What makes for a happy employee? Companies routinely sort through myriad possibilities, developing new HR initiatives and expanding upon existing programs, all to support changes to the workplace landscape and employee expectations. Perks and benefits are attractive, but perhaps most important is the daily experience that an employee has in their role and with their team.
For Laura MacMillan, a UX research manager at ZocDoc, the opportunity to work on complex healthcare issues keeps her motivated and inspired. ZocDoc’s mission and its foundational goals of improving the patient experience extend beyond just individual inspiration; in Laura’s experience, when the entire team is unified around a shared passion, collaboration and creativity flourish.
That type of mutual support and engagement is undoubtedly attractive to new hires. Espousing a culture of collaboration is helpful when recruiting, but when it comes to retention, teams that actually demonstrate those values in everyday settings keep employees connected. In Caroline Lu’s experience at JW Player, consistent teamwork has translated into motivation and inspiration. “The willingness to learn from each other and work together to solve interesting challenges comes across in day-to-day meetings and conversations,” she said.
Consistency, passion for the work and core values, opportunities for development — these are just a few examples of what drives individuals to join and remain with a team. We met with nine local leaders to learn what led them to their roles, why they’ve stayed, and where their company is headed.
Solving issues in healthcare takes a creative understanding of complex issues — the drive to find those solutions keeps Laura MacMillan motivated and connected to her role.
As a tenured employee, what has been the biggest reason you’ve stayed at Zocdoc so long?
At Zocdoc, we are truly mission-driven and we work on deep, complex, interesting problems. I’m constantly learning something new, whether that’s tracking how patients’ and providers’ views about telehealth evolve over time, probing into the myriad factors that matter to patients as they seek mental health care, or examining the shifting systems that underlie healthcare costs. By applying what we learn about our users and healthcare, we have the chance to make a frustrating, confusing and even disheartening system easier for patients and providers to navigate.
Looking to the future, what excites you most about where Zocdoc is headed or, more specifically, the work you’ll do to help your company get there?
I’m excited about our plans to grow the company generally, and specifically to grow the design and user research team. Healthcare is complex, and there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Building strong teams will allow us to dig into and address more specific problems and needs, and investigate and experiment in new areas, all to give power to the patient. Designers and researchers will be key partners in helping lead the way.
The opportunity to meet team members during an interview can shed light on whether company culture truly demonstrates their core values. For Grace Cocco, meeting the Smartling team and experiencing a caring company culture led her to accept her position.
What was the deciding factor for you when you accepted your job at Smartling?
One of Smartling’s core values is to “take care of our people.” Companies often say this, but Smartling actually demonstrated it throughout my interview process. Even though I wasn’t officially one of their people yet, everyone I met with was warm and welcoming, and they gave me the time and information I needed to make a decision that was right for me. The interview experience was a preview of how I’d be treated as an employee, and that was a big deciding factor when I accepted the position.
Looking to the future, what excites you most about where Smartling is headed or, more specifically, the work you’ll do to help your company get there?
Smartling is going through a lot of really exciting changes right now! The platform is extremely powerful, but the localization process can get complicated very quickly. We’re expanding our design and product teams, investing in a design system, and doubling down on making our experiences even more user-friendly. I’m really excited to work with our customers and the talented team here at Smartling to improve our existing and new features.
Technical Recruiter Gency Alas was looking for a company in its early growth stage, where he could make a tangible difference in the brand and its team. Tesseract Health offered that opportunity, and continues to do so as it expands.
What was the deciding factor for you when you accepted your job at Tesseract Health, and why?
When I was searching for a new opportunity, I wanted to join a company where the work I was doing would make an impact. I found that in Tesseract. We are building a product that will make an impact on society — to be a part of that so early on is amazing. The entire company believes in what we are creating, and it shows in our work and in our culture.
Looking to the future, what excites you most about where Tesseract Health is headed or, more specifically, the work you’ll do to help your company get there?
What excites me the most about Tesseract is the amount of good we are going to do and the impact our product will have. As the recruiter, I am excited to be a part of the growth and to have a hand in building out teams of extraordinary people. I am looking forward to the candidates I will speak to and to the ones who join us, and I cannot wait to see how much of an impact they will have here at Tesseract.
Studies abound on the impact that company mission can have on employee hiring and retention, and Meera Thenappan is one case study in that paradigm. The team at Pumpkin is passionate about pet insurance, and that drive keeps Thenappan inspired as the company grows.
What was the deciding factor for you when you accepted your job at Pumpkin, and why?
The people and the mission sold me! Everyone I met throughout the interview process was welcoming, and I could clearly see how passionate they were about Pumpkin’s mission. I could tell that the people on my team would help me grow, develop my product management skills and expand my understanding of the business. The leadership team at Pumpkin is all about the work-hard, play-hard mentality. While everyone works hard to provide healthy lives to pets, everyone also takes time to rest their own paws!
Looking to the future, what excites you most about where Pumpkin is headed or, more specifically, the work you’ll do to help your company get there?
My work is centered on the post-purchase and customer service experiences. With the projects we have in mind for the next year, we will be able to focus on providing quality customer service so that customers can rely on us to help answer their questions and create a path towards a healthy life for their pet. As we evolve our post-purchase experience, we will be able to provide customers with a personalized experience to learn about their pet’s health.
JW Player’s culture of collaboration and development has kept Caroline Lu learning, whether through learning stipends, working on complex problems with her team, or participating in mentorship initiatives.
