Sapling - What is a Program Lead?

Behind every successful employee experience program, there is someone who owns the process and works diligently to keep the program running.

Our team at Kallidus has worked with a number of companies to develop, launch, and manage an employee experience program, and having the right person in the role of a Program Lead is critical to any initiative’s success.

What is a Program Lead?

Program Leads have responsibility and ownership of the Employee Experience Program.

With the help of Sapling - we provide them consistency, visibility and data in their employee programs.

Its important to note that employee experience programs are ongoing and continue as long as they provide benefit and value to the participants.

Therefore its important that Program Leads are responsible for maintaining the success of a program well beyond the initial “launch” date, and keep the feedback loop ongoing for the continuous success of the program they oversee.

What Qualities do Program Leads have?

We've found the best Program Leads have the following characteristics:

1. Can understand and articulate the benefits of the Employee Experience

Successful Program Leads have a clear understanding of the overall mission of the employee experience program and can articulate how the program’s success is measured.

They make both the employee experience goals and success metrics readily accessible, ensuring everyone in the organization is aligned.

2. Effectively empower the organization’s managers to drive engagement and adoption

Program Leads understand that hiring manager participation is critical to the program’s success.

They train managers to use Sapling and provide specific training and resources on an ongoing basis to further empower them.

3. Ensure continued, visible display of executive sponsorship

Successful Program Leads leverage executive team members to sustain the momentum and excitement of the program.

4. Serve as a bridge between Sapling and their company

Successful Program Leads stay close to the Kallidus team through our Program Lead Resources and actively relay important updates to their company provided by our Customer Success team.

They actively communicate feedback from their users to the Kallidus team, helping the platform continuously improve!

5. Have a passion for creating a high performing organization and setting new-hires up for success

The most successful Program Leads are true believers of employee success and employee experience.

They are passionate about creating high performing teams and helping new hires feel valued.

They are visionaries changing the way companies encourage their unique employee journeys.