At HiBob, we provide cutting-edge HR tech capabilities specifically designed for modern, mid-sized businesses that want to put their people at the center of everything they do. Our commitment to this vision has not wavered, and in fact, our platform only continues to grow. That’s why I’m beyond excited to share the next step in building Bob into a global ‘all-in-one’ HCM leader with our acquisition (subject to closing conditions) of UK payroll provider Pento. 

Welcoming Pento into the HiBob village is exactly aligned with our strategy. Following the release of our Payroll Hub in 2021, this is the next step in our payroll offering. Pento’s innovative, self-service approach to payroll is a breath of fresh air compared to the traditional, manual processes prevalent in the industry. This, together with the company’s proven track record and significant number of customers already using Bob as their HCM, underscores a powerful and natural fit between companies.

Why integrate payroll into an HCM? 

The connection between HCM and payroll has always been strong. However, as many of us know, it becomes complex when you employ people in many countries. Our customers claimed that when the two systems are not integrated, payroll can be tedious, error-prone, and inefficient—ultimately creating a poor experience for HR, finance, payroll teams, and employees. 

Data consistency is one of the biggest perks of an integrated HCM and payroll system. When payroll is integrated into your HCM you don’t have to worry about manual data entry or errors because any updates made in your HCM will automatically reflect in the payroll system. This means payroll calculations will always be based on the most up-to-date information. 

Plus, integrated systems also make reporting and analytics so much more robust. HR and finance teams can generate comprehensive reports that combine HR and payroll data, providing key insights into workforce trends, labor costs, and other critical metrics that help you make informed decisions.

And don’t forget about how integration streamlines the onboarding and offboarding process. With integrated systems, new joiners are seamlessly onboarded into the payroll system, and departing employees are promptly removed. This ensures that employees are paid accurately and on time without any errors.

What does it mean for HiBob and you?

Integrating Pento’s technology into Bob is an extension of our payroll agenda, which began with Payroll Hub, our centralized dashboard for managing payroll in Bob. By integrating Pento’s technology, we are doubling down on offering native payroll for specific geographies, starting in the UK. 

On the day-to-day level, it means that HR teams and managers, finance, and payroll professionals will be able to streamline their operations and enhance their workflows. It will also create a better employee experience, delivering information on time and eliminating costly errors that can impact employee satisfaction. This is a significant step towards modernizing payroll services for companies across the UK. 

Our plan is to offer an integrated solution for the UK in 2024, which we will then expand to other geographies to support even more of our global customers. Meanwhile, our Payroll Hub will continue to provide a simplified, secure, and efficient connection between Bob and payroll systems across the globe.

Welcome to the HiBob village

We chose Pento because of our shared outlook, values, and mission. Both HiBob and Pento are dedicated to providing trailblazing HR technology that genuinely enhances the lives of HR leaders and employees. We’re both people-centric companies that prioritize flexibility, equity, happiness, and the wellbeing of our people. 

I’m excited to welcome the Pento team to our village and extend my utmost gratitude to their leadership, to our Bobbers, and to our amazing customers. I look forward to continuing to change the modern world of work together.

The post Glad you’re here: Welcoming Pento to the HiBob village appeared first on HiBob.

Others can see we’re building the exceptional, too. This is why I’m ecstatic to share that HiBob has raised $150M in new funding led by Farallon Capital, Alpha Wave Global, and existing investors. Despite headwinds in the market and limited investment activity, these top-tier investors believe in our vision, our Bobbers’ ability to execute, and the strength of our platform. On behalf of all of us at HiBob, I’m grateful for the investors’ backing of our mission to transform the world of work with Bob, the solution that modern organizations need today and in the future.

Primed for success

The world of work is a constantly evolving landscape, which presents exciting opportunities for growth. As business leaders, we are faced with numerous challenges, such as managing teams that span the globe, determining the optimal balance between remote and hybrid work, and strengthening employee retention. To remain flexible and agile, we require technological support that enables us to grow sustainably.

In times of turbulence and in times of growth, our customers rely on Bob to deliver flexible solutions designed to adapt to changing market conditions. We know the market will continue to evolve, and that is why we decided to “play offense” in 2023, placing ourselves in an even stronger position to help our customers achieve their goals. 

Our unwavering commitment to prioritize people and culture, today and in the future, is supported by this new investment. It will enable us to continue delivering our innovative HCM platform to even more modern, mid-size, multi-national organizations with additional product innovation and development to support our growing customer base around the world. 

What’s next for HiBob?

With the current round of funding, we will focus on three key areas to continue providing our customers with the necessary tools and resources to address their challenges.

