How VideoAmp maintained white glove employee service after outsourcing leave management

VideoAmp is revolutionizing advertising with its comprehensive video measurement software. On a mission to bring equity and transparency into media measurement, VideoAmp helps agencies, brands, and publishers plan, execute, and optimize their video strategies on one convenient platform.

With VideoAmp, companies can take advantage of a variety of tools, from audience management to cross-media analysis, so they know exactly what’s working and where to improve. The result: more engaged audiences and better business outcomes.

To fulfill their mission, VideoAmp relies on a team of 350 smart, adaptable employees working throughout the United States. When the company needed a more efficient employee leave management system, they turned to Sparrow.

Prioritizing an inclusive company culture

Part of VideoAmp’s ethos is an inclusive workplace culture, where employees feel comfortable bringing their full selves to work each day.

“That’s always something that’s been at the forefront in our company culture,” said Laura Castaneda, Senior Director of People Operations. “The benefits team is here to serve our employees and remove barriers for them, so they can focus on work when they’re at work, and take care of themselves and their families all the time.”

One way VideoAmp’s People Ops team creates the structure and space for employees to thrive personally and professionally is by offering a rich benefits package. “We also provide white glove service to our employees to administer our benefits,” added Castaneda.

The company’s employee benefits include professional development programs, employee equity, 100% covered healthcare for employees and their families, Flexible Time Away, mental health resources, a $2,500 referral bonus, and up to 24 weeks of fully paid parental leave.

“It’s our policy that commissioned employees on parental leave get their commissions as well, since that’s a huge part of their compensation,” Castaneda explained.

Employee happiness is key to the team’s decisions and goals. “It’s rewarding to be a part of people’s lives during some of the most exciting times and also times of great need,” she said.

“I feel grateful I get to be in this role and have an impact on our employees’ well-being.”

“Sparrow does the compliance and employee correspondence, which saves us a lot of time.”

The challenge: Bridging a gap in employee leave management

Before Sparrow, VideoAmp managed employee leaves in-house. Maintaining Castaneda’s high caliber of employee support, however, was a major administrative undertaking.

“White glove service has always been our goal,” she explained. “We never wanted employees to feel like they had to navigate benefits and filing on their own.”

Guiding employees through leave required a ton of time and people-power. “We spent a lot of hours in-house, making sure employees were filling out the forms they were supposed to fill out, acting as the liaison between them and our short-term disability provider, trying to push things through when they were getting stuck, and calculating by hand what employees’ pay should be in coordination with other benefits,” Castaneda shared.

States with more comprehensive employee leave laws posed extra challenges. “The most tedious part was helping employees with paperwork and answering their questions, especially in states like New York and California, or states that had only recently implemented a wage replacement program,” said Castaneda.

“Sparrow does all our payroll calculations, which is amazing because we don't have to manually input things and increase the opportunity for error.”

“It was a lot of research, time, and back-and-forth conversation to make sure employees had the easiest time possible while they were on leave,” she added.

When Castaneda was preparing for her own maternity leave, she knew she needed to leave VideoAmp’s employees in good hands. “Since I was the leave of absence expert and we didn’t have anyone else in-house to take over, we had to find another option,” she explained.

Fortunately, Castaneda knew about Sparrow’s all-in-one leave management solution and reputation for excellent customer service.

“I’d always wanted to implement Sparrow and the timing seemed like kismet,” she said. “We could put Sparrow into place so that even when I came back from my leave, we could continue to utilize Sparrow and reap the benefits.”

“We've only heard good things from our employees about working with Sparrow.”

The solution: Partner with Sparrow to continue VideoAmp’s white glove service

Partnering with Sparrow allowed VideoAmp to maintain their high-caliber employee service during leaves, while taking the administrative load off of the benefits team.

“Not having to do compliance and employee correspondence tasks saves us a lot of time,” Castaneda said. Sparrow stays up to date on state leave laws and filing processes, and fills out paperwork on VideoAmp’s behalf.

“Paperwork is probably where we see the most time saved,” she added, noting that Sparrow has reduced her weekly workload by 15-20%.

"We give annual merit increases to employees, even when they're on a leave of absence, and Sparrow helped us recalculate employee leave pay to incorporate those increases."

“For any forms Sparrow can’t fill out for us, they instruct us on how to fill them out. And they help us coordinate claims with our short-term disability provider, so it’s a lot less paperwork.”

Payroll is another area Sparrow has helped streamline for VideoAmp. “Sparrow does all our payroll calculations,” said Castaneda, “which is amazing because we don’t have to manually input things, which increases the opportunity for error.”

Along with automated payroll calculations, Sparrow generates custom payroll reports for VideoAmp and assists with payroll reconciliation.

“Sparrow completes most forms for us, and when they cannot do it for us, they instruct us on how to complete it. And they help us coordinate claims with our short-term disability provider, so it's a lot less paperwork.”

Castenda appreciates how the Sparrow team accommodates VideoAmp’s needs as the company evolves. “We give annual merit increases to employees, even when they’re on a leave of absence, and Sparrow helped us recalculate employee leave pay to incorporate those increases, which was really great,” she explained.

To continue in Castaneda’s footsteps when it comes to employee support, Sparrow works one-on-one with VideoAmp employees taking leave. The process begins with a call where a Sparrow Leave Specialist breaks down the benefits employees are entitled to, walks them through the steps of applying for state benefits, and answers their questions.

From there, VideoAmp employees can focus on preparing for leave, instead of filing paperwork. Sparrow submits forms on employees’ behalf, then coordinates with insurance providers and state agency representatives to get additional information or check on application statuses.

“We’ve only heard good things from our employees about working with Sparrow,” Castaneda said.

“Not having to do compliance and employee correspondence tasks saves us a lot of time. Sparrow stays up to date on state leave laws and filing processes, and fills out paperwork on VideoAmp’s behalf.”

The result: A smoother leave experience on all sides

Sparrow’s end-to-end leave management solution has taken the time, complication, and hassle out of employee leave management for VideoAmp. With Sparrow on their side, VideoAmp’s benefits team can rest assured knowing their employees are receiving the same level of care the company prides itself on.

Beyond the employee leave experience, Castaneda said the best part about partnering with Sparrow is the collaborative relationship she’s built with the team. “Everyone at Sparrow is really receptive to our feedback, and quick to respond when we have questions or issues,” she said.

Give your employees the seamless leave experience they deserve with Sparrow. Find out what we can do for you or schedule a demo to get started today.