Now more than ever, the attention of job-seekers is turning to companies that offer a unique culture, non-traditional management hierarchy, and flexible policies that allow employees to lead well-balanced lives. This increasingly European approach to workplace norms may cause companies a heap of trouble in coming months as more jobs become available, and retention becomes a concern of traditional “dinosaur” CEOs. This will be particularly true of bosses who extended hours, cut pay, nixed benefits, and laid-off workers en masse in 2009. On top of knowing that new Gen-Y friendly companies are out there, employees who work for dinosaurs will remember if they’ve been treated poorly and abused in the name of “tough economic times”, and aren’t likely to forgive. Staying in an office where they felt undervalued will no longer seem logical, and many will opt to leave for more charismatic and innovative employers.
One such innovative leader is inbound marketing and web analytics company Hubspot. With an almost revolutionary approach to running a business, HubSpot’s leaders have basically handed employees the reins. Bear in mind, this is no “Mom and Pop Shop” where employees wear Hawaiian shirts on Fridays. HubSpot is a hugely successful company with well over 100 employees. The stakes were high, but HubSpot firmly believes that their approach to conducting business is the best all-around fit for management and staff alike, and it seems to be working!
“A “common sense” policy really governs everything our employees do,” says Joe Sharron, Director of Talent Acquisition at HubSpot.
Here’s a look at some of the more unique offerings on the corporate table at this company. Traditional corporate types, hold onto your hats…
HubSpot TV on Fridays
This is a Good Morning America style podcast that HubSpot hosts weekly. With as many as 100 local business owners, marketing professionals, and prospective hires present at the live recordings, HubSpot invites people in from the streets to showcase the latest developments in inbound marketing. Before and after the taping, refreshments, including cold beer, are served, as employees network and socialize with guests. The likes of MC Hammer and the Founder of Twitter have made appearances, as have various venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. HubSpot TV is currently one of the most popular podcasts on the Web.
HubSpot TV
Ping Pong Tournaments
They periodically hold internal tournaments, and all employees, including executives, participate. Needless to say, these can get very competitive!
No Door Policy
HubSpot has, of course, taken the “Open Door Policy” one step further and, um, removed their doors. Actually, even the executives don’t use offices.
Companies seem to be realizing that open communication is essential to employee happiness. Meeting behind closed doors screams “corporate gossip” and makes employees feel ill-at-ease regarding their job security and their performance. At HubSpot, it’s all about transparency. Employees know they can approach each other at any time, and never feel as though they are being discussed or talked badly about behind closed doors.
Dress Code
There isn’t one. Most people opt for casual or business casual.
Social Media
As you may have guessed, social media is strongly encouraged here. Employees blog, Tweet, Book Faces on FaceBook, and Link In on a regular basis, with no restrictions on content.
Vacation Policy
HubSpot’s new policy states that in 2010, there is no formal vacation policy. No forms necessary, no permission needed, and no limits on how much vacation time you can take, and no accrual or carryover issues. Once again, common sense is the name of the game.
What’s the Catch
Thanks to the office beer coolers and fully stocked refrigerators, you may fall victim to the “HubSpot 15”.
So What?
As you might imagine, HubSpot does not anticipate having any retention problems in 2010, partially because they hire well to begin with, and largely because of these amazing policies that have many desk-jockeys green with envy. In 2009, the company was pleased to report a total of zero layoffs. Since the beginning of the recession, they have grown by 350%. Get the picture?
“I’ve been recruiting for many years,” says Sharron. “You can always tell when someone works for a good company because they are literally impossible to recruit. At HubSpot, we make it our intention not just to have appealing policies in place, but to offer our employees a way of life.”
To learn more about HubSpot visit: www.hubspot.com
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Thank you for the great review, Gillian. I’m happy to report that it’s all true. (I work as the customer Community Manager at HubSpot.) If anyone has questions about work or life at HubSpot, please let me know!
Brian Whalley
@bwhalley
Great feature, Gillian.
Too many company’s executives force their vision of an ideal culture upon the employees and it often results in a less than remarkable work environment. At HubSpot our executives encourage all employees to take an active role in forming a positive culture, which leads to higher morale and ultimately lower attrition.
@joesharron
Thanks for the comments. I couldn’t agree more- company culture means the difference between waking up and dreading going to work, or being super excited to go in on a Monday…unfortunately, most people I speak with are in the former category.
Thanks for recognizing our efforts — and our pragmatism.
One quick note: I don’t like to think of our team members as “impossible to recruit”. Instead, how about we characterize it as “improbable to make happier”.
HubSpot are a top company in the Boston area and in their field.
I think this culture profile misses an opportunity to talk about two long-lasting elements of organization sustained success that, separately, Frederick Herzberg and Abraham Maslow identify:
Do ping pong tables enable a culture that continues to reinvest in the motivation to work, as Herzberg called out, are: achievement and recognition?