1. Delivering more value for our customers

Our first focus will be on selling upmarket and increasing our Annual Revenue Per User (ARPU) by launching new modules that provide more comprehensive support for HR leaders throughout the employee journey. With these new modules, Bob will become the de facto “single source of truth,” connecting a wider range of people data and processes across the employee lifecycle. This will result in more profound insights and streamlined, productive HR programs that are transformational for business.

2. Expanding into new geographies

Our next focus is to expand into new geographical locations to bring our visionary world of work to more HR leaders worldwide. Simultaneously, we will be making significant investments in the regions where we currently operate, with the goal of providing enhanced support to our customers, regardless of their location.

3. Growing our ecosystem of partners

Finally, as part of our investment strategy, we are committed to expanding our ecosystem of partners. We are passionate about collaborating with others and firmly believe in the strength of great partnerships. From our technology partners to our HR consultant partners, we will deliver to our customers even greater flexibility in how they choose to implement and integrate Bob. This is central to our offering and reflects our understanding that HR leaders want to flexibly manage their organization’s HR in ways that are best suited to their unique needs. 

Kudos, HiBob village

I’m beyond proud of the village of Bobbers we have around the world. You are instrumental in building the exceptional, and I’m so grateful for each and every one of you. To our new and existing shareholders and partners, thank you for believing in our vision and understanding Bob is the HCM of today and the future. To our more than 3,500 customers, my heartfelt gratitude for trusting us to support you, your HR strategy, and your most important asset, your people.

The post Building the exceptional: HiBob raises $150M in new funding round appeared first on HiBob.

In a talk by Simon Sinek, he says, “we have to understand, for better or for worse, the changing nature of what work has become in our lives.” Today’s workforce expects the workplace to be where they “get their purpose, friendships, community, and social life.”

It isn’t hard to understand why. We’ve all endured the last three years, and uncertainty about the future is still sky-high. Beginning with the COVID lockdowns and the ensuing social isolation, the lines between work life and personal life became blurred. Things are getting more complex.

Political discourse doesn’t even have to happen at work to affect relationships in the workplace. People can be avid political activists, attend protests, and take a stand on issues outside of work hours. They can post about these activities and their viewpoints on their personal social channels, like Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and even LinkedIn. 

Today’s professionals, especially Millennials and Gen Z, put their whole selves out there, in public. They share everything about their lives and work experiences on social media for everyone and anyone to see. For these new generations of professionals, work lives and personal lives are often mixed, and everything is blended: Where voicing personal opinions on politics or even talking about life outside of work is taboo for older generations, Millennials and Gen Z aren’t shy about speaking up. 

But, is speaking about sensitive issues appropriate at work? Is there a specific time and place? How can companies toe the line between empowering people to voice their opinions and bring their authentic selves to work–and offending those who disagree? How can we continue to celebrate diversity and run successful DEI&B programs without silencing some and seeming to favor others?

The challenge for business leaders today is all about finding a balance and coming to the right decision for their people and their company. But what is “right”?

In January 2023, HiBob’s research department asked 5,000 professionals around the world (1,000 in Australia, 2,000 in the United Kingdom, and 2,000 in the United States) about their stances on this important global issue. 

When asked if respectful sociopolitical discourse should be encouraged in order to nurture a legitimately inclusive and diverse company culture, 40 percent of Australians agreed. Comparatively, 53 and 52 percent of those in the UK and US agreed, respectively. 30 percent of Australians disagreed compared to 16 percent of those in the UK and 22 percent of those in the US. In Australia and the UK, 31 percent of respondents didn’t have an opinion versus 26 percent in the US.

If we focus only on respondents with an opinion, the data gets even more interesting: Of those with an opinion, 57 percent agree in Australia, 70 percent agree in the US, and 77 percent agree in the UK. 

When we asked about keeping sociopolitical discussions out of social media channels like LinkedIn, Medium, and Twitter, 57 percent of US respondents agreed versus 47 percent in the UK and only 39 percent in Australia. 

As company leaders, the key is to ensure that political discourse in our workplaces remains healthy and civil. Let’s dive into what it takes to build a company policy that encourages open dialogue and promotes a healthy company culture that celebrates diversity in all its forms.

Talking politics is a recipe for tension

Like politics at the family dinner table, voicing personal opinions at work can get heated. You never know who you might offend. Tension can build between teammates, employees and managers, and companies and customers.

It can cause people to avoid or even confront each other. Things can get uncomfortable. But, the most pressing issue here is that politically heated conversations can harm people’s ability and willingness to work cooperatively and effectively.

