As any startup will tell you, there’s bound to be growing pains.
But Hireology has given its staff the tools to grow with it. While its business has expanded for four straight years and its team has moved into a new office space, employees have had the freedom to blaze new trails, take on leadership roles and lay down the foundation for future employees.
Four leaders at Hireology spoke with us about the opportunities of being part of a rapidly growing company.
FOUNDED: 2010
EMPLOYEES: 176 total, 136 local
WHAT THEY DO: Hireology provides a hiring and talent management platform that enables businesses to build teams and keep employees engaged for the entire talent lifecycle.
WHERE THEY DO IT: Chicago
NEW DIGS: Hireology nearly doubled its office size and added 25 collaborative areas, as well as video conferencing technology for remote employees and a top-notch kitchen.
MEET THE REMOTE TEAM: How Hireology brings its remote team in on the water cooler banter
Julie Rodgers, COO
Julie oversees the daily operations of the company for all teams, including sales, marketing, customer success, business operations and engineering.
BEYOND WORK: Julie spends her downtime focused on mindfulness. She relaxes with yoga, acupuncture and breathing exercises.
As Hireology has expanded, what opportunities are there for employees to grow in their careers?
Opportunities are boundless here. My career is an example of that. No one had ever held any of the jobs I’ve had here before me, which has been an incredibly rewarding challenge for me.
We see that a lot. As our business grows, new roles and paths open, and our people raise their hands to fill them. That organic career growth excites me because it’s authentic and passionate. It makes me proud as a Hireology leader.
As our business grows, new roles and paths open, and our people raise their hands to fill them.”
You’ve also moved into a new office. How does it compare to your previous office?
Our last office was a turnkey space, where we could focus on growing quickly. We ran out of collaborative spaces and the kitchen was awful, but it served its purpose.
Our new office is nearly double the size. We went from five collaborative areas to 25, and we added videoconferencing technology for our 40 remote employees. Our new kitchen is now one of the most beloved areas of the office. It’s where we host our weekly all-hands and quarterly town halls.
What’s the next challenge for your team?
While I’m always thinking about what’s next for the team, we still have a lot of work we need to get done in 2018. This is a huge year for us, as we grow our revenue from seven digits to eight. Our challenge is managing that transition while maintaining a high growth rate.
We’ll continue to close out 2018 strong and focus on our customers, who tend to be underserved by large technology conglomerates. We also want to continue developing our managers and leaders. Many who have started their careers here have grown into leaders.
Debra Senra, VP of Customer Success
Debra oversees the team tasked with supporting Hireology’s existing customer base. She leads both the implementation team, which onboards new customers, and the customer success team, which services customers throughout their time at Hireology.
BEYOND WORK: Debra dabbles in a wide variety of hobbies, ranging from biking along the beach with her family, to cooking and traveling.
As Hireology scales its staff, what opportunities and challenges does it present for new hires?
Your personal and professional growth are unmapped and endless here. This will be an opportunity for some and a challenge for others. No one is going to tell you what to do next, and you’re not stuck in a set career path. If you’re gritty, hardworking and smart, you’ll find the corners of the business that need help and find solutions. That process will help you develop the skills and experience you can’t get at most companies.
Your personal and professional growth are unmapped and endless here.”
Where do you see Hireology in one year? Five years?
In one year, we’ll have transformed the way we work with customers. Through every interaction with Hireology, customers will walk away having learned something important that helps them grow their business.
Five years from now, we’ll be the go-to resource for strategic people management across a number of new industries. We will have expanded our capabilities to support customers in ways they didn’t even realize they needed.
What will your team need to do for Hireology to continue to evolve?
The best way team members can help grow the team is to see the roadblocks no one else sees, then figure out ways to overcome them. I expect my team to look for ways to improve our work each day, and my role is to create an environment where that can happen.
Max Lowenbaum, VP of Sales
Max oversees three sales managers and a 40-person sales team. Along with that team, he is responsible for bringing in and managing all new revenue at Hireology.
BEYOND WORK: Max finds his creative outlet in cooking. He loves spicing up a recipe with his own take on it and sharing that dish with other people.
How have your employees’ careers grown in response to the company’s growth?
I’m proud of the career growth opportunities we have at Hireology. We’ve had sales reps who have been promoted eight times in the last three years. Last quarter, we had more promotions than ever before, and our entry level BDR team is the most successful it has ever been.
Our career progression program ensures that our representatives always have something to strive for. Beyond new titles and salary increases, there is always the opportunity to ask to take on more responsibility.
What opportunities does your team have today that it didn’t have when you started three years ago?
When I started, we were still proving ourselves in the market. Now, our prospects are asking us about the work we’ve done for their friends or the business down the street. Sales reps have stories to tell today that we didn’t have in 2015. We also have penetration into our markets. While this creates challenges, we still have a tremendous amount of opportunity in front of us.
We are focused on training and development, so we don’t expect candidates to be experts in our product.”
As you take your team into the next stage, what do you look for in a candidate?
We evaluate a candidate based on their personality and culture fit. We use our own software, which creates a custom process based on the criteria that have proven to be successful for each role. We are focused on training and development, so we don’t expect candidates to be experts in our product. Instead, we look for candidates who have some of the intangibles that we can’t teach, like drive, grit and curiosity.
Katie Fairchild, VP of Marketing
Katie leads the marketing team, which is responsible for developing the brand positioning, go-to-market strategy and programs that drive new sales leads and advocates.
BEYOND WORK: Katie enjoys pushing her body to its limits, having completed four marathons and improved on her time in each one.
What was your biggest hiring challenge as you scaled?
As we’ve scaled, we’ve looked for people who can fit the hybrid role of manager, leader and executor. At Hireology, the best leaders not only provide the framework for the strategy, but the coaching and hands-on support needed to ensure successful execution.
While it was a challenge, we found success hiring high performers looking for opportunities to step up into new roles with bigger responsibilities and higher stakes.
We’ve promoted 13 people into new roles and have hired many more.”
What has that growth meant for current employees?
As Hireology continues to experience substantial growth, we’ve spent time refining our vision and communicating our shared goals to the team. This involved reviewing the organizational structure and ensuring we have the right people in the right positions to do the job. So far, we’ve promoted 13 people into new roles and have hired many more to join our growing and restructured teams.
How will you get to where you’re planning to bring the business?
We are making large investments in Hireology’s product to deliver features and capabilities that will add additional value. This means better analytics, more rigorous control over recruitment marketing spend and enhanced tools for the HR team to manage field-level people operations. As a team, we are focused on ensuring we understand the industry, the trends, the competitors, our buyers and users, and how our product drives value inside and out.
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