Toxic leadership and unready product create dysfunction
Pros
I have nothing to add here.
Cons
I came to HiBob with nearly a decade of experience building, managing and implementing payroll, HR and finance products used by millions of people at well-regarded companies. I know what a functional operation looks like. My year working here was, without question, the worst professional experience of my career. I want to be transparent about how I ended up here: I was approached by one of their senior leaders on LinkedIn. I investigated the opportunity reluctantly, and only because of that outreach. The company was presented to me (and to the market broadly) as something it is not. I say this as a warning: be skeptical of how aggressively and convincingly they sell themselves, because the reality does not match the pitch. The Product Simply put, their product is not ready for the US market. It is not out-of-the-box compliant with American regulation - virtually everything requires custom configuration, and some things cannot be configured to a compliant standard at all. I would not trust this system with people, payroll or financial data. The gap between how the product is marketed and what it actually delivers is significant and, frankly, concerning for any customer relying on it. Leadership I have never encountered leadership so simultaneously unqualified and overconfident. There is a pervasive bias toward shipping fast over shipping right, which results in premature launches, frustrated customers, and a cycle of firefighting that never ends. When things go wrong (and they always did) accountability flows downward. Leadership takes credit; individual contributors absorb blame. In my direct experience, I witnessed sexist and misogynistic comments from people in positions of authority above me. I was regularly made to feel as though my expertise was irrelevant, despite having more relevant hands-on experience than those dismissing me. There is a particular cruelty in being told you don’t know what you’re talking about by people who demonstrably know less. It erodes confidence in ways that take time to recover from. Culture The New York office is significantly undersized for its headcount and functions primarily as a sales floor. For anyone on a cross-functional team with colleagues overseas, expect to feel completely isolated (professionally and socially.) The energy skews toward a sales/tech bro dynamic. I did not find it to be a place that rewards intellectual rigor, authenticity, or candor. Who Should Avoid This Company If you are a critical thinker, a high performer, or someone who believes in building things the right way: DO NOT WORK HERE. Speaking up is not valued. It is penalized. You will be talked over, undermined, and made to doubt yourself until you internalize the doubt. That is not a culture. That is a dysfunction.