According to the HiBob data mentioned earlier, 52 percent of US respondents said that sharing their political opinions with colleagues could harm their relationship with them and negatively affect team productivity. In Australia, 38 percent agreed, and 45 percent agreed in the UK.

Negative sentiment between individuals can destroy a carefully built, healthy company culture if people feel threatened by their co-workers and managers due to political dissonance. At best, this can disrupt productivity and cause people to resign. At worst, it may cause customers to leave.

Can free speech exist in the workplace?

We must understand that a topic that’s “just politics” for one person can be another person’s life situation. People can get emotional, and that’s ok. There’s also no way to prevent these conversations from happening. 

Take, for example, the debates surrounding the ending of Roe v. Wade and abortion; LGBTQ laws; the war in Ukraine; or the importance of celebrating Black History Month, and the criticality of affirmative action laws.

Ignoring the world around us isn’t the answer. Empowering your people to feel comfortable speaking openly at work is the key to fostering a healthy company culture where everyone feels heard and motivated. 

As business leaders in the modern world, it’s imperative that we tackle this issue and build a solid company policy that preserves our values, respects differences of opinion, and celebrates diversity. It comes down to how we approach free speech.

To put it simply: Free speech can exist in the workplace. But free speech does not equal hate speech.

Creating a culture of inclusiveness and tolerance

First and foremost, company leadership must make it clear that while they encourage the free expression of opinions, any conversation involving sensitive topics must be conducted civilly, with empathy, respect, and an open mind. 

Consider bringing in professionals to train management and company leadership in dialogic and active listening. This can help people express differences of opinion without being disrespectful or making others uncomfortable.

Active listening and tolerance must both start at the top. As leaders, we must embody these values: It’s ok to disagree with colleagues and even with the CEO, investors, and management. After all, diversity of thought is fundamental to thinking out of the box and driving the business forward. But, any messages, spoken or written, that promote violence or shaming of others are intolerable.

To ensure everyone understands these values, it is critical to create a code of conduct outlining them and how the work culture reflects them. It’s also essential to make it clear that anyone who doesn’t embody these values may be reprimanded or asked to leave.

Set your values in stone with a company code of conduct

According to the HiBob data, 43 percent of respondents in the US said that a company’s political stance that opposes their own would deter them from accepting an offer to join. In the UK and Australia, 38 and 37 percent of respondents agreed, respectively.

A company’s values are top of mind for today’s professionals and misaligned values can cost companies in talent. Setting your values and company code of conduct down on paper is a great way to showcase to your employees and customers exactly what you stand for and who will make a good culture fit.

When it comes to drafting your code of conduct, use your resources. If you have a culture committee, recruit its members to help.

The aim is to provide guidelines for your people on listening and communicating respectfully.

What should you include in your code of conduct?

Great codes of conduct that support diverse and inclusive cultures of belonging include the following policies: 

• Equal opportunity employment
• Anti-harassment and violence
• Anti-retaliation
• Safety policy for physical and mental health
• Standard operational practices for your business
• Confidentiality
• Disciplinary action and violation reporting
• Whistleblowing
• The option to opt out of discussions that may make certain people uncomfortable

In short, successful codes of conduct emphasize the importance of empathy, listening, and practicing tolerance. 

Company leadership can take a stand

As business leaders in the modern world of work, how we say and write something is just as important as what we say. It requires thought and effort. And while it’s important for us to express our opinions in a way that avoids making people uncomfortable, it’s also important for us to take a stand on important issues and stick up for our values publicly. 

Conversations about political issues can alienate employees and even customers. Outbursts, emotionally-charged arguments, and heated debates can destroy the inclusive and accepting organizational culture you’ve worked so hard to build and maintain. 

Taking a stand as a company is also important in today’s world: It can attract more customers and talent from around the world who feel a sense of camaraderie with your stance. It’s also a way to ensure the people who join your company are the right culture fit and will help nurture and uphold your values as a business.

So, what’s the bottom line? Keep conversations authentic and respectful in the workplace.

Empowering people to voice their opinions at work comfortably is key to propelling a thriving culture of diversity, inclusion, and belonging forward. As leaders in the modern business world, we are role models. It’s our responsibility to do what we say: Support free and balanced speech in the workplace while giving our people the tools and training to keep it civil, calm, and courteous.

The post The importance of keeping sociopolitical conversations authentic and conflict-free at work appeared first on HiBob.

When I founded HiBob seven years ago with my partners, we thought it would be the generation of transformation in the workplace. I wanted to build something big, and I was interested in looking at a market that was big enough to be disrupted. At the time, most players in the industry were legacy platforms designed and built before the current generation was even born. We took an approach that was very different from the legacy players. Instead of building another system of record that processes payslips for employees or time tracking, we devised an innovative approach called a “system of engagement”. 

