At 9 a.m. on Alex Mukherjee’s last day of work at Ellevation, a Slack notification pinged on his computer. He had been added to a new Slack channel, and that channel was entirely dedicated to him. As he scrolled through the many messages, colleagues from across the company had left messages of well wishes, farewells and shared anecdotes. Before logging off at the end of the day, Mukherjee saved the messages to his phone.
“I cannot tell you how meaningful that was,” he said. “I think that just really speaks to the integrity of the people at Ellevation and the relationships that you’re able to develop.”
“At Ellevation, we hope everyone will stay for a long time, but understand that our people are great and outside opportunities will present themselves,” VP of People Winston Tuggle explained. “When people leave, we celebrate their contributions, wish them best of luck and continue to keep in touch throughout their journey. We’re honored to have been a small part of it.”
But that wasn’t the last time Mukherjee would log into the Ellevation Slack. A year after leaving the company to explore life as a full-time startup co-founder, Mukherjee was rehired to the team as an account manager. When he logged back in, the channel full of the many reasons he’d be missed was waiting for him again.
“That was the only awkward thing about coming back,” Mukherjee joked. In reality, those sentiments shared on Slack smoothed both his initial exit and his eventual return.
But Mukherjee’s isn’t the only positive experience. Ellevation fosters a culture that supports both boomerang employees — those who return after leaving — and new hires through a set of thoughtfully designed policies and traditions.
“The supportive mindset ensures we don’t burn a bridge,” Tuggle explained. “People typically leave Ellevation with a positive feeling. If and when the opportunity presents itself in the future, we are happy to welcome high-performing employees back. They understand our products and our culture already and bring new experiences that we can learn from.”
“The supportive mindset ensures we don’t burn a bridge. People typically leave Ellevation with a positive feeling.”
Beyond just recruiting outside the company, Ellevation also ensures that every new role is opened internally first, promoting equal opportunities for current employees and fostering upward mobility.
For new hires, Ellevation ensures a welcoming atmosphere through a carefully curated hiring process that emphasizes human interaction and transparency. Each new hire is introduced via email and ongoing coffee chats are encouraged to help them integrate into the team. Additionally, all new hires are brought to Boston in their first few months for a comprehensive orientation, immersing them in the company’s culture, products and operations.
Supporting a Mission-Driven Team
Ellevation’s investment in relationships drew Courtney Ingard back to the company after taking time away to attend graduate school and work remotely at a much larger company.
“I left for grad school because I wanted to build a more strategic career outside of sales and get exposure to industries outside of education,” she said. “While working at a much larger company, I found myself missing both Ellevation’s size and mission. The education mission made me excited to wake up and work in the morning, and working with other like-minded, mission-driven folks still really appealed to me.”
When Ingard returned as a product marketing manager, she was also grateful for the chance to collaborate with her colleagues in person once again.
“We’ve always supported remote work since well before the pandemic, as we serve schools across the country and so our team is distributed as well, but for me, in-person options were a carrot,” she said. “I love that it’s not mandated, but we are offered the opportunity to collaborate in the office and enjoy free lunch without a return-to-work mandate. There’s intentionality behind our structure, which was a real draw to come back.”
Director of Product Marketing Ben McNelly is another boomerang employee who was drawn back to Ellevation by the “invigorating” culture, which he noted is not limited to those who are in the office during the average week.
“Being together reminds us that we’re all humans trying to do the work behind the screen, and Ellevation still invests in our bi-annual off-site, where we bring the entire company together twice a year,” he said.
“Being together reminds us that we’re all humans trying to do the work behind the screen, and Ellevation still invests in our bi-annual off-site to bring the entire company together.”
As the company has scaled from 40 to 80 to, now, over 200 people, the entire team continues to come together twice a year to collaborate and build relationships.
“The off-site is such a testament to how much relationship-building is supported all the way up. It’s a big investment in something that is a huge benefit for the team,” McNelly said. “The off-site and benefits like flexible leave really speak to the values we have as a company — including “Go and See,” “Build Belonging” and “Win Together” — which are reflected in our product, policies, people and benefits packages. Those values were really compelling reasons that made me feel comfortable in making the confident decision to come back.”
People-First Benefits
For the many elements that remained the same when Mukherjee, Ingard and McNelly returned to Ellevation, there were also changes that supported Ellevation’s continued growth.
“The diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging resources have grown substantially,” McNelly noted.
Mukherjee agreed and pointed out how those resources support both individual employees and the company’s overall development.
“People are working extremely hard and held to a high standard, which is why we’re successful, but there is equally an acknowledgement that things outside your working life matter, too. Our benefits are in place to support that balance,” he said. “Programs like employee resource groups are a pro-growth benefit to help support and retain great people.”
“Ellevation’s benefits are fantastic,” Ingard agreed. But those benefits weren’t what drew her back to the company.
“You can’t create culture with benefits,” she said, “and here, our culture and benefits are truly integrated and modeled from the top.”
“You can’t create culture with benefits, and here, our culture and benefits are truly integrated and modeled from the top.”
