Some of our Total Rewards team members explain how they ensure Dropboxers thrive in every possible way
At Dropbox, our compensation and benefits philosophies, designs, and programs for all functions and regions are driven by our small yet mighty Total Rewards team. Comprised of Dropboxers from Dublin to Austin to San Francisco, they are pros at working together to make sure that all Dropboxers have access to the best benefits and competitive pay possible.
Compensation Operations Manager Asad Mahmood has been a part of the Compensation team for a year. He’s found that the combination of the team he works on and their passion for helping other Dropboxers is the perfect setup for doing fulfilling work.
“I work with a team of incredibly bright individuals, and we all mesh together so well. I feel so comfortable with the concept of me dropping the ball because I know there will be somebody who will have my back to make sure that we accomplish what we need to accomplish. We don’t have a team where, if someone drops the ball, we all throw them under the bus, which I’ve experienced in other work environments in the past. We really do act and speak holistically as a team here!
Every company commits to diversity now, but the fact that it’s actually in my day-to-day is something I really appreciate. Another thing that we’re a lot more thoughtful of (especially at Dropbox, compared to other organizations I’ve worked for) is pay equity and parity. A huge focus for us as an organization is that people of all genders are being paid equally for the jobs that they are performing. It’s definitely at the forefront here, and it does present challenges as we make sure we’re maintaining equity across the organization, but it’s a great thing.”
Alex Moore also works on the compensation side of things as a Compensation Manager. But when you’re working on the Total Rewards team, you’re never really working in a silo. She maintains a high level of cross-functional communication as she helps to make sure Dropboxers are being paid fairly all year round.
“We have quite a bit of cross-functional partnerships. We work with recruiting, HRBP (HR Business Partners), and a slew of other groups — comms are our best friends when it comes to all the things we roll out!
In terms of the different periods throughout the year that we really focus on as a comp team, we have our performance review cycles called SPRiTES, which include a big chunk of the work that we do that everyone knows about: promotions, market adjustments, bonus payouts, etc. But throughout the year we do quite a few other things. Typically we submit our survey data in the spring, anonymized to a third party vendor survey provider, and we get it back in the fall. Then we put on our nerdy specs and do a deep dive into analyses for all of our jobs. We do benchmark every single job that we have at Dropbox, which is truly unique in the tech space, and gives us a lot of flexibility to address competitive landscapes out in the market.
Additionally, at the end of last month we rolled out our Spotlight Bonus Program. It’s something super exciting for all of us here at Dropbox. We already have a culture of recognition, so this was just kind of that missing piece so frontline managers can recognize their Dropboxers in real time with a monetary gift!”
Of course, fair compensation is only one of the pieces of the benefits puzzle that we think makes us a great place to work. As our Global Perks and Wellness Manager, Emmaline Nabors is intimately familiar with (and super passionate about) many of the different perks we offer.
“I love the wellness reimbursement program. It’s such a great way to incentivize people to bring wellness into their daily lives, and there is a long list of various wellness related items Dropboxers can choose from! So no matter where you are in your wellness journey — maybe you’re just getting started and need some tennis shoes, or you need a massage for recovery, or you wanna try new fitness studios or meditation apps — there will be something on the list you can use the wellness funds for to bring some wellness into your life.
In reaction to [the pandemic] and everyone working remotely, we’ve created our Work From Home Wellness Slack channel and class programming. Our fitness instructors from SF, Seattle, New York, and Austin are all teaching virtual fitness and meditation classes that all Dropboxers around the globe can enjoy at no cost. Our instructors also have been putting on fun challenges, sharing workout tips, and curating playlists through the Slack channel. It’s kind of been a silver lining — everything’s been disrupted, but we can still bring wellness to people. It’s been cool to see that unfold and the community being built around at-home wellness.
The Benefits team is also launching a global mental health benefit, Modern Health, this summer. I’ve been really excited to bring this program to Dropboxers and their families and hope that the coaching and therapy sessions are able to be a valuable resource to help everyone navigate and improve their mental health and overall wellbeing.”
Dorena Sanchez, Benefits Employee Experience Analyst, truly is at the frontlines of helping Dropboxers find and access all their benefits. As she’s doing her work, she’s always thinking about how she can best communicate to make that happen.
“When I’m drafting comms, I try to think of what I used to know before joining the Benefits team. I didn’t know how to find a doctor or enroll in vision care — I never submitted any receipts for reimbursement if I had to go out of network to get glasses or something like that. So I try to put on that kind of lens like, what old Dorena used to know? Nothing! So how do I build up a foundation so she understands really simply? That in itself is such a fun job because I get to put on the lens of a new hire and think of how to make things accessible and easy to understand, while also promoting the great benefits we offer.”
