In the past year, the story of the tech industry is one of austerity and layoffs. The momentum of the economic downturn carried over from the previous year has seemingly accelerated, as teams are reeling from job cuts that come swiftly and without warning. For tech workers, there’s a feeling of restless uncertainty in the workplace.
But amid the industry-wide belt tightening and portents of more talent churn, some companies are shining a beacon in the economic gloom, reversing current trends by investing in their people.
While many players in the sector are taking a closer look at their benefits for ways to cut costs, companies such as New York City’s Justworks are re-examining programs to see how they can be bolstered to better support its employees — beyond the current economic climate.
“We understand that few Justworkers will retire with us,” said Director of People and Culture Jen Fox. “Our goal is to help them gain the experience, knowledge, leadership skills and networks to have an impact here, and hopefully bolster their ultimate career goals — whichever path they choose to take.”
B2B payment company Melio abides by a similar philosophy, where uncertain times call for retention instead of relegation. To let its policy do the talking, the company is supporting employee well-being with increased PTO and additional resources.
“Regardless of any industry turbulence, Melio has and will always put our employees’ well-being as a top priority within the company,” said Maria Cox, senior director of people.
For benefits platform Nayya and marketing company Share Local Media, shoring up support for their people means investing in the long-term through training and development. As tech continues to shed talent, companies that assuage doubts and establish trust go a long way towards winning favor internally. “When employees feel the company cares about their development, everyone benefits,” said Nayya’s HR Business Partner Glenn Carr.
In time, such employee growth will reflect the companies’ priority toward a people-forward culture. “We recognize that our organization’s success lies in the happiness, expertise and enthusiasm of the people behind the business,” said SLM’s HR Manager Amy Cooperstock.
For a closer look at how some of New York City’s tech companies are facing down current market conditions, Built In NYC sat down with four people managers to see the strategic initiatives that are bucking industry trends.
Justworks is an HR tech company that helps businesses and entrepreneurs grow with an all-in-one platform for benefits, compliance, payroll and other tools. As part of its core values, the company understands the importance of investing in people both as clients and employees.
How, in spite of any industry turbulence, are you continuing to invest in your people right now?
At Justworks, investing in hiring, developing and retaining great people is foundational to our success.
This starts by creating an inclusive workplace through continued education, experiential learning and a robust network of employee resource groups. We also offer foundational benefits like flexible time off, “Oxygen Days” to recharge and opportunities to volunteer.
Through JustStart, our 90-day onboarding program, new Justworkers have the opportunity to meet with their team, learn about the business and connect with different departments to immerse themselves into our culture, brand and purpose from day one.
In terms of development, JustGrow, our program for annual performance reviews and ongoing development cycles, provides managers and employees with the structure and tools to reflect on key wins and opportunities for growth. Throughout these conversations, Justworkers can chart their own path to growth, including learning new skills through online courses on Udemy and ExecOnline.
Our managers also participate in JustManage, our core manager development program that builds competence and confidence among our people leaders — new and experienced alike
How does continuing to invest in your people right now set your company up for success in the long term?
Justworks’ purpose is to help people realize their potential. While this refers to how we support entrepreneurs and our small business customers to grow with confidence, it is also true for our own team.
We fundamentally believe that when our employees have the right mix of challenge and support; direction and autonomy; and freedom to grow and permission to fail, they will be more engaged, productive and connected to the company and their colleagues. If we give people the opportunity to do meaningful work, they are more likely to stay and contribute to our mission for a long time.
It’s not uncommon for a former Justworker to end up working for a small business that uses our software. Some Justworkers even leave to start their own businesses and eventually become our customers.
If we give people the opportunity to do meaningful work, they are more likely to stay and contribute to our mission for a long time.”
Looking ahead, how do you plan to continue investing in your people?
If the past three years have taught us anything, it’s that the world is ever-evolving. To support our employees through ongoing change, we invest in their holistic well-being through four pillars: physical health, mental health, social well-being and healthy work habits.
From financial coaching to group workouts, access to online guided meditation via Headspace and counseling via Talkspace, we are already investing in these areas.
Thriving teams are core to our success and future leaders will play a critical role in building and leading them. Our two-year Justworks Leaders’ Fellowship is a cohort-based program that aims to prepare a diverse group of high-potential, high-performing early career managers to develop into Justworks’ future senior leaders. The program is structured as a mix of classroom, outdoor, practical and peer-learning experiences to expand the fellows’ perspectives and develop business, leadership and management skills.
More broadly, we are continuing to invest in a multifaceted curriculum that helps build skills in everything from performance management to DEIB frameworks and hybrid work.
Melio is a B2B payment platform that streamlines cash flow between businesses. The company aims to build out a seamless financial infrastructure for businesses to move money and keep track of invoices. Internally, the team prioritizes the people building its ambitious platform.
How, in spite of any industry turbulence, are you continuing to invest in your people right now?
We have made some positive enhancements to our employee benefits to further support our employees in every and any way possible.
As a company, we are dedicated to making sure our employees can take a break and focus on life outside of work. So, we increased our PTO policy to support employees. We believe that family is important, and understand that starting and growing your family is a big deal. We are here for our employees and want to support them every step of the way, so we increased and enhanced our parental leave policy. We are rolling out a new wellness benefit with Gympass to support employees in their physical health journey.
