Why Crossbeam formed a key partnership to transform their leave process

Crossbeam is the first and largest Ecosystem-Led Growth platform, helping over 19,000 tech companies across sectors build and nurture their customer relationships. Crossbeam’s mission is to create a more connected business world by powering the exchange of data between companies.

Using Crossbeam, companies can find and connect with like-minded partners, map out possibilities for collaboration, identify new leads and advance existing deals, and track performance along the way.

Crossbeam is trusted by fast-growing companies like Gusto, Census, Okta, and Stripe—and it’s easy to see why. Ecosystem-led deals with Crossbeam are 53% more likely to close and 58% less likely to churn.

Powering the company’s game-changing growth platform are 100+ employees scattered across 26 states and three countries. To keep their team happy, Crossbeam relies on Sparrow for employee leave management.

Meeting employees exactly where they are

Crossbeam’s vision is to transform the way companies collaborate. To enact that vision, the company relies on a highly collaborative, remote-first workforce—where everyone is valued and cared for as individuals.

Named as one of America’s Best Startup Employers in 2024 by Forbes, Crossbeam works hard to prioritize employee well-being and work-life balance, whatever it looks like for each person.

“One of our core values is equity,” said Mandy Poling, Vice President of People at Crossbeam. That value shows up not only in Crossbeam’s work style, but in their employee care philosophy and benefits, too.

“The main throughline with our benefits programs is trying to meet people where they are,” Poling explained, “rather than trying to dictate what they might need.”

As part of their benefits, Crossbeam offers comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance with 100% paid premiums and subsidized premiums for dependents and partners; stock options; 401(k) matching; flexible paid time off; and learning and development stipends.

The company also takes pride in their extensive leave offerings. In addition to generous paid parental leave (and phase-in flexibility when parents return to work), Crossbeam offers pregnancy loss leave, mental health leave, and bereavement leave.

"Our CISO wrote the book on startup security, and Sparrow was the only solution that passed our rigorous security review."

“Our equity value was top of mind when we revised our parental leave plan—not just increasing the number of weeks we offer, but also making sure we had inclusive language and policies that reflect people of all genders who bring children into their homes in various different ways,” said Poling.

The same inclusive approach applies to Crossbeam’s bereavement leave, which they recently refined. “At Crossbeam, we have an expansive definition of family,” said Poling.

“We’re big on respecting the chosen family people have, especially because we have a number of team members who are part of the LGBTQ community, where chosen family can really be a lifeline,” she explained. “Honoring people’s relationships and how they define their individual families is really important to us.”

Other thoughtful benefits include complimentary overnight milk shipments for nursing parents who are traveling for work, medical travel stipends, and a wide-ranging wellness stipend.

“When we implemented a wellness benefit, we decided to keep it intentionally broad,” Poling said, “because wellness is different to different people.” While some people use the wellness stipend in conventional ways, she explained, for mental health coverage, fitness equipment, or gym memberships, other people get creative.

“We had someone purchase a bike that they use to ride their child to school, and another person used the wellness stipend to rent a Snoo to help their newborn sleep,” she said. “In all areas, we like people to be able to determine what works best for them.”

"I don't need to double-check regulations or cross-check to do lists: I have full confidence in Sparrow."

The challenge: Managing complex leave cases with limited bandwidth

From the beginning, Crossbeam’s people team understood the importance of giving employees a positive leave experience—but they quickly discovered how demanding the backend work could be.

“Our first parental leave was early on when we had around 20 employees, and it was the most complex leave you could possibly get,” said Poling. “It was somebody who was a seller, so they had a commission component to their compensation package. It was somebody who lived not only in California, where leave laws are layered, but in San Francisco, which has its own micro-regulations around leave.”

At the time, Poling was the only person running operations for most of the company, and she didn’t have the bandwidth to manage a complex leave case while juggling her other responsibilities.

“I was dreading trying to figure out how to make the leave a positive experience for our employee,” she explained. “So we ended up hiring an expensive HR consultant to do leave administration on a project basis—and it didn’t go well.”

Poling struggled to untangle the HR consultant’s work to figure out which tasks were complete, which were still pending, and what the employee needed help with. “I would have done anything to have had Sparrow at that time,” she added. “That experience was my catalyst for starting to think about other leave administration options.”

When exploring leave management solutions, Poling knew she needed major support from an administrative perspective. “With our company’s growing size and the amount of work we had to do, it was just unreasonable for anyone to manage leave internally,” she explained.

Not only that, but she knew it was critical to hire a leave vendor with expertise on state-to-state leave laws. “That first leave case really tested all the pressure points that could possibly come with leave because of the layered regulations,” Poling explained.

“We want our employees to take full advantage of their leave benefits, but that means it’s complicated from an administrative perspective. I’m not a leave expert, and I don’t know what I don’t know.”

Poling and her team looked into Sparrow, along with a few competitors, but it was Sparrow’s commitment to data security and privacy that ultimately won them over.

“Our team’s privacy is incredibly important to us,” Poling explained. “With leaves, you’re dealing with the most personal data possible. We’ve had employees go out on many different cases beyond just parental leave. And it’s paramount to us that their information is treated sensitively.”

Sparrow’s security certifications include SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 22301, ISO 27701, and ISO 27001, as well as the international privacy standards GDPR and PIPEDA.

