In the previous post about Office Insights , you could read about how HubSpot keeps its employees motivated with free massages and an excellent office experience. Curious about their policy on mental well-being, the Hub Talks and what advice Jo has for companies that are not (yet) committed to office management? Be sure to read on!

Personal growth is therefore super important to you. The combination of feeling good about yourself, having a vagnet, a safe space in the office in combination with motivational talks. That's actually a way to keep your employees motivated.

I am also thinking about the themes. Every month we highlight a theme. For example, May stands for mental health. For that month I invited a company to come to us to talk about imagination and link a workshop to it. June is pride month and that's when the LGBTQ+ community is put in the spotlight. In April, everything revolved around ecology and we started cleaning up the neighborhood with pickers. Every month there is something.

Is that a tool that you use when looking for people. Have you noticed that this can be the deciding factor in people choosing HubSpot over another company?

I don't know to what extent that is passed on in recruiting. Modern Health certainly does. the HubTalks and other benefits, I don't know. But once people are recruited, they do get it. Then I think that plays a role. When I see the reactions or photos that are posted when such a Talk is organized, you think "gosh, what a great company to work for."

I can absolutely imagine that when you walk around here. Do you also take into account the needs of employees themselves in such matters? Do they come up with their own ideas?

Yes, it is. We have a party committee here. To give an example. When our meeting rooms underwent a rebranding. we sat down with a team to give our meeting rooms a name. We were able to come up with it ourselves. For example, our meeting rooms are now named after local abbey beers and our offices after regions in Ghent. For example, my office is in Het Patershol. We try to involve employees and colleagues as much as possible. Of course, that's easy to talk about when you have a small team.

And then if we go back to Dublin for a moment - do you know how it works there?

It's analog, but on a larger scale. For example, next week there will be a community festival and every office on May 17 will organize a festival. With us we give a sushi workshop and play games with a drink. But in Dublin, for example, there will be a band. It's a different approach, but the look and feel and the vibe is analogue.

So it's really more of a tool to compete with those larger companies there than it is here. You've told me before that you have a kind of book subscription, how does that work exactly?

That's a platform that's called Libby. The principle there is that every HubSpotter can read one free book per month. You can rent from that library for up to three months. But since we are Dutch-speaking, we are allowed to buy one book per month at the local bookseller. That's a really fantastic perk.

Are those benefits for everyone? Both remote workers and in-office people?

Yes it is. Everyone gets the same benefits here. From payroll to interns. No distinction is made

Do you notice that this has a major impact on absenteeism or, for example, retention? Do you notice that people stay because of those perks?

In Ghent, I think that plays a very important role. Proof is that only one person has left here since the takeover. People are not leaving, on the contrary, more and more are joining. I'm actually kind of proud that they're not leaving. I also feel that they like to come to the office.

Fine. I can imagine that from HubSpot on your CV, you will get a lot of offers. It's a big name in the industry, isn't it?

Especially since the majority of our team here in Ghent are engineers. They work on the product and are a highly sought-after profile. So I think they have to shake off the LinkedIn requests on a daily basis.

If you could give advice to any other company that is not (yet) so committed to office experience, what would it be?

I can't help but think back to my previous work experience. I worked in a tax consultancy firm for a long time. That was a very traditional company where people had to arrive at a certain time and preferably leave at a certain hour or later with a registration system. That is absolutely not the case with us now. This turns out to be completely self-regulating. I think it's important as a company to make sure your teams love to work and if they like to do that, they just work hard.

"It's really all about a sense of belonging. That's a very human trait and I think you can facilitate that as a company."

Then I can only conclude that Hubspot is a leading company in the field of office experience and that a lot of companies can learn from you. It's probably also something that is often pushed aside or an office manager who is a profile that only comes in later. What's your take on that?

Of course, my job is not just to make sure the team is doing well. Of course, I also have a range of tasks with administration. There is a lot involved in managing an office. It is unclear to me how a company can function without someone taking on that task. For the most part, our team consists of professionals who work for the company, for the product and for the customers under the motto 'we help our customers grow better'. But my customers are my colleagues. I actually do the same thing in my team.

Seems like a job that you can get a lot of satisfaction from. When you talk about it, it's full of passion. I think maybe something we haven't really talked about yet is that HubSpot Culture. Could you perhaps tell us how that works?

HubSpot Culture was created to promote the values HubSpot stands for. Those values are summed up in an acronym HEART – Humble, Empathetic, Adaptable, Remarkable, and Transparent. We do this by paying attention to colleagues, to the teams, but also through the events. Or by creating different communities within Hubspot. This can vary greatly from families to dog owners. They are all applauded. I am part of The Wise and The Experienced. Only 3% of employees are over 46 and I am one of them. That's just funny. You can share things in there. That's all part of the culture.

I think that's something nice to pass on to other companies. Make sure you have a few people in your company who watch over that culture.

It grows quite organically I must say and it's always about a sense of belonging. That's a very human trait to want to belong to something and I think you can facilitate that as a company.

True! Because work in 2023 is not just work. People want more out of their jobs. You want to get satisfaction out of it, to be part of something and those communities are a very good example of that. You notice that you are very proud of HubSpot and your job. Then I can only thank you for your time and this conversation. Thanks, Jo!