A lot of factors go into determining compensation, but as People Operations Manager Lee Cloud points out, it’s important to remember that what’s "competitive" is subjective — and depends on where you are in life.
“To me, ‘competitive’ means the whole package reflects that you’re a person, not just a role,” Lee said.
That’s why the people team at Academia.edu uses robust data as a guide for salary bands. In addition to paying employees fairly, Lee noted that the team supports employees with continuing education costs, sabbaticals and work-from-home stipends.
“We do our best to create an environment where you can grow and be paid well because, let’s be honest, it’s not just one thing that matters, it’s all of it,” Lee said.
Built In spoke with Lee in detail about how the edtech company takes care of employees, with salary being just one factor of a strong compensation package.
Academia.edu is a platform for researchers and scholars to share their work, discover research and connect with fellow academics globally.
How does your employer ensure its pay and bonus plans are competitive?
“Competitive compensation” means different things to different people based on what they value or need in their current season of life. We’re a great fit for people who are in a season of life that want to work for a small, innovative, mission-driven company while still getting paid well and receive benefits and perks that truly add value to their lives!
We hire kind, driven people who are hungry to learn and grow. Our perks reflect this by including a $2,000 professional development stipend, a $100 book budget for curious minds, mental health support through Alma, a weekly fitness trainer, volunteer time, stock options, a six-week paid sabbatical every four years and a work-from-home stipend to support hybrid life and so on.
To me, “competitive” means the whole package reflects that you’re a person, not just a role. Yes, the salary needs to be right and we put real data-driven effort into that! However, where you show up to work every day should also add value to your life beyond compensation. We do our best to create an environment where you can grow and be paid well because, let’s be honest, it’s not just one thing that matters, it’s all of it.
Which benefit delivers the most value — and how do you know?
One benefit of ours that is unique for our size is that we cover 100 percent of medical, dental and vision coverage for our employees. This also includes their dependents.
Feedback we regularly collect from candidates and our employees tell us they know how expensive healthcare coverage can be, especially with a family. New hires we check in with after 30 days tell us how excited they are about this benefit while long-term existing employees still rave about the extensive coverage. This one benefit continues to surprise candidates and delight employees every time we hear about benefit feedback, making this our top valued benefit.
What is healthcare like for Academia.edu employees?
“One benefit of ours that is unique for our size is that we cover 100 percent of medical, dental and vision coverage for our employees. This also includes their dependents. Feedback we regularly collect from candidates and our employees tell us they know how expensive healthcare coverage can be, especially with a family. New hires we check in with after 30 days tell us how excited they are about this benefit while long-term existing employees still rave about the extensive coverage.”
— Lee Cloud, People Operations Manager
Does your employer offer stock or equity and is it considered competitive?
Yes! We offer equity in the form of stock options. Options are part of the employment offer. We have a standard one-year cliff, four-year vest, with monthly vesting after the first year. When employees are near the end of their fourth year, additional stock options are granted as part of their performance review process.
There are annual information sessions we offer internally on equity, but we also partner with Carta, who delivers regular training on equity. Also, we partner with Fidelity Benefits who provides our employees accessible training for financial information. Educating our employees about our benefits is important because it’s hard to use what you don’t know about!