“We have a very accomplished Chief Information Security Officer, Chris Castaldo, who’s written a book on startup security,” added Poling. “And Sparrow was the only company that passed our rigorous security review.”

The solution: Partner with Sparrow to reduce admin and improve the employee experience

Crossbeam needed a true leave expert to take over the entire process, from handling administrative work to giving employees one-on-one support. With Sparrow filling out paperwork, tracking leaves, and managing deadlines, Crossbeam’s leave administration is seamless.

“As a startup, we don’t have the ability to go deep and become subject matter experts in all things HR-related,” said Poling. “So we rely on partners like Sparrow to be the experts and center of excellence for us.”

Crossbeam has employees in over 26 states and in Canada—and Sparrow ensures compliance for them all. Sparrow Leave Specialists have extensive knowledge of different state leave guidelines and individual processes for applying for benefits. Plus, they stay up to date on changing laws that could affect Crossbeam employees.

“Leave admin isn’t just entering the forms and sending them off and keeping track of all the details,” Poling explained. “There’s an incredible level of expertise required, so you can’t just put anyone on the job. It’s too important.”

With Sparrow handling compliance and paperwork, Crossbeam’s people team has minimal leave-related work. “On the administration side, everything is very self-explanatory,” said Caitlin O’Connell, Senior People Operations Manager at Crossbeam.

All O’Connell has to do is enter a new leave in the Sparrow dashboard, then connect the Sparrow concierge to the employee taking leave—and Sparrow takes care of the rest.

“I have full confidence in Sparrow,” she said. “I don’t have to double-check anything or cross-check a million to-do lists with different state regulations. I trust Sparrow to handle everything and let me know if there’s anything we need to do on our end.”

Crossbeam’s payroll adjustments have also become much more straightforward. “Our finance team has exactly what they need from Sparrow in order to do their job,” said Poling. Sparrow sets up automatic payroll calculations for Crossbeam, creates custom reports, and assists with payroll reconciliation.

"Sparrow provides a clear value proposition: we know exactly how much we will save by partnering with them."

“Because we’re still a fairly scrappy team, every person’s workload and headcount is really material to the business,” she added. “So something as simple as having very clear and concrete reporting on payroll needs is a huge time-saver for us.”

Crossbeam also appreciates the structure of Sparrow’s services. “It’s great for a company of our size that Sparrow offers usage-based pricing,” said Poling. “The majority of our leave spend is based on leaves taken, so with Sparrow we get a very clear value prop where we know exactly how much we’ll be saving.”

In 2023, Sparrow recouped more than $70,000 for Crossbeam using wage replacement. “I know we left money on the table from that first leave before we had Sparrow,” Poling added. “But now, what we’re paying Sparrow, we’re getting in kind from states and government compensation.”

Another essential benefit of working with Sparrow is the personalized guidance they give Crossbeam employees. “Working with Sparrow takes a huge mental load off of employees as they’re going into a potentially anxiety-ridden time,” Poling explained, “whether they’re having a child or dealing with a medical emergency or anything else.”

During one-on-one introduction calls with Crossbeam employees, Sparrow explains the leave process, breaks down the benefits employees are entitled to, and answers questions. From there, Sparrow Leave Specialists fill out and file paperwork on employees’ behalf, taking time to liaise with insurance providers and follow up with state agency representatives along the way.

“For our employees, there’s a real peace of mind that comes from having Sparrow’s support,” Poling said. “It’s everything from the interactions with Sparrow to the tangibility of seeing how their leave breaks down and how they’re going to get paid. Being able to confirm that everything is handled—that their information isn’t just going into a void somewhere—is a big benefit to their well-being.”

The more peace of mind Crossbeam employees have, the less stress the people team carries. “The big thing for me on the employee experience side is knowing that Sparrow knows what they’re doing and that our employees’ pay will continue and will be accurate,” Poling explained.

"Trust is one of our values, and we have that in Sparrow. It adds a lot of credibility to the People team's reputation internally."

The result: A stellar internal reputation

Sparrow’s end-to-end leave services means Crossbeam has minimal admin work, guaranteed compliance, and a seamless employee leave experience.

Plus, as a company that specializes in nurturing partnerships, Crossbeam loves the relationship they’ve built with Sparrow. “All of the Sparrow Leave Specialists are so kind,” said O’Connell. “They’re attentive and quick to respond. I’ve never gotten anything but great service from them, and it’s extremely comforting to know I can have confidence in them in that way.”

For her part, Poling loves how well Sparrow bolsters Crossbeam’s brand. “My favorite part of working with Sparrow is being able to have very clear and reassuring answers for people internally,” she explained.

“Trust is another one of our values, and we have that in Sparrow. It makes me feel good about our brand as a people team that we have incredible resources and support we can point people to. It adds a lot of credibility to our reputation internally.”

On the practical side, Poling and her team are freed up to focus on day-to-day work and employee well-being. “We’ve heard from employees that Crossbeam is the most organized startup they’ve ever worked for,” said Poling.

“Using strategic partnerships like Sparrow allows us to run a smooth operation and be really buttoned up.”

Get more from leave management with Sparrow. More time, more peace of mind, and more money toward your bottom line. Explore our offerings or book a demo today.