Talent managers at healthtech company AKASA encourage employee growth from day one through a regularly updated onboarding program — and continue their support with ongoing career development programs.
“Together, these programs have strengthened development conversations across the company,” Allison Bawazer-Pedro, a senior human resources business partner at AKASA, said. “Employees have greater ownership of their growth, managers have clearer tools to support them and career development has become a more consistent part of the employee experience.”
Built In spoke with Bawazer-Pedro in detail about how employees can thrive from day one at AKASA with transparent promotion criteria, annual reviews and structured career ladders and more.
AKASA is a healthtech company that uses GenAI to address financial pain points in the revenue cycle.
What makes promotion criteria feel fair and clear — and what evidence supports it?
Our approach to advancement starts with the belief that employees do their best work when they understand what success looks like and trust they’ll be recognized fairly for achieving it.
We evaluate performance through both results and behaviors, using shared performance standards so managers are calibrating against consistent expectations. Our product and engineering teams also have published career ladders, giving employees a clear view of the next level and how to get there.
Every promotion follows the same structured process. Managers document why an employee is ready with concrete examples of impact and director level promotions include leadership rubrics to ensure consistency across functions. We reinforce that transparency through companywide compensation education and a predictable review cadence with annual 360 reviews, quarterly check-ins and two promotion cycles each year.
The results speak for themselves. Over the past year, 20 percent of our employees were promoted and another 29 percent advanced over the previous two years. In a company of 114 people, employees can see those opportunities happening around them, reinforcing that growth is attainable and earned.
Which program most improved your team's capability — and what changed?
Two programs have had the biggest impact because they support different stages of the employee journey: onboarding and career development. We rebuilt our onboarding program with Claude, transforming it into a living resource that evolves alongside our AI native healthcare business. New hires receive current information about our mission, products, ways of working and practical guidance for getting started, along with a structured first month plan that helps managers create a more consistent onboarding experience.
We also introduced a career development plan that gives employees and managers a shared framework for discussing long term goals, identifying growth opportunities and tracking progress over time. By connecting it directly to our regular check ins, we’ve made development an ongoing conversation rather than an annual event.
Together, these programs have strengthened development conversations across the company. Employees have greater ownership of their growth, managers have clearer tools to support them and career development has become a more consistent part of the employee experience.
We’re fortunate to have incredible managers across every team and many are hiring!
What recurring manager/mentor behavior accelerates growth?
The most effective managers create a culture of continuous feedback. We believe employees grow best when they receive clear, timely coaching throughout the year instead of waiting for a formal review.
Our career development plan helps turn those conversations into action. Managers revisit it regularly, align development goals with business needs and create stretch opportunities that help employees build new skills and expand their impact.
We also invest in helping managers deliver feedback well. Every manager is trained on our FAST framework, encouraging feedback that is Frequent, Actionable, Specific and Timely, along with the SBI model, Situation, Behavior and Impact. For cross functional roles, managers are encouraged to gather stakeholder feedback so coaching reflects an employee’s full impact.
That investment has helped build a strong leadership pipeline. Today, 57 percent of AKASA’s managers were previously individual contributors with us. Their growth reflects managers who invested in their development, gave candid feedback and sponsored them for new opportunities. That visibility reinforces what kind of career growth is achievable at AKASA. Great managers power AKASA!
