BYU grads and BambooHR CEOs Ben Peterson and Ryan Sanders are using new family-friendly policies in their Lindon-based human resources software company. Their policies include reimbursing employees over $2,000 dollars for vacations and time off to spend with their families.
“My wife and I were able to take a family trip recently because of the vacation reimbursement program,” Account Executive Dustin Horsfall said. “This is just one thing that shows how much the executives care about being family-oriented and want us to create memories with our families.”
Executives Peterson and Sanders care about the work environment being friendly, comfortable, productive and family-oriented.
“The environment is very friendly and open. We aren’t limited on what we can achieve, because we are trusted to do our work and do it well,” said Account Executive Ashley Mazerolle. “I’ve been with BambooHR for almost two years, and it has been unlike any other company I have worked for. The CEOs are very understanding and take great care of us. We have great benefits, and they truly care about their employees.”
Many employees also said they appreciate the environment because it is comfortable, and they know they can trust both the executives and fellow coworkers.
“Everyone here is very trustworthy and honest,” Horsfall said. “I really love and appreciate that the company is so family-oriented and gives the opportunity to balance responsibilities both work and home life. My loyalty to the company really couldn’t be any stronger.”
Peterson and Sanders started BambooHR in 2008. Both of the CEOs attribute their knowledge, skills and success to BYU.
“BYU provided everything from hands-on experience in a startup environment, to marketing and selling skills, to deep mentorship from people who had actually done it,” Peterson said. “The resources enable entrepreneurs in a huge way and increase the likelihood of success.”
Much of BambooHR’s staff share their BYU heritage with the CEOs.
“BYU really helped me learn how to work hard and be competitive,” said BYU alumnus and Sales Trainer Aaron King. “I graduated with a minor in business, and those classes really helped because of all of the computer program training which set me up for my job now because we use those programs daily.”
Experience with programming was not the only thing BYU alumni took away from their college experience. Vice President of Sales, Jed Smith, mentioned that BYU has helped him learn to balance different aspects of his life, such as work and his family.
“I really loved the BYU classes because, with my schedule of working full time, church and family responsibilities, I was able to take many of my classes online so that I could balance all of these things,” Smith said. “BYU helped me learn how to be self-disciplined, prioritize and set goals.”
Sales Manager Brennen Russon also learned many things as a BYU student. Russon graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management and sees how both his education and major have greatly benefited his work ethic and skills in the workplace.
“In my business classes, I often had to look at lots of data and details of business cases and either aggregate the data or decide which data was relevant for presentation,” Russon said. “I then learned how to write professionally and speak publicly so that I could present the data.”
Russon further mentioned how the classes at BYU helped him learn how to communicate effectively through speech and writing, as well as to think critically.
“I used to have a narrow and limited frame of mind, and college helped me see that the world is much bigger than I thought,” Russon said. “People truly believe ideas or theories that are totally foreign to me. I learned to look at ideas objectively and decide what’s valid and not.”