Our mission was to build a people management platform for everyone in an organization—employees, line managers, C-levels, HR, and finance—to enable them to do their jobs in a modern way. We recognized that the future of work for modern businesses is to put your people first. It’s not just a statement. You have to do what you say.

To succeed in times of plenty and uncertainty, companies need to put their people first. To do this, they need to build a culture that encompasses what I call the three Ts: Trust, Transparency, and Teamwork. These three tenets are essential for building a strong company and retaining your people. Let’s explore these themes along with some real-world examples of how we do what we say at HiBob.

Trust your people

When it comes down to it, everything is based on trust. For instance, you can’t roll out a policy allowing your people to work remotely or hybrid if there’s no trust between your leaders and your people. And forcing your people to come to the office five times a week is like shooting yourself in the foot. This is no longer a valid option. You will find that you won’t be able to retain your best people, and it will be impossible for you to hire the right talent. Job flexibility is not a perk or a nice to have anymore. It’s mandatory. This is the future.

As a CEO or CHRO, you need to set the tone of trust. I can’t control the trust between a manager and an employee in my company, but what I can do is lead by example. It’s a trickle-down effect. You need to show your direct reports that you trust them and expect them to do the same with their direct reports. In this way, you build trust throughout the organization.

Be open and transparent

Transparency goes along with trust. When we have an all-hands meeting at HiBob, I show the same slides and numbers to our 700+ employees that I show to our Board. I trust that our Bobbers will keep them confidential and won’t share them externally. 

At HiBob, we believe that transparency is the key to our success. Every employee can access everything in the business by joining different Slack channels and following the product roadmap pipeline. Everything is available and accessible. I want all our people to understand our mission and who our target customers are—what I call the three Ms: mid-size, modern, and multi-national companies—so that they can be more successful in what they do. 

There’s also a direct correlation between transparency and office politics. If you are transparent as a company, you eliminate the politics, as everything is out in the open. You gain your people’s trust and increase trust between people. 

Put teamwork front and center

The secret to creating a successful company is putting your people first and emphasizing teamwork. Doing this is a journey; you can’t just click a button to make it happen. As a CEO, you must ensure that this is the foundation of your company culture. You must practice it yourself and then give the message to your direct reports, emphasizing the importance of culture and DNA. I’ll give you some examples. 

We’ve learned a few things from the pandemic. Working remotely is doable and can be productive, but the ultimate combination is hybrid. It’s great to have the flexibility to work from home without commuting and spend more time with your family and friends. On the other hand, it’s also important to engage with your peers face-to-face. Teamwork and human interaction are the keys to healthy work relationships and we’ve seen that the vast majority of our 3,000 customers are adopting the hybrid combination of two or three days in the office and the other days flexible. Since the pandemic, we’ve continued to provide a flexible environment for our people. They can choose to work from home, work from the office, or even work from anywhere. If employees want to travel for two months to work from another country and still be productive, they can do it. This also involves trust. We believe that putting your people first involves giving them flexibility and ensuring that your organization supports this way of working.

Teamwork also means seeing what your people need and acting on it. With this in mind, we’ve just launched a new parental leave policy at HiBob. After the arrival of a new baby, we give both parents extra leave to spend time with their new family member. We believe that you need to map out and pay attention to the needs of your people and invest in them, and then you need to communicate your efforts company-wide. If you do it and you 100 percent believe in it, people will get it. As Bob Marley said, “You can fool some people sometimes, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”

Show your people that you value them every day

At the end of the day, everything starts with the fact that we are all human. It doesn’t matter if you are the prime minister, the president, the CEO, or an employee. Everyone deserves respect, and you must pay attention to everyone’s wellbeing. People are your number one asset. You can’t scale, you can’t grow, and you can’t make an impact without your people. You must invest in them, create a great work culture that puts them first and find the right digital platform to manage them. You need to show them that you trust them and be transparent with them. You must also pay attention to teamwork and show your people that you understand their daily challenges. This is the recipe for building a strong and successful company and retaining your people. 

The post How HiBob uses trust, transparency, and teamwork to empower and retain our people appeared first on HiBob.

Today, however, while other sectors are slowing down, HR tech is growing. In fact, the need for flexible HR platforms to manage people in times of uncertainty and change has become even more critical to business success. This has led to a boom in growth for the sector, and we’re right in the middle of an imperfect, perfect storm.

With that in mind, I’m beyond proud to announce HiBob’s latest round of funding—$150M—bringing our total funding to $424M. This round was led by General Atlantic (GA) and Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) with participation from existing investors and came as an investment opportunity to double down in a huge market that continues to grow. 

