The Bay Area-based software company, KeepTruckin, has a holistic philosophy regarding the wellbeing of its staff, providing benefits and programs intended to help with a broad and thoughtful swath of their employees’ needs. We spoke to VP of People Operations Shane McCauley as well as Total Rewards Manager Brittany Thorson about KeepTruckin’s approach to taking care of the whole employee.
Philosophically and as a people leader, McCauley believes that HR can do more for companies of any stage or size.
“If you look at most organizations, the head of Engineering’s focus is always going to be shipping code first, then building product, then sales,” he says. “How far down that list do you have to go until they mention ‘people’ with urgency?”
“At KeepTruckin we are aiming to facilitate a system that is predictable and transparent so that people can stay focused on their work and do what they do best.”
“Data is paramount to understanding every aspect of this,” McCauley says. “But I think so often people forget that the simplest version of data is a sentence, or is a word. ‘How are you feeling?’ ‘Do you need anything? What’s going on with you?’”
Piggybacking off of transformative technology that is changing the lives of truck drivers and the transportation industry as a whole, KeepTruckin has the agility to allow for a constant infusion of new ideas
“Our employees want innovation. I mean, that’s our whole business. On top of that, they need benefits that take care of them holistically,” Thorson says.
When it comes to benefits, Thorsen says that the company’s status as a hybrid remote company has to be factored in. In terms of benefit offerings, she says, “I have to be thinking about if a person who’s sitting in our office is going to benefit as much as a person that’s sitting from home.”
While COVID has forced the change of certain practices, the way KT evaluates and assesses benefit programs and packages has remained concrete.
KeepTruckin focuses on the five elements of wellbeing when looking at employee offerings. Those are:
- Physical wellbeing
- Financial wellbeing
- Career wellbeing
- Emotional wellbeing
- Community wellbeing
“If all five of those buckets are full, you’re a happy, engaged, and productive employee, and that ends up helping the bottom line of the business. I really look at everything under those lenses,” Thorson says.
“So we want to make sure we’re covering total wellbeing, and that means for a good cross-section of life stages,” she adds. “And we’re a global company, so what is helpful to employees in the United States might not be as helpful in Pakistan, or Taiwan.”
“I think with benefits with compensation, what often gets missed is ‘What experience are we trying to create?’” McCauley says. “How do we help people bring their whole selves to work? And what environment are we creating when they’re here? Are we creating an inclusive environment to reward that?”
Thorsen says one of the programs she’s proudest of is KeepTruckin’s partnership with Modern Health: “There have been just a lot of mental health challenges in the past year. So being able to provide mental wellbeing benefits unlimited via digital courses, coaches, and therapists is great,” she says, especially in areas of the world where such assistance is harder to find. “I am very proud that 45% of our global population is actively engaged in this program,” she adds.
As far as traditional compensation, many KT employees have learned just what the equity that the company offers means, via a partnership with money management platform Origin.
“Some people just think it’s Monopoly money and don’t understand the real value. Quite a few employees ended up buying homes in the past year. They didn’t realize that it was achievable for them. But once they worked with their financial planner, they realized it was available for them and they didn’t have to stop buying their five-dollar coffee everyday kind of thing too,” Thorson says.
In terms of getting the word out about the intentionality with which KeepTruckin has designed its benefits and overall culture, McCauley says, “there is no better advocate than someone who is currently enjoying that experience.”
“We know that a healthy employee is a happy employee and our focus when providing our suite of benefits and perks is to ensure that your physical, financial, community and emotional wellbeing are all taken into consideration,” Thorsen adds.
Want to join a company that is putting its employee’s well-being first? KeepTruckin is hiring! Visit keeptruckin.com/careers to learn more.