|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Hannah Thomas is reshaping Cart.com’s benefits playbook by treating every program decision as a way to help employees bring their best selves to work. The director of people operations backs up every move with hard data to keep offerings competitive in a turbulent market. In a business that spans disparate locations, warehouse floors, and remote engineering hubs, Thomas and her team are building a benefits ecosystem that works for both a frontline picker walking the floors and software engineers working from a home office.
Thomas came to HR by way of hospitality, where she spent years managing large hourly workforces and high-stakes events. Over time, the leader realized she wanted to focus more on the employees delivering the experience than the customers enjoying it, and she ultimately pursued her master’s in HR and employment relations just as the hospitality industry collapsed during the COVID pandemic.
That frontline vantage point still anchors her approach at Cart.com, a fast-growing unified commerce and logistics company that supports thousands of merchants and operates a national fulfillment network.
“My customers right now are my employees and the business,” Thomas explains. “I frame HR with a customer service discipline that succeeds only when workers have the support to perform at their best.”
Cart.com’s people challenges start with its split personality of sorts, a distributed tech workforce and an expanding footprint of fulfillment centers acquired through rapid growth. Software engineers work remotely and enjoy schedule flexibility, while warehouse employees commute daily and spend their shifts on their feet.
Thomas is explicit that benefits and communication must bridge those realities rather than default to a single corporate lens. HR generalists are embedded in facilities to give fulfillment employees a local advocate, and the company brings its largely back‑office people team together annually at a different warehouse site so they can see operations, meet teams, and better understand how benefits land on the ground.
“One of the challenges for our people team right now is to really get to know the business,” Thomas explains. “If you don’t understand the business you’re serving, you can’t be the best at serving it. Our people have different needs in different locations, and we need to acknowledge that.”
Rather than trying to compete on the flashiest benefits, Thomas keeps the foundational offerings solid and sustainable. Cart.com offers the familiar employer‑sponsored coverage (medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and tax‑advantaged accounts) alongside 401(k) with company match, equity, generous PTO, paid parental leave, and mental health resources.
The company also maintains a remote‑friendly culture and flexible work arrangements for many roles, while ensuring warehouse teams have access to paid time off, holidays, and leave programs that acknowledge the physical demands of their jobs.
A core initiative under Thomas is making “hidden” benefits visible and usable. She has spearheaded monthly educational campaigns to show employees how to access virtual care, mental health resources, and plan features they may not realize exist. This practice brings practical value to both remote and warehouse staff.
Thomas also leverages wellness funds for impactful and memorable benefits, such as sponsoring SNOO Smart Sleepers from Happiest Baby for new and adoptive parents, and piloting employer-sponsored medical-grade insoles via Hike for warehouse staff, both programs that feel premium but are targeted to employee needs and job realities.
Cart.com invests in Sparrow’s hands-on leave administration so employees navigating disability, medical leave, or bereavement have expert help, addressing not just paperwork but also timely access to pay and benefits. This is particularly important for frontline workers, who may be less familiar with leave processes but can be disproportionately affected by benefits delays or confusion.
“If you don’t understand the business you’re serving, you can’t be the best at serving it. Our people have different needs in different locations, and we need to acknowledge that.”
Hannah Thomas
The leader’s commitment to transparency and collaboration, especially with Cart.com’s finance leaders, has paid off. By partnering with her team to track data from claims, engagement surveys, and exit interviews, Thomas demonstrated that benefit costs and perceived value were core retention and satisfaction issues. This allowed the company to secure lower medical premiums for 2026 and shift cost share in favor of employees, winning positive feedback from both workers and finance stakeholders.
Thomas is also active in the larger HR and benefits community, sharing insights and learning through groups such as HR Advisory and ensuring external ideas inform internal practices. Her transparency and candor are more important than ever at a time when benefit spends are so high, and HR teams are continually challenged to do more with less.
There is something demonstrably genuine about Thomas. Maybe that’s her hospitality background. She knows how hard employees work. And she’s determined to provide data-driven solutions that support a diverse workforce.