The latest round of funding shows confidence in our capable and committed teams that continue to execute even in such precarious times. I’m incredibly proud of our Bobbers, who show up as themselves daily and contribute to building an exceptional product and company. It goes without saying, but I’m also thankful to all of our customers, partners, and investors for trusting us and believing in our vision for HR tech.

Flexibility is HR’s superpower

Modern businesses that value their talent know that an HR platform is not simply about headcount growth. It’s also about people management during periods of slowdown, providing an exceptional employee experience, and keeping all employees (no matter their role) engaged. In order to do that and be prepared to hit the ground running when hiring resumes, HR needs one major thing: flexibility. Flexibility in their programs and policies, flexibility in their retention practices, and flexibility in their HR tech.

We’ve seen this repeatedly as our customers seek to do HR the way that’s best for their organization—not the way traditional HR tech forces them to do it. Bob is specifically suited for this need. Global at its core, Bob’s configurability means HR can set up the processes they need, get the data and insights they need, and provide their people with an amazing UI/UX that fosters connection and camaraderie. 

Innovation through the eyes of our customers

The impact of a well-planned people-centric approach to employee experience is the new benefit people want. The competition for talent and retention is fierce, but HR professionals and leaders are stepping up to the challenge in spectacular ways.  

Acknowledging that people are at the heart of business success, HR professionals are asking how they can help create an engaging, high-performance culture that drives the whole business forward. It is no longer about where and when people work but about creating a consistently positive environment conducive to productivity and longevity. That means managing all types of work, flexible staffing models, and introducing all types of incentives that drive long-term engagement.  It also means injecting a little fun into the workplace.  

The next chapter in HiBob history

In October 2021, when I announced the last funding round, we were a company of  300 Bobbers with just over 1,500 customers. Today, less than a year later, we have 650 Bobbers and more than 2,500 customers. We have opened an office in Berlin to serve the DACH region, successfully expanded into new office spaces in London and New York, and have plans to continue expanding our reach in the US and Europe before the end of the year.  

We will use this additional capital to drive global expansion and innovation around the Bob offering. We will continue listening to our customers who trust us to deliver the digital tools for their business success. I’m incredibly excited for you to see how this next wave of growth will further support your goals and needs. 

To our Bobbers around the globe who take our platform and our culture to the next level, I want to say I am proud of each one of you. Let’s continue to “bring me, win as we” while building the exceptional. 

The post Winning as we: HiBob raises an additional $150M in latest funding round appeared first on HiBob.

I’m incredibly proud to announce that we’ve raised $150 million in Series C funding. This round was led by General Atlantic, with participation from existing investors, including Bessemer Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, Eight Roads, Perpetual Investors, Entrée Capital, and Israel Growth Partners, all of whom believe in our vision to lead our market category. With Round C, HiBob has achieved a total of $274 million in capital raised since we started just six years ago. 

Since then, we’ve grown from a simple idea into a leading global HR tech company with over 1,500 customers and 300 employees. We have offices worldwide: in London, New York, San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Sydney, and Amsterdam. Soon, we’ll open others in Germany and Spain. HiBob’s Series C funding round marks a true milestone, and we will use the capital to drive our global expansion and product innovation even further as we enter the next phase of our journey.

Great news for our customers: we’ll invest more in supporting your growth

As we enter this new chapter, we want to point out that some things never change. Just like always, when it comes to our customers, we love you, we care about you, we learn from you, and we know we couldn’t have come this far without your trust. I’d like to thank all of you for trusting us—from those of you who have been with us from day one to those who just joined us this week.

As an HR tech platform, we’re dedicated to keeping our culture people-focused and best serving your needs. We love hearing feedback from our customers and implementing it in the product. It’s why I’ve made speaking with customers a top priority and just completed 30 meetings with 30 customers in 30 days. As HiBob enters this new phase in our growth, we’ll continue to invest in you and provide the functionality and support you need as you grow your business. 

We’ll exceed the needs of the market

For HR leaders to make informed decisions and successfully help their businesses grow, they need data. To collect that data, they need a platform employees want to engage with regularly. For us, creating Bob meant redefining a user experience that customers care about by creating a modern platform that supports the modern employee journey, from hire to retire.

To meet these needs, we modeled Bob’s UX on popular consumer apps and built a beautiful UI that encourages employees to engage in activities you can easily and securely track. Bob includes a suite of tools designed to support the employee experience and the shift to remote and hybrid work models—all while enabling smooth and efficient HR practices across sites around the world. 

But, we were only able to get to this point with the right combination of luck, foresight, and people. 

