Children approached dragon dancers with wide eyes, and their parents snacked on dumplings and rice cakes while chatting with friends. Hayley Walthour understands the importance of a supportive ERG first-hand.
When she returned to work from maternity leave earlier this fall, she turned to a group of her fellow parents at Anduril. I think having other moms to lean on and being able to find a community in your workplace is really important. That supportive culture is baked into every aspect of life at Anduril, including finding ways for employees to grow. Kayla Deneault first joined the company as a recruiting coordinator. They took a chance on me and brought me in to support two recruiters.
That chance paid off for both Deneault and Anduril. According to Deneault, her comfort in taking on new challenges and transitioning into new roles is thanks to the people she had on her team. Built In sat down with Yoo, Walthour and Deneault to learn more about the benefits that make Anduril a great place to grow professionally and the people-first culture that offers community, support and celebration each day. But when I did get pregnant, knowing that I would be supported and taken care of here at work was one less thing I had to worry about.
Our 16 weeks of parental leave is fabulous, and so many people at Anduril have families and children. Everyone on the team understands that it can take time for a new parent to get back to percent. Kayla Deneault, manager of people operations: Our benefits package is really competitive, with perks like not needing to contribute to our own healthcare premiums. But for me, even more exciting is how much we invest in budding talent and growing people in their roles.
There is no sense of plateau or getting stagnant here. I have never stopped learning here, which can keep me extremely busy, but I am never bored. I always feel like I have the opportunity to expand my skills, and I have people on my team who will hear me out and let me tackle a project from a new idea. We are surrounded by competent, talented people who are amazing at their jobs.
