The document discusses how to create a company culture that employees love. It argues that culture is more than just perks and rewards - it is a bar for what is possible at the company, a way to attract talent, and a promise to customers. The author explains that HubSpot's culture is rooted in transparency and autonomy. Most companies go wrong by not discussing culture until employees start or not giving employees a way to provide feedback. The author recommends talking about culture early and often during onboarding, making it a central focus, and providing a way for all employees to give feedback. HubSpot focuses on culture as a business priority, uses stories to reinforce it, shares information, is transparent, and iterates on the employee experience.

1. Katie Burke
CREATING A COMPANY YOUR
(NEW) EMPLOYEES LOVE

3. Yet somehow most corporate rule books look
something like this:

4. At HubSpot, we’ve built a different
kind of culture rooted in
transparency and autonomy.
But before I jump into what our culture is, let me
talk about what culture isn’t.

5. Culture Isn’t…
Wall Posters
Corporate Governance
Perks and Rewards

6. Culture Is…
• A bar for what’s possible at your company
• A powerful weapon in the war for talent
• A proactive catalyst to help employees make
better decisions
• A promise to your customers
• Collective clarity on what it means to be a part
of your organization

7. “culture: recruiting
product: marketing.”
@Dharmesh

8. Over 2 million views on
CultureCode.com

9. So where do most
companies go wrong?
- Waiting until employees arrive to talk about culture
- Asking new employees to absorb an organization’s
culture versus bringing it to life in new and
innovative ways
- Not giving employees a tool to speak up when your
company is falling short on its promise

10. • Talk about your culture early and often, not just with new
employees.
• Make culture a central focus in your onboarding, not an
afterthought.
• Provide a vehicle for all employees to speak up about
what’s working and what isn’t.

11. How We Actually Do It
- Culture is a business priority, not an HR
priority
- We use stories and examples to reinforce our
culture in the onboarding process and beyond
- We share as much information as possible
- We don’t match mistakes with rules and
regulations
- We default to transparency
- We iterate relentlessly on our candidate and
employee experience

12. The HubSpot Onboarding
Experience
-Content
-Context
-Community
(…and a truly
incredible
learning and
development
team)

13. Questions? Concerns?
Comments? Critiques?
Know someone awesome who
should work at HubSpot?
Katie Burke
Kburke at hubspot dot com
@katieburkie