When we founded HiBob:

1. We predicted that B2B industries would experience a shift into more remote, people-centric, and hybrid work models, sparking the evolution of the HR role into critical stakeholders in business success. 
2. We were one of the first HR tech companies to build a platform that can truly be classified as a “system of engagement” for the modern work experience.
3. We identified an underserved market segment and dubbed it “The 3 Ms”: Modern; Multi-national; and fast-growing, Mid-sized businesses.
4. We understood the importance of the “employee experience” and its criticality to business success. 

We had no way of knowing that this shift would happen so fast and drastically, that mid-sized businesses would experience explosive growth, or how the employee experience would become a top priority over the last two years. The stars aligned and gave us an incredible competitive advantage. 

Our vision for the future

Bob was a mature product before the world’s big shift into remote and hybrid work. As a result, our Go-to-Market strategy was ready very early on in our journey. This readiness was vital to accelerating our growth and widespread adoption by global companies. It has earned us more funding and the ability to develop Bob into an even greater product.

The future of work is being redefined as we speak. It’s remote, hybrid, diverse, and flexible. Our vision is that the Bob platform will be the last HR tech suite mid-sized companies will ever need to purchase. We will continue listening to our customers to give them exactly what they need to propel their businesses forward. 

With this recent funding, HiBob’s plan is to invest significantly in building tools to fit organizations’ evolving needs and to acquire exceptional technologies to complement our offering, while also expanding our global presence to reach companies and their dispersed teams worldwide. 

This is a huge market worth tens of billions of dollars, and HiBob is just beginning to penetrate it. As of today, we have more than 1,500 customers and a very low churn rate. We’ve grown our YoY ARR by 160% and achieved 137% NDR. In 2022, we project to grow our ARR by 130%, bringing us to five consecutive years of triple-digit YoY growth. To achieve these goals, we need to hunker down over the next few quarters and focus on:

• Putting our customers first
• Expanding globally 
• Continuing to invest in our current line of products 
• Making strategic acquisitions to complement our product offering
• Cultivating positive cultures for all people, whether dispersed, fully remote, or hybrid 
• Enjoying what we do as individuals and as a company

Maintaining this focus will help us solidify our competitive advantage against other players in the industry and keep the bar set high.  

HiBob is here for the long term

Setting the competitive bar high starts with investing in our people–from C-level and VP staff to managers and individual contributors. We’re focused on retaining our talent, developing and nurturing a healthy work culture, and scaling our organizational capabilities to support future growth. I’m thankful to each of our 300 employees and all those who have ever been a part of HiBob. We would never have gotten to where we are today without you.

The post HiBob did it again: $150MM raised in Series C funding round appeared first on HiBob.

With so many changes in the last year to the way we work—the overnight shift to remote work, fluctuating health regulations, and the more recent move to hybrid work as countries begin re-opening—its safe to say that HR tech has had, and will continue to have, a huge role to play in keeping companies on the right track. 

In his report, Josh talks about how technology vendors are scrambling to meet the new needs of a remote and global workforce. He also covers the move to “work tools”, the need to personalize the employee experience, and how HR tech needs to integrate with other productivity tools such as Slack and Microsoft Teams. All things we believe in deeply at HiBob, and were part of our vision before Bob was founded.

In fact, when we surveyed 2000 full-time workers across the US and UK about their tech stack for working from home we found that, during the height of the pandemic, companies who added HR tech to their remote tech stack saw higher job satisfaction and a more productive work from home experience. 

Putting employee and manager experience front and center

When we look at modern, mid-size, and global companies and think about the employee experience, we’re talking about every interaction an employee has with your business’s HR function—from pre-boarding to offboarding (and everything in between). However, this isn’t limited to standard HR tasks like time and attendance, payroll, and feedback. While these core tasks are vitally important, we also think about culture, inclusion, productivity, and wellbeing.  

This means that employees and managers (along with HR) have access to the information and documents they need. It means that in a remote/hybrid work environment where employees work across the globe, either on-site or elsewhere, they get a sense of belonging, their experience feels local and personalized. Finally, this means meeting employees where and how they work while also fostering collaboration, recognition, and culture.  

Manage (and empower) people

HR tech tools allow HR and managers to communicate easily with employees and track important data from afar. For example, whereas HR or managers may have once sat in-person to go over important documents during the onboarding process, HR tech allows HR, managers, and employees to access and complete all of their important documents in a single, secure platform. Especially in a hybrid and global work world, this functionality is essential for onboarding.  

Not only that, but these documents then live in the platform indefinitely, giving everyone the power to access them whenever they have questions. 

