impact before making a decision. We saw a final result that was significantly better than the original market version.
Managing a workforce across six states requires technical precision. Bennie took over the "grunt work" of ensuring Vestar’s HRIS was built correctly to handle complex benefit feeds and life events. For a solo HR lead, having a technical partner meant the difference between manual data entry and a streamlined, automated workflow that scales with the company.
Managing an HRIS across multiple states is a complex undertaking. However, Bennie has helped me build it in a way that works, which is huge. If I ever make a system change, I’m confident with the Bennie team in my back pocket. I don't know that I could take that on alone and knowing that I have them to make sure everything is set up correctly is a huge benefit
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Performance Over Promises
The Results
Reclaiming the Strategic Calendar
By offloading 362 individual employee tickets to Bennie’s advocates, Melody reclaimed over 392 administrative hours. This is the equivalent of winning back nearly 10 weeks of work to focus on turnover reduction, compensation analysis, and culture-building initiatives.
Every strategic project lands on my plate... engagement, turnover, compensation analysis. Bennie really allows me to operate more strategically and not just administratively.
Elite Support in "Moments that Matter"
Beyond the spreadsheets, Bennie’s impact has been felt at the individual level. When employees were "in tears" over carrier delays for urgent MRIs or surgeries, Bennie’s advocates cut through the red tape to assist employees in getting the care they need.
Bennie reaches out, gets the approval, and then employees are able to schedule that appointment... to see that they were able to get help and get the stuff they need right away. I’ve heard that feedback a couple of times.
A Foundation for the Long Haul
Bennie has transitioned Vestar from a state of crisis to a state of strategic confidence. Melody now has a partner that provides the infrastructure support and system reliability required for a growing mid-market firm.
I don't feel like it's just me when it comes to benefits, which is huge. Having a partner that can digest complex modeling and then pivot to help an employee with a bill, that’s the difference-maker.