Industry: Tech and Services
Number of team members: 80
Location: 100% remote team, HQ in Denver, CO
Wurk is the first all-in-one workforce management solution dedicated to serving the cannabis industry.
The company was founded in 2015 and in just a few short years has become the largest solution of its kind in the industry – processing payroll in 46 states and over 500 jurisdictions.
Wurk is proud of its team and has purposely increased headcount thoughtfully, with a focus on employee engagement and care. Wurk’s People team has geared significant resources towards making sure employees are empowered their mental health is prioritized, and they have the necessary skills to be successful in their jobs.
The challenge
Off the back of such impressive momentum, Wurk experienced a ton of internal employee growth and movement. The company’s management team featured a broad mix of experience levels and capabilities – some had managed their entire careers, others were first time managers who had been promoted from individual contributor roles.
The net impact? A variety of different expectations, processes, and procedures for its managers.
As Taylor Colotti, People Business Partner at Wurk puts it, “It’s hard to do something when you don’t know what the expectations are. Our managers were going in blindfolded.”
The trickle down impact of this uncertainty was significant. Important interactions between managers and direct reports, like 1:1 meetings, weren’t happening, leading to some employees feeling a lack of care and burnout. Communication between managers, and managers to HR, was also limited.
As a result, Wurk was seeing a lack of engagement and interest among some on the team, across all levels. The People team, in partnership with the CEO, knew they needed a fix. And with a new study from UKG showing that managers impact workers’ mental health more than both doctors and therapists, they were wise to act fast.
Why The Mintable?
Just like their expectations for their team, Wurk’s bar for an external partner to entrust their manager training with was high. Happily, in Taylor’s words, it was “love at first sight,” for Wurk and The Mintable.
“The Mintable provides training that our managers are actually excited about,” she says.
The Mintable’s practical, soft skills training accelerators, with cohorts kicking off monthly, have given Wurk’s People team the ability to train all of their managers with the foundational skills and capabilities they need to lead. When new managers join the team or are promoted, Wurk’s People team can easily enroll them and get them up to speed quickly.
Additionally, The Mintable’s content library gives Wurk’s managers instant access to how-to-guides and templates so they can put those skills to work in everyday situations.
“The Mintable has been there to help us with a lot more than just manager training. We see them as a partner,” Taylor Colotti.
The impact
To kick off, Wurk’s entire management team went through The Mintable’s 4-week intensive manager training accelerator, Manager Foundation, together. Soon after, they gathered for a team offsite and, based on their learnings, they were able to define and set a shared baseline of expectations about what it means to be a great manager at Wurk.
Across the board, the results of Wurk and The Mintable’s partnership have been exciting. Managers are now having more 1:1 conversations, setting clear expectations, and sharing feedback effectively with their direct reports.
Communication has also significantly improved. Wurk’s managers are turning to each other for advice, support, and sharing resources that work well for them (like 1:1 templates). They’re also increasingly looking to Wurk’s People team as a valuable partner and resource.
And it’s working. According to Taylor, “our managers are more confident and engaged, which has flowed on through our teams, resulting in reduced employee burnout.”
The Mintable could not be more proud to partner with Taylor and the team at Wurk, as they continue to develop confident, effective managers, and a happy, high-performing team.