As a tenured employee, what has been the biggest reason you’ve stayed at JW Player so long?
I’m a huge fan of the culture around growth and learning at JW Player. The willingness to learn from each other, and to work together to solve interesting challenges, comes across in day-to-day meetings and conversations. It’s also supported at an organizational level by initiatives like a learning and development stipend, as well as a mentorship initiative in which our company leaders actively participate.
Looking to the future, what excites you most about where JW Player is headed or, more specifically, the work you’ll do to help your company get there?
Online video is such a dynamic industry, constantly evolving and adapting to the world around us. It’s very exciting for me to be at a company that was a pioneer in this field, and that continues to be a leader in online video innovation. We’re well positioned to enable companies of all sizes and missions to connect deeply with their audiences through video, and as a product marketer I’m excited to help define how we can do so most effectively.
The opportunity to grow is what brings many new hires to their chosen companies. Steve Wolf saw room to build new skills alongside SmartAsset’s growth, and after six years, he continues to find value and inspiration in the product and team.
As a tenured employee, what has been the biggest reason you’ve stayed at SmartAsset so long?
I’ve been happily employed at SmartAsset for six years now, and the main reason I’ve stayed so long is because we’re not scared to recognize a market opportunity and go all-in. The leadership team at SmartAsset possesses an ability to block out noise and focus on building a core business, without losing touch with what the market will need next.
A great example is our launch of SmartAdvisor. After carefully listening to the needs of our marketplace, we launched this new service in 2018 that helps qualified financial advisors build meaningful relationships directly with consumers who are actively searching for financial advice. Today, SmartAsset reaches more than 100 million people each month.
Each time we pursue a new strategic opportunity, the demands of the project are different. It challenges you to build a new skill set and flex different muscles you haven’t used before. That’s how I’ve been able to stay sharp and continue to grow during my time here.
Looking to the future, what excites you most about where SmartAsset is headed or, more specifically, the work you’ll do to help your company get there?
When you zoom out and look at the demographic data, there’s a wave of consumers rapidly approaching retirement without access to good financial advice. SmartAsset and SmartAdvisor are working to find the shortest distance between a consumer with a question and the financial product or financial expert who can answer it for them. That is an incredibly exciting position to be in. We come to work every day trying to help millions of Americans improve their financial future with our platform.
For Eugene Wolfson, the alignment of personal and professional goals drew him to the Meetup team and keeps him inspired. His role offered the exact experience he was looking to develop, as well as a company culture that shares his personal goal of driving real-life connections.
What was the deciding factor for you when you accepted your job at Meetup, and why?
Like most of the folks at Meetup, I joined the company to help people use the internet to get off the internet and connect in real life. I was interested in switching from software engineering to machine learning, and the data team was the perfect group to help me get there. That was three years ago. Since then, there has always been something engaging to work on. The team’s projects are a good balance of quick wins with measurable impact and steady iterations on long-term bets.
Looking to the future, what excites you most about where Meetup is headed or, more specifically, the work you’ll do to help your company get there?
I am glad that Meetup stayed committed to the same goal for the past two decades, to be a platform for finding and building local communities. This mission-level stability cultivates an overwhelming drive to train machine-learning models, end-to-end. We’re striving toward an endless, virtuous cycle of incremental improvement.
Being part of a company’s initial growth can foster a deep sense of connection to its mission. Bari Schwarz’s experience with Better throughout its rapid expansion has reinforced that, regardless of size, the team remains committed to a shared mission of homeownership for all.
As a tenured employee, what has been the biggest reason you’ve stayed at Better so long?
I have been with Better since 2019 when it was a 400-person company. In my first week I was tasked with working with our founder and CEO, and was immediately drawn to his faith in Better’s mission. Aiming to make homeownership accessible to all is a beautiful thing. At the end of the day, we are human beings who require shelter, food and water. How has industry ignored the shelter aspect for so long?
It has been an exhilarating ride to see the company scale as it has, and to have been a part of that growth in my former role as a recruiter. The people and their belief in this company are what make Better so great.
Looking to the future, what excites you most about where Better is headed or, more specifically, the work you’ll do to help your company get there?
I believe we will forever stay true to our mission. As a communications professional, my job is made easier by working for a company that aims to do good. The intent in acquisitions, growth spurts and reorganizations all come from a good place at the core, making my role extremely rewarding.
Few people look forward to the interview process, which makes a good experience there even more rewarding. When meeting the team at The Trade Desk, Anna Sayre immediately felt at home. That sentiment has continued as she remains inspired by her peers and the work she’s doing.
What was the deciding factor for you when you accepted your job at The Trade Desk, and why?
I thoroughly enjoyed the interview process and everyone I got to meet, and I chose to work at The Trade Desk because it immediately felt like home. The feeling continues more than two years in. The people I engage with inspire me to step up and bring my A-game every single day.
Looking to the future, what excites you most about where The Trade Desk is headed or, more specifically, the work you’ll do to help your company get there?
I love working at The Trade Desk because the work I do really matters, and I get to be a part of something big. Whether it’s focused on the future of identity, the evolving retail landscape or the shift of TV consumption from linear to connected TV, we’re working to make the open internet better for everyone.
Our mission attracts some of the best people in the industry: super smart, grounded and generous. I am so inspired by the team I get to work with every day, and I know the work we’re doing will have a lasting impact on the industry.