Overall, we are consistently mindful of our employees and want to provide them with continued resources to be the best version of themselves, both in and out of the workplace.
How does continuing to invest in your people right now set your company up for success in the long term?
Our people are core to our business. Investing in them and their well-being is critical to our continued success as an organization. When people feel cared about and engaged in the work they are doing, the business will benefit in the long term.
We are consistently mindful of our employees and want to provide them with continued resources to be the best version of themselves.”
How does company culture benefit when people know that they’re still being invested in?
Employees are happier when they feel their company cares about them and is investing in them as a human being. Happy employees result in a more positive culture and work environment.
Nayya is a benefits experience platform that uses AI and data to get the most value for businesses and their employees. The company’s software facilitates personal decision support and benefit engagement for staff while reducing costs for employers. As part of its mission to build HR tech that drives employee retention and well-being, the company understands the value of treating its own employees well.
How, in spite of any industry turbulence, are you continuing to invest in your people right now?
We have built career paths, as well as a career roadmap tool that allows employees to identify development opportunities and create a plan of action to achieve their career goals.
The “Road to 2023 training initiative” was an all-company program led by our CEO, training the company on all different facets of the business to help employees better understand the problem, product and prospect. The success of the program influenced our company’s enablement goal. Training and development is a major part of our company culture. This year, all employees are required to complete 15 hours of training, and managers are responsible for leading one training per quarter. We are continuing to educate our employees to better understand our mission, drive higher engagement and upskill our teams.
We have skilling sessions for both managers and emerging leaders. Through LifeLabs, nominated employees participate in an eight-week program that helps develop and refine their leadership skills. The sessions allow employees to work cross-functionally to share best practices and experiences using the new skills. We also have monthly manager meetings to discuss how to be better leaders and empower their teams.
How does continuing to invest in your people right now set your company up for success in the long term?
Career pathing helps set us up for success because we want Nayyans to have clear avenues for growth and development to help drive their advancement within and across functions. Having a clear understanding of what is expected of them keeps employees motivated, engaged and excited to take on the next challenge.
Road to 2023 helped the team understand the problem the company is trying to solve, to level up and find new ways to match the understanding of the problem with the solution we are creating.
The goal of the 2023 training is to deepen our team’s knowledge of the problem, product and prospect. We are striving to give each employee a better understanding of how to impact our mission and the success of the company.
Having a clear understanding of what is expected of them keeps employees motivated, engaged and excited to take on the next challenge.”
How does company culture benefit when people know that they’re still being invested in?
Employee engagement increases and people are more motivated when they feel invested in. Employees are also open and willing to step up and help others. They are excited to go above and beyond the scope of their day-to-day work to continue their personal development.
Share Local Media is an offline marketing agency that operates direct mail service for tech and e-commerce companies. By leveraging high-quality branding and a more novel approach, the company wants to help clients achieve more efficient outcomes in their marketing strategy. The idea of a more personal mode of outreach is underscored by SLM’s commitment to a people-driven work culture.
How, in spite of any industry turbulence, are you continuing to invest in your people right now?
Share Local Media has continued to contribute 100 percent of medical, dental and vision premiums for our employees and their immediate families. This is a program we’re proud to have been able to maintain, as we’ve grown from 20 to 77 full-time employees in less than three years. SLM invests heavily in our teams’ career development as well. As our employees are promoted to be people managers, they go through a series of training led by an outside organization to ensure they are prepared for their new responsibilities.
These trainings are cohort-based, so the new managers can learn from and lean on each other. As our NYC-based employees have begun to return to the office on a hybrid basis, we have created a program to bring our remote employees to the NYC office for periodic in-person work. Managers are entitled to five working days per quarter, and individual contributors to five days per half-year. We acknowledge that building relationships is key to our culture, and spending time with co-workers in person is instrumental in creating a sense of trust and alignment.
How does continuing to invest in your people right now set your company up for success in the long term?
There have always been many benefits in offering training to employees. Training helps companies achieve their goals, while also giving employees the learning opportunities they need to keep moving forward in their careers. Training our newest managers gives them the toolbox they’ll need to run effective teams and approach difficult situations with confidence.
With the current economic uncertainty, we know that our employees are going to feel valued and appreciated by our investment in them. And by bringing the entire organization together at regular intervals, we strengthen cross-functional communication and collaboration while creating empathy between and among teams.
We recognize that our organization’s success lies in the happiness, expertise and enthusiasm of the people behind the business.”
Looking ahead, how do you plan to continue investing in your people?
As our team continues to grow and progress in their careers, we will continue our management training cohorts, moving beyond the tactical to more strategy and planning. We are publicizing our existing benefits, such as an education stipend, to make sure everyone is taking advantage of all the benefits that are of interest to them. When surveyed last year, 60 percent of employees expressed a desire to participate in volunteer events, which is something we’ll begin rolling out early this year. Most importantly, we’ll continue to survey the team to ensure that we’re investing in them in areas that provide the most value in their personal and professional lives.
