Beneperson of the Quarter: A Q&A With Ashley Baker, Customer Onboarding Manager

At Benepass, our cultural values define who we are, how we work, and how we decide. Beneperson of the Quarter is a peer-nominated recognition program that highlights exceptional individuals who exhibited our values during a given quarter. 

Our Beneperson of the Quarter for Q4 is Ashley Baker, Customer Onboarding Manager on the Operations team! Our Operations team is responsible for managing our current client relationships. Ashley started at Benepass as Customer Experience Associate and was recently promoted to Customer Onboarding Manager. In this new role, Ashley leads the implementation process for new customers and ensures their benefits programs kick off on a great start. 

Learn more about Ashley and her work at Benepass in our interview below.

What made you want to work at Benepass?

When I was looking to make my next move, one of the things I wanted to prioritize was finding somewhere I could make an impact in shaping something. I’ve worked at both larger companies and small nonprofits, but this is my first experience working at a startup — I was excited (and only a bit terrified) by the amount of ownership expected of me. 

What is your favorite thing about working at Benepass?

To build on what attracted me to Benepass in the first place, the ownership encouraged would mean nothing if there wasn’t an incredible support system in place to build with and bounce ideas off of. Creating systems and process and product doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and being surrounded by genuine, thoughtful people has made my work not only more enjoyable, but simply better.

What aspect of your new role as Customer Onboarding Manager are you most excited about?

Coming from the world of customer support, the relationship and trust-building that is central to supporting our end users is amplified in the onboarding process. Onboarding is such a critical time to create strong programs and admin experiences that will set each of our clients up for long-term success.

While we have built out process here, there’s so much room for elevating this to a best-in-class experience — where every onboarding team has a clear understanding of their next steps ahead of launch, a wealth of resources to dig into about our product, and a confidence around the policy and program to relay to employees.

Walk us through a typical work day.

I think you’d be hard-pressed to describe a typical workday for nearly anyone at Benepass, but that’s the fun of it! There’s always some unexpected element of my day — maybe a thoughtful conversation about some product feedback we’ve been given or problem-solving to do that pops up.

In my new role, I am splitting my time pretty evenly between managing our actively onboarding client through the implementation process and assessing our process itself and creating new workflows and materials to be used with future clients. This looks like a few client calls throughout the day, maybe an internal meeting or two, and some heads-down time!

What is the most important thing you have learned at Benepass so far?

One of the phrases I picked up while transitioning to my new role was “the best customer service is deep project management” (S/O Head of Strategy and Operations Dan Ross!) As a right-brain, logical thinker, understanding the way systems and process can build more empathetic relationships has really altered my perspective on how to approach client calls, team interactions, and more!

‍What Benepass value means most to you?

Seek joy! Everyone at Benepass is always so ready to hunker down and hustle to get things done, that it can be hard to remind yourself to pause, reflect, and enjoy it all. I love that this is a central value, and I see it in our focus on quarterly reflection (celebrating those wins) and the intentionality of the overall culture (onsite meetups are a blast!)

How would you describe Benepass in three words?

Destined for greatness! I think the work we’re doing is promising, and the team behind it all is one of the most thoughtful groups I’ve been a part of. We’ve got audacious goals and the chops to back them up.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I am big on having several hobbies that I can dip my toes into and out of depending on what I’m interested in. I just moved to Colorado, which means getting back into snowboarding and spending time at the local climbing gym. I’ve also been making a concerted effort to read regularly in the mornings before I sign on to work! Currently reading “The Glass Hotel” by Emily St. John Mandel.

Want to know more about our values and open positions? Check them out here.