Marymichele Delaney
Vice President for Human Resources
College of the Holy Cross
Episode 262
Beyond Perks: How Holistic Employee Experience Builds Unstoppable Teams
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleMarch 24, 2025 · 15:39
Thesis
“By strategically investing in comprehensive employee experience initiatives—from recruitment to development and well-being—organizations can build a committed, engaged, and productive workforce, even in traditionally challenging sectors like non-profit higher education.”
Show notes
In less than four years at the College of the Holy Cross, Marymichele Delaney reduced time-to-fill by 56%, cut open jobs per quarter by 50%, and doubled the applicant pool to an average of 1,250 per quarter. Not bad for a non-profit institution competing against organizations that pay more.
Marymichele's toolkit is concrete. A $750 employee referral bonus program that leverages existing employee commitment to source new candidates. An enhanced applicant tracking system that made the application process less painful. An "Everboarding" program — a 12-month onboarding process that pairs each new hire with a buddy mentor from outside their department, delivering a 100% new hire recommendation rate. And a four-day summer workweek that, as she puts it, has people walking across campus to thank the president. These aren't abstract culture initiatives — they're measurable interventions in the employee experience that compound over time into retention and engagement outcomes.
She's particularly sharp on the generational dimension. In a workforce that spans five generations simultaneously, the value proposition has to be differentiated, not universal. Gen Z and millennials prioritize flexibility and learning. Boomers may be carrying financial stress. Everyone needs to feel their manager is actually invested in them — which is why Marymichele invests heavily in manager training, knowing that people leave managers, not jobs. Her approach to wellness reflects the same holism: emotional, physical, and financial well-being are not separate programs. They're a single architecture.
What you'll learn:
- The exact initiatives that drove 56% faster time-to-fill and doubled Holy Cross's applicant pool
- How the 12-month "Everboarding" program works — and why it achieves 100% new hire recommendation rates
- Building a referral program that generates measurable pipeline growth
- How to design a multi-generational employee value proposition without it becoming incoherent
- Why manager training is the highest-ROI retention investment a non-profit can make
- Marymichele's holistic wellness framework: financial, emotional, and physical well-being as a unified system
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What you'll take away
- 1A structured 12-month 'Everboarding' process with a buddy mentor program significantly improves new hire acclimation and satisfaction, leading to 100% recommendation rates among new hires.
- 2Implementing a robust employee referral bonus program can drastically reduce time-to-fill for hourly roles and double applicant pools by leveraging existing employee commitment.
- 3Holistic employee wellness, encompassing financial, emotional, and physical well-being, is crucial for combating employee fatigue and driving retention across diverse generational groups.
- 4Strategic compensation adjustments and benchmark-based pay, combined with regular job satisfaction surveys, are vital for understanding and proactively meeting evolving employee needs.
- 5Adapting work arrangements, such as a 4-day summer workweek, can significantly boost productivity, motivation, and engagement, especially in sectors with seasonal workflows and non-profit compensation constraints.
What most organizations get wrong
- •In a non-profit higher education setting where direct compensation might be lower than the for-profit world, creative benefits like a 4-day summer workweek and college-paid financial planning can serve as impactful, high-return differentiators in attracting and retaining talent.
In Marymichele's words
“We reduced our time to fill by 56% between 2023 and 2024. The open jobs per quarter decreased by 50%. Our applicant pools doubled, averaging 1,250 applicants per quarter.”
This quote provides clear, measurable evidence of the positive impact of new attraction processes and applicant tracking systems.
“100% of the new hires say they would recommend this partner program to a new hire because it's really given them the opportunity to connect with others outside of their immediate departments.”
It highlights the exceptional success and the value of social connection facilitated by their buddy mentor program during onboarding.
“We know employees will often leave managers, not jobs. So we do everything we can to support managers and provide training to them so that their managing style will work well with their staff.”
This emphasizes the critical role of effective management in employee retention and underscores the organization's investment in leadership training.
“Work-life balance is really important to Gen Zs and to millennials. So we were able to put a 4-day summer workweek in place.”
This illustrates a specific, tailored initiative to meet the distinct needs and values of younger generations in the workforce.
“We know that wellness encompasses emotional, well-being, as well as physical well-being, obviously, but also financial well-being. And it's about connection, and it's about experience in the workforce in terms of culture.”
This quote provides a comprehensive and holistic definition of employee wellness, extending beyond traditional physical health.
“Productivity, we believe, went up. Motivation and engagement went up, and people walk across campus and thank our president for that benefit.”
This powerful statement quantifies the positive impact of the 4-day summer workweek and shows strong employee appreciation.
The problems this episode addresses
- •High time-to-fill rates for open positions, particularly hourly roles, impacting operational efficiency.
- •Ineffective or transactional new hire onboarding processes leading to slow acclimation and potential early turnover.
- •Challenges in employee retention, with concerns about exempt and non-exempt turnover rates and overall resignations.
- •Difficulty for non-profit organizations to compete with for-profit companies on compensation alone.
- •Increasing employee fatigue and stress, necessitating a focus on holistic well-being initiatives.
- •Managers being a primary reason for employee attrition, highlighting a need for targeted leadership training and support.
- •Understanding and effectively engaging a five-generational workforce with diverse values and expectations.
- •The high cost and effort associated with replacing and onboarding new employees.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Holy Cross has implemented significant cultural changes in recent years
Holy Cross College's Transformation of Workplace Culture
Holy Cross is surveying employees about their onboarding experiences
The Holy Cross on Onboarding
How do you create a value proposition that resonates across generations while maintaining organizational cohesion
How To Manage 5 Generations In The Workforce
Your team has seen measurable improvements in both retention and engagement
Marathon Petroleum Company's Commitment to Well-being and Employee
Mary Michelle leads cultural transformation at a nonprofit college
Mary Michelle's Experience Leading Cultural Transformation
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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