Does an “open door” policy fulfill Maslow’s upper-level hierarchy of needs each of us require: sense of belonging; self-esteem; or self-actualization?
The challenge for organizations, particularly high-growth companies, is to build a culture that addresses constantly-shifting motivations and a never-ending actualization hierarchy of needs that affect sustained employees performance, as well as their motivations hour-to-hour or day-to-day.
A talent management plan that includes leadership development and a dedicated training curriculum are where the great companies lap the competition. And motivation and actualization are two crucial elements of great organization culture.
I would have loved to hear about HubSpot’s strategies to cultivate a culture of excellence, development, leadership, and motivation.
@telwin
Toby,
You raise a very good point. In future company profile pieces, I’d love to look at the motivation factor as a contributor to overall company performance and as it relates to individuals’ levels of satisfaction and actualization. I’ll keep that in mind moving forward, and, if you have any recommendations for companies that do this well, please let me know! HubSpot clearly has it down. Thanks so much for the input.
Gillian
Toby –
You raise some excellent points about the sustained success of HubSpot, so I thought it would be appropriate to add my comments and thoughts about my experience thus far as part of the team.
Beyond the highlights presented in this review, one of the fundamentals of our success at HubSpot is a company-wide effort for continuous improvement – in both the context of the solution that is delivered to our customers, and also for the professional development of team members. Since starting at HubSpot I have been exposed to an incredible wealth of information and training that has benefited me greatly and helped with my own sales and marketing education. In fact, my entire first month at HubSpot was spent as a student of our internal training program. Despite having a successful track record in high technology sales and marketing, I have never been exposed to such a comprehensive overview when starting at a company. Additionally, there is ongoing education both formally and informally (Scrum 101, Inbox Zero, etc.) to keep HubSpotters up to date on the latest trends and practices.
One of your specific questions was around “self actualization” within a culture such as HubSpot – one of the misunderstandings people may have about the culture at HubSpot is that due to the casual nature of the environment there is a lack of motivation or commitment with regards to either personal growth or team accomplishment. My experience has been the complete opposite
Every HubSpotter I have met has not only a personal drive for individual and team success, but a passion to execute and always be learning, improving, and questioning. This is accomplished without burdensome micromanagement because our talent recruitment and development team makes a concerted effort to not only hire the brightest and the most committed, but give them a framework for success once they’ve joined the team here at HubSpot. The very nature of a “flat” organization with total transparency gives everyone here at HubSpot the opportunity to shine without being thrown “under the bus” by management looking to maintain a leadership position or protect a personal fiefdom.
I have worked at several high tech and marketing driven companies, and my experience so far has been exceptional at HubSpot – it’s really refreshing to work with a dedicated group of people that are passionately committed to their success and also that of our customers.
Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to discuss further!
Cheers,
Adam
@DrDesmo
Adam,
Thanks for the further insight. I can only imagine the sense of accomplishment executives at HubSpot feel when their employees are front and center in public acknowledgement of what a great place HubSpot is to work. That you love your job and who you work with is, unfortunately, a distinct minority of the stories. Great you’ve found it.
You and the others on this thread might enjoy a blog post I read today at Fistful of Talent “Wanted: Normal Employee” http://bit.ly/58ZPyB
Cheers Adam,
Toby
@telwin
Adam- LOVE what you said: “The very nature of a “flat” organization with total transparency gives everyone here at HubSpot the opportunity to shine without being thrown “under the bus” by management looking to maintain a leadership position or protect a personal fiefdom.” I
I’d also like to learn more about your monthlong internal training as part of your onboarding, and how this helped you grow into the culture! Maybe we can chat?
It is a pretty sweet place to work with a fun culture. When I first saw the email about a new vacation policy, I was a little worried and hesitated to open it. In past positions a new vacation policy meant bad news…imagine my surprise! Love working for a company that realizes that happy workers are hard workers. Thanks for the shout out
Gillian,
Thanks, again, for the story.
It seems you have a great company right at your fingertips that merits delving further into to set the stage for others.
HubSpot shows that rapid growth can be managed, that talent is valued, and that you can have a workforce that is both proud to be part of the success and feel they are an important part of success
I just returned to Boston after 10 years away, I’m learning my way around a city and continue to run into musty old industries that seem to have a veneer of the right culture, but don’t have the employee advocacy as clearly as HubSpot shows with just a glance above.
The cautionary tale is when revenues grow, risk grows and when risk grows there comes a need for more process and more hierarchy. The magic number seems to be 150 employees add that to managing new risk and, what, then, happens to culture, motivation, and self-actualization?
Talent management is an operational strategy as important as the investment in strategic and market growth, operating efficiencies, and financial management. Talent management is the competitive advantage.
Toby
@telwin
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