Welcome to the exclusive 10KC Program Innovator series, an award that recognizes and celebrates the outstanding achievements of visionary leaders shaping the future of mentoring and networking. These dedicated trailblazers are committed to crafting top-notch mentorship and employee development programs that enhance the employee experience and spark improvements across employee retention, engagement, inclusion, and culture. 

Today, we’re excited to introduce and award the well-deserved title of 10KC Program Innovator to Michelle Rojas, Associate Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Spring Health. 

Recently, Dave Wilkin, CEO at 10KC, sat down with Michelle to recognize her achievements at Spring Health and hear her invaluable insights about improving employee retention with mentorship programs. 

Let's dive in! 

Describe what led you to invest in a mentoring and networking platform. 

Michelle: Our mentorship program “Sprout with Spring” started as a pilot in Q4 2022. Myself and the co-leaders of one of our ERGs, the Black Employee Coalition, hosted listening sessions for our Black and Hispanic or Latino team members, partly because the data was telling us that attrition rates for members of these communities were about 3x the rate of the company overall. 

So, very alarming! We wanted to hold spaces for team members to share what was going well, and what wasn’t going well to ensure that we can retain this great talent. 

Mentorship was really top of mind for our team members. So, we quickly mobilized to pilot a program. We had about 42 team members who participated over 8 weeks (really fast!). We threw in what was like office hour sessions, not knowing what they were. They were like micro-learning and development opportunities, and it was a huge success.

It became a question of, “how do we scale this and make sure that all of our team members who want to access this can?” And that's when 10KC came along. Now we've grown from 42 team members in that pilot, to last I checked, ~600 team members. Well over half of the entire company is on the platform.

How did you get leaders on board and engaged in addressing employee retention through mentorship? 

Michelle: I wouldn’t be able to do this if it weren’t for the co-leads of the Black Employee coalition at the time –  Lisa Lyman, D'Andrala Alexander, Jasmyn Johnson, and Shandelle Jefferson. 

And then many of the other leaders that have helped champion this, namely our Chief People Officer, Karishma Patel Buford.  I'm sure there are other company leaders that would say, “You want to invest how much in a mentorship program?” and would not have taken it seriously. 

But we have a leader here at Spring Health, Karishma, who very much understands the value of building solutions in direct response to the needs of our team members. And so she was all in.  She was very much like, “okay, let's do it!” and has been a great supporter, championing the rest of our leaders to serve as mentors as well.

What mentorship program outcomes do you track, and how do these results support your company’s broader priorities? 

Michelle: Employee retention. Our attrition at the start of all of this was unfortunately around 32%. And as of now, it's at 15%. 

And obviously it's not because “Sprout with Spring” was the silver bullet that did it, but it was a huge catalyst. I think it ensured that our team members, especially from our underrepresented communities, feel heard and feel like their concerns were taken seriously and actioned upon. 

The beauty of “Sprout with Spring” is that people feel valued and like they have an outlet for professional development and relationship building, especially in a predominantly remote-first company that we are. 

We have team members all over 50 states, now, some even all over the world. And that can be a very isolating experience, right? You have your direct team members that you interact with on a day to day basis, but that's like a handful of people. How do you get access to senior leaders? How do you get access to other thought leaders? 

So, it's all about ensuring that: 

1. Our team members feel heard. 

2. They have access to people that they otherwise would not have had access to either by level or by department. 

3. They have access to additional micro-learning opportunities, including some topics that tend to fall through the cracks. 

What feedback have you heard from Spring Health colleagues after implementing your mentorship and connectivity initiatives? 

Michelle:  I think the common denominator themes I’ve heard are…

“I was new to Spring Health or new to management or had concerns about my bandwidth. And so, I was hesitant to join the program as a mentor, but I'm so glad I did because I was able to flex my management skills in a safe space.” 

Also – “As a new hire, I was able to form an amazing relationship and feel like I'm giving back as a new employee at the company.” 

Or, “Hey I thought my bandwidth would be a concern, but in reality, this was something that was very energizing and I actually have the bandwidth.” 

It’s 2 hours a month. That's not that much if you really think about it, but it can really pay back in dividends!

What advice do you have for someone planning to implement similar programs to improve employee retention with mentorship?

Michelle: Build around your team members. Make sure that this is something that they want and need. I think oftentimes HR departments tend to implement programs just because it's what's done. The “let's just do it because that's what we do” mentality just doesn’t work for the ever-evolving needs of today’s workplaces.

That can be overwhelming, because now all of a sudden you have all of these tools and resources, but utilization is low because people feel either overwhelmed or it's not actually what they need, right? It's the wrong solution. So start from a place of really good intention, but also understand the problems you’re solving for. 

And then the next piece would be, just do it, right? I think the right platform truly made the process so seamless.

We had piloted a program, so we had some material to work with and modify, but having a structured curriculum was fantastic. It was very plug and play…as far as, like, understanding who's in the program, and how matches were made. We were able to pre-determine that selection criteria, which is fantastic. 

The first time we launched the cohort, we could only do one mentee to one mentor. And now this time around, I will have 3 mentees, which is amazing, right? 

How has technology enabled your employee mentorship programs? 

Michelle: Having a matching algorithm is fantastic. I remember when we did the pilot, it was me and a colleague from our ERG, the Black Employee Coalition (BEC),  in an hour-long meeting trying to manually match people. We had a slide deck and everyone's strengths and weaknesses and the mentor strengths. And we were just trying our best to finagle something together. 

We're incredibly grateful for the thought that goes into matching algorithms. It's given us time back to really be able to manage programs holistically, instead of being so much in the weeds. 

And a dashboard feature –  I'm able to see at any given point who's in the program, completion rates, feedback.

And then office hours or group learning sessions. I just love learning and development and the fact that's baked into the program and very easy to modify. And the fact that it'll email me 3 days before, how many people registered and what their questions are. It's like the best assistant ever!

If you could have coffee with anybody, dead or alive, who would it be? 

Michelle: There's so many. First would be my grandmother. She raised me when I was a young girl in Nicaragua and died when I was in my teens. So she's someone that I very much miss every day, a very strong woman in my life. 

And then as far as a historical figure, I would have loved to have coffee with Audre Lorde. I reference a lot of her work. She’s also a very seminal figure in my own development and philosophy, and how I approach the world both as a woman of color and as a DEI practitioner.

Congratulations, Michelle Rojas!

A huge round of applause for Michelle Rojas on her well-deserved recognition as a 10KC Program Innovator and the remarkable impact she’s made with mentorship programs at Spring Health. 

Michelle’s commitment to addressing the unique needs of her team members and the successful scaling of the "Sprout with Spring'' mentorship program underscores the importance of listening to employees and taking proactive steps to meet their needs. These efforts have made a remarkable impact on improving employee retention, belonging, and enhancing the workplace experience. 

Congratulations, Michelle! Your achievements serve as an inspiration for organizations and leaders looking to build employee-centric experiences and improve employee retention through mentorship. 

Discover more about 10KC Program Innovators 

Get the details about this honorary award, showcasing 10KC customers’ exceptional leadership, and submit nominees here.