Prioritizing People and Culture Amid Unprecedented Challenges

When I accepted my position with Ginger in early February 2020, the country heard reports of the coronavirus, and many of us assumed that – save some additional precautions – business would continue as usual.

When I joined the company on March 23rd, the Bay Area had gone on full lockdown, we couldn’t find any toilet paper, the unfadable Golden State Warriors’ games had been canceled (!), and I onboarded with Ginger – fully virtually. 

Knowing that 2020 would be very different from anything any of us had ever experienced, we had to quickly become comfortable with embracing the unknown. Without a playbook to navigate a global pandemic and an instant, fully remote workforce, we knew that we needed to huddle to identify the best pathway forward for our Ginger community.   

In the face of raging wildfires, hurricanes, protests across the nation in pursuit of racial justice, and a presidential election like none in history, our coaching and care teams embodied resilience, grit, compassion, and grace all while holding their own experience alongside that of our members. They modeled for all of us what it means to be in this together.  

Though physically separated, we became closer. We learned a lot fueled by consistent dialogue with our employees who generously shared their concerns, ideas, and insights throughout this unprecedented year.

With much gratitude, I am pleased to share that Ginger has been recognized this week on Built In’s list of Best Places to Work in San Francisco and Best Midsize Companies to Work For in San Francisco.

This recognition is especially meaningful on the heels of a year that left many of us exhausted – a year marked by unpredictability, collective trauma, and merciless change. Here are five key learnings that we’ll carry with us as we step into 2021:

The Value Of Listening 

At Ginger, the most important aspect of designing a human-centered workplace is listening. Guided by our values of being open, seeking and speaking truth, and being compassionate, we strive to cultivate trust and psychological safety by engaging in real-time conversations whenever possible. 

In addition to conducting employee surveys, we hold listening sessions – especially during times of high stress – encouraging employees to speak their truth. In August of 2020 when we found out that schools would remain closed, we gathered Ginger parents to understand the challenges they were facing and what they needed most. We followed up with an idea-burst at which our parents shared potential pathways to address those challenges. We listened and learned, and many parents shared that the most powerful aspect of our approach was feeling seen and empowered to collaboratively craft meaningful solutions that included schedule flexibility and financial support.  

We also understood that the unpredictability of 2020 asked more of our front line staff than we could have ever imagined. In listening and measuring the intensity of our care sessions, we recognized the pressures of juggling the pandemic and shifting social conditions while also providing care. Given the rapid company growth that was happening simultaneously, we began iterating quickly to identify pathways to provide adequate periods to rest and recharge, and increase management support. Based upon employee feedback, we redesigned shifts and moved to a four-day workweek to provide our front-line staff the restorative time that allows them to serve our members at the highest level of care. 

Focus on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

We are proud to share that the Ginger leadership team and our workforce is at least 40% non-white identified, and that metric is growing. As a mental health company we are well aware that we do not serve a homogenous world, and that our members deserve culturally competent care offered by providers who deeply understand their experience. 

At Ginger, we approach DEI&B with a growth mindset, rather than an ‘add diversity and stir’ model. This is based on the premise that our community will only benefit from diversity if we create a psychologically safe, equitable workplace that addresses systems of subordination, inequity, and discriminatory practices through ongoing learning, facilitated dialogues, systems audits, and meaningful data analytics. To that end, we have partnered with Stronghold, a consultancy that stewards sustained shifts in organizations framed by restorative and transformative justice principles.   

When employees feel safe to show up authentically and express perspectives and concerns freely and respectfully, it elevates the voices of employees from marginalized groups, and positions Ginger to harness those insights to continuously grow and improve Ginger’s core work. 

The Importance Of Connection

If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that there is strength in connection. Indeed, we are made better when we lean into community and the common humanity that connects us all. 

Aside from identifying opportunities for connection via happy hours and coffee chat pairings, Ginger holds bi-annual, all-staff retreats, known as ‘Gingeroo,’ for our employees to gather. While typically in-person, this fall, we pivoted to a virtual retreat, complete with daily trivia and prizes, motivational speakers, DEI&B immersion sessions, and a virtual cooking competition. While fully replacing the in-person connection is impossible, the joy we cultivated together reminded us of why we do what we do, and how much we enjoy doing it together. 

Additionally, our ‘Share the Fun’ program provides a budget to each employee to organize a group event dedicated to play. Employees can pool their money and go all out, and at Ginger, creativity abounds!

The Value Of Living Our Values

There’s no more compelling way to walk the talk than by breathing life into your company values. We’ve leaned on our weekly all-company meeting to share announcements, recognize accomplishments, and give Snaps (kudos) to our teams. One fun way to acknowledge and reward values lived is our Super Snaps program: employees are empowered to reward one another with a ‘Super Snaps,’ which includes a gift card. Additionally, anyone who has earned a Super Snaps is entered into a year-end drawing and has an opportunity to realize a lifelong dream, compliments of Ginger. 

Flexibility Matters

The need for flexibility has grown exponentially given the challenges of the past year. Instead of assuming that the future is fully remote or that the office has become obsolete, we will continue to invest in a hybrid work model. In a survey, our people shared that some of them just work better in an office setting. So we will continue to provide that option for Bay Area employees, as well as a stipend for remote employees to lease co-working space, if that’s how they work best. We also implemented no-meeting Fridays to hold space for deep work.

As a mental health company, we’ve always encouraged employees to take time off to rest and recharge. While we have an unlimited vacation policy, we found that many of our people are so committed that they don’t always ‘take the time.’ So we went back to the drawing board to figure out how to better operationalize self-care. We have now designated every second Friday of the month as a self-care day off. Whatever self-care means to our employees – sleeping in, getting out into nature, lounging, or playing with their kids – this is their day to do it. Instituting this as a provider of 24/7, on-demand mental healthcare was a bit of a tetris exercise, but we stand by a lesson we learned early on: “You can’t pour from an empty cup.”

Though we may have turned the calendar to 2021, we understand that 2020 will have a tail that will stretch far into this year, and we are committed to continue listening, learning, adapting, iterating, and doing better every day.

While we won’t miss many things about 2020, the focus on employee wellness, mental health, and equitable and human-centered workplace design are trends we hope will continue to be a focus in organizations globally.

We are growing! If you’re interested in open positions at Ginger, please visit our careers page at https://www.ginger.com/careers.