When it comes to employee wellbeing at Superhuman, balance isn’t the goal — yes, you heard that right. Sydney Wu, director of people ops and compliance, said that phrase sets people up for failure.
“We aim for awareness — knowing when to sprint and when to recover and making both intentional,” Wu said.
Built In spoke with Wu about how the AI productivity company ensures its employees stay sharp and engaged while taking the time they need to rest, recharge and return refreshed and ready to work.
Superhuman is a group of AI productivity platforms. The company’s products include Grammarly’s writing assistance, Coda’s collaborative workspaces, Mail’s inbox management, and Go, the proactive AI assistant that understands context and delivers help automatically.
Share your principle for sustainable pace — and the signal that proves it works for your team?
My principle: Push hard, restore deliberately. High-performing teams are often fueled by ambition, ownership and a strong desire to do exceptional work: But without intentional recovery, that same intensity can become difficult to sustain over time. So we don’t aim for “balance;” that word sets people up to fail. We aim for awareness — knowing when to sprint and when to recover and making both intentional.
The signal it’s working? When someone on my team takes a real lunch, goes offline for a walk, or books a vacation without a second thought and — comes back sharper. That’s how we stay in the game long-term.
Which policy or norm makes flexible working arrangements succeed — and how do you measure its impact?
Our “ways of working” model is built on a simple idea: Flexibility only works when it removes friction and creates an environment people genuinely want to be part of. Rather than mandating office days, we give employees the flexibility to choose how and when they come into the hub, while making that experience as seamless as possible. One day that might mean taking the train, another day it might mean driving in because it better fits family commitments. Through commuter benefits, wellness support and other hub-related perks, we help remove the logistical barriers that often make in-person collaboration feel like a burden. We also tiered our global perks and wellness stipends based on in-office commitment (e.g. commuter benefits, up to $2,000 quarterly wellness funds, and more). It’s opt-in by design. The more you come in, the more support you get. No shame for staying home; real reward for showing up.
But the policy only works because of the norms behind it. One of the strongest unspoken norms on our team is showing up fully present — whether that’s turning cameras on during Zoom meetings or teams intentionally aligning schedules to maximize collaboration time together.
Flexibility works best when people stay connected to each other, not just to the work. The results speak for themselves: average daily hub attendance jumped 57 percent in Q1, and 82 percent of team members said time in the hub strengthens their connection to their team and the company.
Beyond the metrics, we’ve seen trust and camaraderie build faster, decisions move more quickly, and collaboration become more natural when people intentionally create moments to work together — whether remotely or in person. That’s when flexible work stops feeling fragmented and starts feeling truly connected. You can feel it. Data confirms it, and that's the model working as designed.
Which wellness resource do people actually use — and what improvement have you seen on your team?
The resource people use most consistently is our global lifestyle and wellness stipend. We intentionally designed it to be flexible and meet people where they’re at and we can see it’s working because adoption is high. The stipend covers expenses our team members would have anyway — whether that’s groceries, delivery services, fitness or other everyday wellbeing expenses. It’s also very easy to use: Team members can shop directly through the vendor platform, use their card for eligible purchases, or submit reimbursements seamlessly.
But the resource that moved me most wasn’t a reimbursement metric — it was behavior. During mental health awareness month, our European benefits team organized a voluntary mindful stretching session in the middle of the workday and people genuinely showed up. We also saw strong engagement across our mental health awareness month programming, with team members from all locations choosing to make time for conversations and activities centered on wellbeing. To me, that’s the real signal: People feel comfortable engaging with wellbeing openly, during work hours, without stigma.
