Inc’s Best Workplaces of 2021

We started Productiv around 3 years ago with the mission to unlock the power of data to drive productivity at work. We are collectively proud of the culture we have built as a company and the values we stand for, and are honored to be recognized as one of Inc.’s Best Workplaces of 2021. It wasn’t happenstance – our culture is deliberate: it’s defined, nourished, reinforced, celebrated and iterated upon.

What is Productiv’s culture? What is unique about our way of working – the behaviors, beliefs, values and norms that we all accept without thinking about them, and that we aspire to pass along to every new team member who joins us as we scale rapidly? To me, it comes down to three things: How do we relate to others? How do we operate? How do we prioritize? I will define what each of these mean and showcase how our teammates talk about these (all quotes were anonymous employee submissions to the Inc survey).

Sales team member perspective: “Productiv is a wonderful place to work. The leadership team is highly invested in the personal and professional growth of its employees, and it’s a culture of ownership, autonomy, collaboration, outcomes, and planning to win big. I have personally grown an incredible amount in my time here due to the opportunities that the company has given me and the support provided by the leadership team. We’ve built a team of incredible people – everyone here has a high bar of excellence, is highly collaborative, and is outcome-driven – and I love working with each and every one of them.”

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How do we operate? We are outcome-driven.

Building a company is hard – unless we know where we are going, we won’t get there. We are declarative – what’s our plan to win big? We debate and hold each other accountable as we align on OKRs: Are we setting ourselves achievable goals based on what we know or aspirational goals based on what’s the right long-term strategy and what moves the needle?

Having a plan is good but not good enough. Do we take ownership on executing our plans? To us, ownership is about “we” not “I,” i.e. as an owner of an OKR it’s my role to bring a strong bias to action, to collaborate, to drive alignment and prioritization, and to demand excellence of others.

Having a plan to win big and taking ownership are good but delivering results is where the rubber meets the road. We define clear markers of success, are analytical, decisive and data-driven, and are driven by impact.

Engineering team member perspective: “I was hired because I was valued for my prior experience with running my own startup, I was recognized for my potential and valued for my new perspective on ideas, product and even processes; that is very VERY rare for an organization to extend and perceive in a fresh grad. I am surrounded by people who have experience in double digits but that’s never resulted in my opinion being stifled or less valuable – it has always resulted in my ideas and opinions being “yes and-ed” and made better and included and to also teach me by example. As an early stage startup, we NEED to be disruptive and take risks; and I feel fantastic because im allowed to take risk and watch them pay off”

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How do we prioritize? We are customer-first.

Earning customer love is our true north as a company – that ethos has resulted in us being a zero churn company. It’s our guidepost to navigate difficult decisions – do we prioritize product roadmap, a bug or an enhancement request? The answer is simple – understand customer needs deeply, delight customers and that will manifest in growth and social proof through testimonials, case studies etc.

Customer Success team member perspective: “The company has a strong uniformity of vision and team spirit to work together. I trust the company and the Leadership team in particular to continue to lead by example, walk the walk and balance the delicate balance of putting “customer before team before self” while still recognizing valuable personal contributions. It is very refreshing to see a company with a “listen first” culture.”

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How do we relate to others? We invest in mutual success.

We constantly strive to do the right thing. We hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity. We are humble, self-critical and respectful of each other. We are transparent – we share information freely and often – through Employee All Hands, Slack and other mechanisms. 

Above all, we never forget to stay human. We embrace diversity in backgrounds and opinions.  We strive to build a human connection – we like to laugh together, play together, seek fun and camaraderie at work. 

Operations team member perspective: “It’s awesome to be building something greater than myself. I am constantly inspired by the amazing people that I work with, and by the amount of passion they put into their everyday work. Working at Productiv does not just feel like another job, where I’m just a cog in the machine and waiting for 5pm to roll around. I’m incredibly passionate about the work I’m doing, and while the work is definitely hard, I know that I’m contributing to the bigger picture and overall growth.”

We are honored to be named one of Inc.’s Best Workplaces of 2021. Learn more about working at Productiv.