Host Brandon Laws sits down with VP of Culture & ESG at HubSpot, Eimear Marrinan, to discuss the company’s post-pandemic transition to a successful hybrid work model. Eimear explains how data drove their decision to offer their people the flexibility to work from home, in the office, or a combination of the two. Read on to gain insights into their achievements, obstacles, and Eimear’s perspective on what’s next for hybrid work.
GUEST AT A GLANCE
Eimear Marrinan, VP of Culture & ESG at HubSpot, has over 15 years of expertise in multinational and EMEA-based companies. A passionate problem solver and advocate for positive change, she excels in strategic planning, project management, relationship-building, and cultivating a thriving workplace culture.
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
🔊 Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR
🎙️ Host: Brandon Laws
📋 In his own words: “The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders.”
LETTING THE PEOPLE DECIDE
Pre-pandemic, HubSpot dubbed themselves a “remote-ish” workforce, with roughly 10% of their people working from home. But it wasn’t until the pandemic that they made the full shift towards a hybrid model. Eimear Marrinan, VP of Culture & ESG and a key figure in this transformation, sheds light on how the company’s approach evolved. When confronted with the post-pandemic decision of returning to the office or embracing remote work, HubSpot took an unprecedented route by actively engaging their employees and seeking feedback.
The results were clear: the workforce clamored for flexibility and choice. That’s why, instead of imposing a one-size-fits-all solution, HubSpot chose to empower its employees, allowing them to choose where they felt most productive. Today, HubSpot allows its people to choose between fully remote, flex, or in-office roles, a fresh approach in a modern workplace dominated by top-down policy.
PODCAST EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Providing Options
“Once we made the decision to move towards a hybrid model, we stuck with that decision genuinely. And I think the reason that we did is, again, we led with data. And so what we did was we gave employees the option to select a work preference. Just for context, the three work preferences that we offer at HubSpot are at office, at flex, and at remote. And so basically, at office is you’re in an office three or more days a week, at remote is you’re working at home or remotely, and at flex is you’re somewhere in between. What we saw is like the proportion of people that started to choose at home increased. So every year we give people the option to reselect what they want, and this year, 64% of our workforce are at remote.”
Remote Work and Engagement
“I’ve got three girls. They’re 6, 4, and 20 months old. I’m a flex worker. […] I go into an office maybe once a month. Like hands down, I would not be able to have a job — and I talk about this a lot — if I had to go into an office all the time. So I am naturally more engaged because of the flexibility that hybrid work has afforded me, and I think that plays a lot into engagement scores. Again, it’s the ability to work in the way that works best for you. […] For folks that are working remotely, I think they’re finding other ways to connect virtually. And I definitely think finding those ways and facilitating those ways has also increased their engagement score. So that’s my hypothesis.”
Redefining Culture
“Honestly, I think we did culture a disservice pre-COVID. […] Especially in the tech industry, a lot of the time, culture was equated to ping pong tables and going out for drinks and the tangible stuff that people genuinely valued. And I think what people forgot is that culture is actually a company’s personality, and it’s rooted in your values, and it’s rooted in the decisions that you make. It’s rooted in the words that you use, how your leaders show up, how they treat people. And that does not need four walls to thrive.”
Paving the Way
“The biggest challenge is that no one is doing this amazingly well. No — nobody is. It’s actually so much easier to be a follower. And […] you can’t follow anyone. So you’re trying to figure this stuff out. You’re trying to do justice for your employees. And that’s really hard, actually. […] We’re trying to get it right. We care deeply about our employees. I think testing your own bias and testing everyone else’s bias and ignoring the noise that we’re seeing in the press and in the paper and what other companies are doing and helping bring the narrative back to the why — like why this is important. So again, leading with data, but also the stories.”
Seeking to Improve
“I think the other mistakes that we’ve made is like appreciating that this takes intention. It’s so new for our managers in particular and our frontline managers, and you cannot just expect people to manage a hybrid team overnight without actually helping them.
And I think we are still on that journey. By the way, I don’t think we’ve done a great job there. That’s something that we’re focusing on this year and next year, but like, you have to help managers. You have to […] retrain them on how to manage globally-distributed teams and hybrid teams. Like how do you performance-manage someone when you’re in an office versus when you’re remote? It’s really hard. You have to over-index and it’s like safety, inclusion, and belonging become even more important.”
The Future of Hybrid Work
“I see hybrid becoming the source of freedom for so many people. I see it becoming the way that you can attract diverse talent and tap into talent fields that you never ever would have been able to before. That you are giving parents the ability to work in jobs that they wouldn’t have been able to before. I think that companies are going to bring folks back into an office, and I think they’re going to bleed talent, and I think they will, I’m hoping, change tact on that. That’s what I would love to see, and that’s where I hope I see things going, but again, it takes time.”
LEARN MORE
To connect with Eimear, check her out on LinkedIn or dig deeper into all things marketing at the HubSpot blog.