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?

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

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

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

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

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