How It Began

Trainual — a tech company that helps growing businesses build interactive training manuals, test employee knowledge, and build scalable processes — was at an exciting stage when Sasha Robinson came on full-time as Head of People Operations. They had just raised capital, were VC-backed, and were ready to grow. But if they were going to attract new talent, they'd need to upgrade their systems and their benefits package. As a startup veteran, Sasha knew that a PEO was the way to go.

"I like having a PEO at this early stage because my specialty is growth, talent, and building performance and comp structures — not legal and compliance," she said. "It's amazing to have a partner through Justworks to help handle all of that."

Benefits and Beyond

To achieve the growth they wanted, Trainual needed to attract great people, and even entice more senior talent from other, larger companies. "We needed benefits that could attract everyone," Sasha said. "We couldn't have garbage [health] plans."

Having used Justworks in her previous startup experience, Sasha began to compare benefits against Trainual's previous provider. Because of the richness of the plans offered through Justworks, Trainual was able to create an upgraded benefits package for their team. Sasha said it has been a great tool for recruiting, and she has received glowing feedback from employees who are on the plans.

The Trainual team has found Justworks to offer a great experience beyond the benefits, too. They like the simple onboarding process, the ease of use, and being able to view their paychecks and other information all in one place. Sasha said she hasn't had a single piece of negative feedback from her team — a big win for a busy HR leader.

"I've been at places where I was fielding five questions a day because of how difficult the software was, or how much people hated it," Sasha said. But with Justworks? "It just makes my life so easy. It's amazing."

"Justworks provides the relief and the peace of mind in knowing that everything's covered." - Sasha Robinson, Head of People Operations

Support in Unprecedented Times

As Trainual was going through its own growth and change, the global pandemic was changing the business landscape. The team shifted to a remote working environment, and continued to hire and onboard new team members in a virtual setting. Amidst the crisis, the value of having Justworks on their side became even more clear.

"It was such a relief to know that we had Justworks — from our account manager, to all of the content, to the software itself," Sasha said. She added that the quick addition of PPP loan reporting and FFCRA leave helped her stay on track. If a member of her team had to take leave due to COVID-19, she was able to easily track it within Justworks.

"It was just awesome to know that the innovation is there," Sasha said. "There are always improvements, and Justworks moves quickly on new regulations."

Battling Burnout

The pandemic brought additional challenges to the team, too. Sasha said she worried her team was burning out — especially parents with kids at home. While she had built a robust PTO policy, nobody was taking time off to relax and recharge.

So she came up with a Staycation Policy: two extra PTO days that expired at the end of the summer, and $250 per employee to use during that time (say, for a weekend at a campground or a hotel following social distance guidelines), or to donate to a cause if they preferred. Everybody took advantage of the perk. And for Sasha, she was able to implement the new policy in Justworks and easily track her team's usage.

"Justworks provides that relief, and the peace of mind in knowing that everything's covered," she said. In difficult times, that's a game changer.