You can apply this thought process to every part of the employee experience and any data an HR person, manager, or employee may want. As Josh points out in his report, Bob “is designed as a management platform first and HR platform second. Its entire design is focused on what information managers, employees, and executives need.” 

Think global, act local

Virtual, global, and remote teams are no longer unique—they are an essential part of almost every growing business. While companies employing HR leaders may already be working with HR systems supporting multiple sites, that’s not necessarily true for smaller organizations. The lack of flexibility and personalization that are unfortunate hallmarks of traditional HR solutions make it nearly impossible for growing companies to support multiple sites—and multiple cultures.

In his report, Josh says that when considering an HR tech tool, it’s important to ask, “is it flexible enough to accommodate GDPR and employment contracts in Europe, rapid changes in pay and work practices in Asia, local small business needs in India, and the many other regulatory issues around the world?” The new, globalized world of work needs tools that transcend borders. It needs multi-time-zone calendars, workflows built to engage remote workers, customizable communications, and practices that adhere to localized laws and regulations. Without this functionality, not only is your HR team slowed down but the employee experience takes a major hit in making employees feel welcome and included. 

Foster culture and collaboration

Today, when mental wellbeing and wellness at work is front and center, higher job satisfaction is a testament to better HR work, company communication, and strong company culture. Whereas you might have once learned about a colleague’s promotion standing around in the office kitchen, it’s now the responsibility of HR and managers to communicate to employees working remotely around the world. But how can you do this while meeting employees where they spend the majority of their time? 

HR tech tools need to integrate with other tools in the tech stack, like Slack and Microsoft Teams, so that employees can be looped in on exciting and important announcements and react in real time (no matter what timezone they’re in). Josh points this out in his report, saying, “These conversational interfaces are the most natural ways to communicate now (even email feels more like a real-time system), so we must make sure all our HR-related applications are designed to operate in the flow of work.”

The evolution of HR tech

As we all continue to maneuver the pandemic and its impact on the way we work, two things are clear: hybrid work is here to stay, and HR tech must evolve to support it. I believe to do so, HR must invest in modern tech tools that support their interests as well as the needs of employees. Companies who do so will see employees who feel seen, included, and cared for, which can only benefit your bottom line.

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We’re excited to announce our $70 million Series B round led by investors SEEK and IGP, bringing us to a total of $124 million raised after a $54 million Series A. We see this investment as a signal not only of our potential as a company but of the importance of the HR function in companies and HR tech as a platform for HR leaders.

Revolutionizing HR using Bob

HiBob’s mission ever since we started (in late 2015) is to modernize HR tech. Bob, our platform, is a mission-critical people management platform built for the way people work today.

We provide access to data insights, empower managers to work more closely with their people, and scale culture across sites (and now, homes). Our intuitive data-driven platform was built for the way people work today: globally, remotely, and collaboratively. Bob was designed to be an HR tech tool that’s enjoyable to use for HR teams, managers, and employees. We believe that the HR tools of the future will not resemble the clunky systems of the past. 

We support modern, fast-growing, industry-defining companies who want to develop their people at the same speed as their product by meeting them in their flow of work, easing adoption with countless integrations and shortcuts, and providing value at every step. We make data accessible and easy to understand, making it easy to get buy-in and prove big wins.

Since we launched Bob, we have achieved amazing growth and adoption and become the people management platform of choice for nearly 1,000 modern, midsize and multinational companies, who understand that a powerful, agile HR tech suite is mission critical and a key driver of organizational success.  Fast-growing companies worldwide, such as Monzo, Cazoo, Happy Socks, Fiverr and VaynerMedia, rely on Bob to help HR leaders and teams, C-suite executives, and managers connect, engage, develop, and retain top talent. 

What makes Bob so unique and exciting?

Bob is a system of engagement for the company, and not the old school system of record. The platform was designed with amazing UI and UX, so it’s beautiful, simple, easy to use, and intuitive. It allows HR leaders to manage modern organizations in their flow of work.

Bob is easy to implement and adopt by HR teams, managers, and employees. HR can streamline core HR processes, talent, time management, and compensation management.

Most importantly Bob helps HR drive social engagement, and collaboration through a robust culture feature set and various integration capabilities, all in one platform suite.

The COVID-19 pandemic: HR’s moment of truth

These five years of work culminated in an unexpected moment of HR need: COVID-19. In the aftermath of those difficult first few months—and in anticipation of the unpredictable months ahead of us—we need to be able to rely on HR leadership to define our “new normal.” The market in 2020 has proven that HR tech tools are critical to today’s work tech stack. 

