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“Awesomesauce” is not a word typically used to describe payroll companies, but for the People Ops team behind Wagepoint’s human resources successes (and shenanigans), it’s exactly the type of compliment that fits.
The fintech company known as the world’s friendliest payroll provider is now being recognized for being a friendly employer, too, with a Silver Stevie® Award win in the Employee Engagement category in the 2021 Stevie Awards for Great Employers.
The Stevie Awards for Great Employers recognize the world’s best employers and the human resources professionals, teams, achievements and HR-related products and suppliers who help to create and drive great places to work. More than 950 nominations from organizations of all sizes in 29 nations were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of HR-related categories.
Payroll with a side of humour.
Wagepoint won the hearts of Stevie® Award judges for its out-of-the-box approach to HR that’s focused on creating a happy, engaging environment for the company’s more than 100 employees who work – and play – remotely from across Canada and the US.
Wagepoint is filled with awesomesauce. Your group is truly modern in its thinking. Wagepoint also seems to have a sense of humour – something that is [often] lacking in business. A payroll company that seems…fun? You’ve done it.
— Stevie® Award Judge
Engaging the “new kids.”
With authentic connection in mind, Wagepoint’s People Ops team has carefully curated an employee experience unlike any other, starting with the recruitment process.
Candidates are asked to have fun telling the team about themselves instead of submitting uninspired cover letters; new hires answer 20 funny questions, such as the last thing they Googled; and Shrad Rao, CEO, personally conducts a one-on-one “culture call” with anyone about to join Wagepoint, introducing them to the team and helping to ease any fears of coming in as the “new kid”.
Creating real culture in a virtual space.
It’s wild, but Wagepoint has been a fully remote company – on purpose – since we started nearly a decade ago. Most of our employees have never met face-to-face, and they can’t interact in traditional ways, like being able to brainstorm ideas over a coffee or head out for Taco Tuesdays as a team. So we’ve always focused on sparking engagement and making everyone feel like they can bring their true selves to work (which makes even more sense in a remote environment because, otherwise, there would be someone else living in their house!) We’ve built a tight company culture that transcends things like distance and the hiccups that come with working virtually, like someone always forgetting that they’re on mute during a video call. Lucky for us, we prefer the non-traditional way of doing things.
— Shrad Rao, CEO, Wagepoint
Payroll employees just wanna have fun.
As a tech company, it’s no surprise that Wagepoint embraces new technology to connect its employees, like apps that randomly pair people to have virtual chats about non-work and the use of hilarious Zoom backgrounds to lighten the mood.
From virtual ugly sweater holiday parties to “F*ckup Nights” where employees share funny stories of professional failure and lessons learned, there’s no shortage of fun events where workers can meet and conspire, in the best way possible.
Wagepoint is also setting the benchmark in payroll HR by prioritizing emotional intelligence training, with an Employee Experience Specialist dedicated to the job. The company has a 4.8 rating on Glassdoor and dozens of positive reviews from employees.
Thank you, Wagepointers.
Wagepoint is honoured to be taking home (virtually, of course) the Silver Stevie® Award for Employee Engagement, and thanks all of our amazing employees for making it possible.
Details about the Stevie Awards for Great Employers and the list of 2021 Stevie winners are available here. Watch our segment from the award ceremony below!
