The nonprofit giant trusts Sparrow to manage employee leave from start to finish.
TED is a non-profit that believes powerful ideas, powerfully presented, move us to feel something, to think differently, to take action.
The organization champions ideas through live events around the world, advances ideas through free original content, strengthens ideas through strategic partnerships, and amplifies ideas through social impact initiatives.
TED’s mission is to discover and spread ideas that spark conversation, deepen understanding, and drive meaningful change—and they’re making good on their goal. Behind TED’s programs are a team of 200+ employees dedicated to the organization’s mission.
Creating a culture of connection and care
Furthering TED’s mission depends on how TED supports the people who execute the organization’s vision every day: their employees.
"We are supportive of employee wellbeing, intentional about culture and connection, and committed to talent development,” said Aleaka Ince, Human Resources Manager at TED.
Driven by values like optimism, vision, and impact, TED’s people team knows how important it is to nurture employees at every step of their employment.
"It means a great deal to us to provide our staff with the tools and opportunities they need to care for themselves, support their families, and navigate daily life with as much ease and as little stress as possible,” Ince added.
Another way TED cares for employees during major life moments is by partnering with Sparrow for end-to-end employee leave management.
The Sparrow experience: a shared vision for employee leave
Working with Sparrow for employee leave management has helped reduce the people team’s administrative load and given TED employees a more seamless leave experience.
On the administrative side, Sparrow works with Ince to handle all the leave paperwork, filing employer forms on TED’s behalf and keeping track of leave dates, state leave laws, and filing steps.
Ince initiates the leave process for individual employees by entering their information into the Sparrow dashboard and introducing them to the Sparrow team. From there, Sparrow Leave Specialists schedule one-on-one calls with TED employees to go over their benefits and walk them through the filing process.
Sparrow also sets up automatic payroll calculations and generates custom payroll reports. Ince, the Finance team, and the employees’ managers stay in the loop with email updates from Sparrow and dashboard check-ins.
The time Ince saves on paperwork and employee correspondence gives her more bandwidth for other critical aspects of her job, like recruiting, hiring, and onboarding new talent.
Meanwhile, Sparrow assists Ince in guiding TED employees through the process of going out on leave, starting with filling out and submitting paperwork on their behalf. Sparrow Leave Specialists then coordinate with insurance providers and state agency representatives to track down information and follow up on status updates.
“Many of our staff members are going out on leave as first-time parents,” said Ince. “It can be a stressful time where they don’t know what to expect. So they really appreciate having someone hold their hand through the process and give them a clear plan of how to navigate leave.”
One of Ince’s favorite aspects of the partnership with Sparrow is its flexible nature. She’s been able to be as hands-on as she wants—managing intermittent leave cases, jumping in to address questions from TED managers and employees, and updating TED’s leave policies in the Sparrow dashboard—while offloading many of the most tedious parts of her daily duties to Sparrow.
Ince especially appreciates the built-in collaboration between Sparrow and TED, which allows her to stay involved in leave management without shouldering the majority of the work.
Ease from every angle
Teaming up with Sparrow has made TED’s leave management process much easier. Not only can TED employees take leave with more support and less stress, but leave management has also become more cost-effective, allowing TED to recoup over $130,000 in 2024 on wage replacement costs. This operational efficiency gives TED’s people team more time to invest in programs that further support employees and enhance their overall work experience.
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