HiBob’s platform, Bob, was built to help companies thrive through these unforeseen challenges. In working with the world’s most modern, forward-thinking companies, the ideas of remote work, remote onboarding, and engaging top talent digitally were becoming the normal way of work on our platform. The pandemic just accelerated these trends.

According to a study conducted by Josh Bersin and IBM, seven out of ten HR leaders say the field is ready for transformation. Talent executives are planning to double skills training for HR in the next two years. The new world of HR is holistic, from process management to performance management, from talent management to compensation management from benefits to wellbeing.

IBM writes, “According to emerging evidence, [skilled HR leadership] is a critical need, not optional. Our monthly COVID-19 consumer surveys have shown that employees now expect their employers to take an active role in supporting their physical and emotional health, in addition to the skills they need to work in new ways. At the same time, business leaders call out organizational complexity, inadequate skills, and employee burnout as their biggest hurdles to progress.”

The report supports what we already know: companies succeed when their people succeed, and people succeed when HR succeeds. Strong companies need equally strong HR leadership, HR teams, HR professionals, and the tools that support them.

Powerful HR will lead the future of work

We believe in the power of HR; of culture; of engagement, collaboration, and communication. We know the value of diverse and inclusive teams, high retention, and thoughtful recruitment. We know that to build a sustainable future for our organizations, we need to invest in skilled HR leadership to light the way.

The future of work is remote, distributed, and hybrid. The future of work is compassionate, goal-oriented, and people-first. The future of work is being determined every day by talented HR leaders across the world. We’re proud to be pioneering that revolution. Bob is one of few products in the market designed for the way people work today: globally, remotely, and collaboratively. 

This $70 million investment isn’t just for us at HiBob—it’s for HR as an industry. Now is the time to invest in HR as a discipline and a function. In HR tech tools and education. In growing and specializing our teams, elevating individual voices, and valuing HR contributions.

This is a great opportunity to thank our 1,000 customers for trusting Bob. Thank you for your feedback, your out-of-the-box ideas, and your thought leadership. Thank you for helping us build the best people management platform to support your growth.

Welcome to the future of HR. We’re proud to build it with you.

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HiBob was founded in late 2015 with a mission to create the first HR platform built for the workplace of the future. This revolution required a deep understanding of today’s most valuable employees: those who seek daily engagement, feedback, and meaning; they work in tribes and seek opportunities for growth. They demand personalization with a soul. In parallel, HR needs to be data-driven and democratized, creating consumer-friendly new tools for attracting, retaining and growing valuable employees – and making them available more broadly across the organization.

We created our platform Bob for that bright, shiny – and sometimes scary – new world of work. The rapid emergence of the workplace of the future is led by a new generation of digital natives that will dominate the workforce global economy in the coming years. This generation wants to work for fast-growing companies doing meaningful things, disrupting the norm, challenging authority and through that, challenging their people to grow and develop in a nurturing culture.

When we looked around, we realized that no HR tools in the market were created with this generation and these attributes front and center. Today’s workforce is made up of people that want to grow as individuals and thrive in teams, as part of a larger nurturing culture. We enable individuals to use our platform to connect around shared interests and passions because we recognize that people are more than their job descriptions or payroll record. HiBob is flipping traditional employee, manager, and HR roles on their head with a platform built for everyone.

We’re already helping hundreds of businesses globally including Monzo, Etoro, Happy Socks, Fiverr and Receipt Bank. We owe much of our success to our loyal customers and our valuable partners and integrations including Slack, Workable, GreenHouse, TeamTailor, Perkbox, Aviva, Canada Life, and UNUM.

We know that it’s a crowded market out there. The HR tech industry is growing fast and is expected to reach $22.5bn by 2022. The proliferation of this technology is not just down to a need for employees and HR teams to better navigate admin tasks like payroll processes, performance reviews and holiday requests. Rather, organizations are realizing that their people are more than just numbers, resource or talent – management decisions that affect them should be holistic, data-driven and personalized to drive real business results.

“There are about 1,400 HR tech vendors in the market,” said Josh Bersin, one of the global HR thought leaders. According to him “One of the more innovative new core HCM platforms is a product called Bob, from a fast-growing company called HiBob. Bob is designed as a management platform first and HR platform second, so its entire design is focused on what information managers, employees, and executives need.”

Modern business growth and success relies on people, so it makes sense that companies are more willing to invest in HR technology and innovation than ever before. As a fast-growing company ourselves, we keenly understand the needs of mid-sized high growth companies and the specific challenges they face when attracting and retaining the best talent. This additional funding fuels our momentum to keep building the HR solution needed for the workplace of the future.

Join the HRevolution with us!

As seen in VentureBeat, HR Technologist, Reuters, New York Times 

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