It can be intimidating for new employees to adjust to new surroundings. From learning new tech to finding the bathrooms, those first few days can feel like visiting a foreign country.
At Workiva, every employee is paired with what they call a “First Friend” — someone to show them the ropes and ease the transition. We spoke with Workiva team members about First Friends, the self-driven culture and what it means to partner with a “HAMbassador.”
FOUNDED: 2008.
EMPLOYEES: 124 (Colorado); 1,250 (globally).
HUMAN ASSET MANAGEMENT: A flat, self-driven approach to HR. At Workiva, it's led by teammates — people who have more insight into culture than a traditional HR department would.
WHAT THEY DO: The Wdesk cloud platform helps businesses reduce risk and save time by creating a single source of data across departments and collaborators for business processes like audit management, SEC reporting, performance reporting, financial planning and more.
WHERE THEY DO IT: In 15 global offices, including Boulder and Denver.
COME TOGETHER: The company has a Veterans’ Affinity Group, People of Color Affinity Group, Parenting Affinity Group, a Women In Tech Affinity Group and a Different Identities, Orientation and Allies Affinity Group.
DOING WELL, DOING GOOD: A “Health is Wealth” initiative partners with local gyms to provide employee-discounts to encourage healthy living; the “Part of Our Community” program supports employees’ participation in community service, like through paid time off for volunteering.
Katy Grein, Team Manager of Customer Success
Grein works with customer success managers to develop customer relationships and satisfaction. They are the frontline support for customers and work to ensure the platform fits their needs.
BEYOND WORK: Grein enjoys the outdoors and exploring Colorado.
I understand Workiva doesn’t have traditional HR, but instead “human asset management.” What does that mean at Workiva? How does it play out?
Katy: The name, “human asset management,” conveys a more positive feeling than human resources does. Every office has one or more HAMbassadors, and they are a pretty large group. There is representation from every department. They work with the HAM Operations team on initiatives across the company, from talent acquisition and compensation to employee success and learning and development. The HAM team encourages employees to share ideas or suggestions with their HAMbassadors, so you always feel like your thoughts and opinions are heard.
How have you benefited from that program?
Katy: One of the most effective ways a company can show employee appreciation is by maintaining a healthy work/life balance and updating policies based on employee feedback. For example, our HAM Operations team recently implemented a new paid time off structure after gathering employee feedback and recommendations from our HAM Advisory Group.
At my previous job, I was under-appreciated, and it was a corporate environment. Workiva is the opposite.”
How does Workiva’s culture differ from previous places you’ve worked?
Katy: At my previous job, I was under-appreciated, and it was a corporate environment. Workiva is the opposite. The company finds ways to thank its employees, and each department shows its appreciation to those who go above and beyond.
Most people in our leadership team don’t have offices, and if they do, the door is always open. Workiva is always looking for ways to improve. I’ve never met a company that gathers feedback as often as we do.
Shane Sawyer, Development Manager, Tech Lead
Sawyer’s team works on the front end of the Wdesk platform, which allows customers to file their financial reports with the SEC.
BEYOND WORK: Sawyer renovates old cars.
What makes Workiva’s culture unique?
Shane: We are empowered. A lot of places like to say their developers are empowered, but at Workiva, it’s a reality. We help make decisions on a daily, weekly and quarterly basis regarding what we work on and how we’re going to do it. We even set our own commitments. They have to be realistic and line up with company and customer goals, but we have a lot of say in deciding how and what has to be done and by when.
What role does Workiva’s human asset management play in the office?
Shane: There’s no stigma around human asset management like there is with a traditional human resources department. Human asset management is everywhere. They are your teammates, office colleagues and friends. HAM Advisors and HAMbassadors are very accessible and have better insight into our culture than a traditional human resources person sitting in headquarters.
There’s no stigma around human asset management like there is with a traditional human resources department.”
What does the First Friend program involve? How did it help you?
Shane: Your First Friend shows you the ropes. They are your guide and Workiva encyclopedia. They show you the ins and outs and share the domain knowledge that would take months or years to gain. In the four years I’ve been at Workiva, I can say that just about everyone I’ve set up with a First Friend has remained extremely close to that person.
I came into Workiva as a senior engineer working solely on PCs my entire career, but Workiva developers use Macs. My First Friend was patient enough to work with me while I re-learned how to use a computer.
Dan Collins, Senior Manager of Professional Services
Collins works with customers and the services department to deliver customer satisfaction. His team provides technical accounting services to customers who need assistance meeting SEC requirements.
BEYOND WORK: Collins spends time with his children recreating goal celebrations from the English Premier League.
Tell us about Workiva’s culture.
Dan: We like to celebrate our successes at Workiva. During my first annual report busy season, we had a big “Thank You” bash on the last SEC deadline day for all of us who worked long hours to meet our customers’ needs. We set up games such as a Razor scooter relay race through the office, piñata smashing and Mario Kart and Ping-Pong tournaments, along with amazing food.
How does Workiva’s culture differ from previous places you’ve worked?
Dan: Workiva provides flexibility and trust in its employees, which enable us to be successful. It is amazing to know that I can make my son’s soccer game in the afternoon and complete my work later that evening. This enables me to be the father and husband I want to be, while also feeling happier about the work I do. I’ve never felt this kind of guilt-free support.
I can make my son’s soccer game in the afternoon and complete my work later that evening. This enables me to be the father and husband I want to be.”
What are the challenges and benefits of working with the global office?
Dan: Our professional services team is expansive and growing. I frequently have the opportunity to visit many of our office locations to be able to meet new hires, as well as hear their ideas and needs. We set up town halls to foster open dialogue and conversations at each location to generate ideas and learn how we can do better as a department and company.
It can be challenging to recruit in new locations, maintain the Workiva culture, manage remotely and make sure each location feels that they are being represented. But those challenges create opportunities to grow, develop new skills, see new places and learn new ideas or different ways of thinking and doing things.
What opportunities for professional development and growth does Workiva provide?
Dan: We value education, continual learning, constant feedback and enabling employees to develop their career. In professional services, we provide our team with continuing professional education opportunities to help offset the costs of maintaining our CPA license, while incorporating topical learning opportunities.
Each of our managers also meet with their team at least twice a year to set personal career and job-related goals and then assess where each person is in accomplishing those goals through honest and direct feedback. Opportunities to move within or across departments are openly posted and available for every employee to see on our online intranet.
Laura Meckley, Software Engineer
Meckley creates new features and improves the company’s product. Her team makes sure customers have an up-to-date web standards compliant application that enables them to collect, manage and report business data.
BEYOND WORK: Meckley hits the slopes on her snowboard; she’s been snowboarding since age 5.
How does Workiva's culture play out in the office?
Laura: Workiva focuses on collaboration. My team frequently does pair programming, has impromptu whiteboarding sessions and discusses implementation with one another. It’s a great environment to learn in because everyone is bouncing ideas off of each other and is open to input. It improves morale because people feel like they have a voice and that they matter to the company.
How did your First Friend help you acclimate to Workiva?
Laura: During my onboarding process, my First Friend went to our Iowa headquarters with me. I was able to easily integrate into the team because I had someone to show me the ropes. After we returned to Denver, we spent the first few weeks pair programming on my first ticket. My onboarding went smoothly and quickly because I had a person who would answer my questions about anything Workiva related or coding related.
You were hired right out of college. What was that like?
Laura: I first heard of Workiva through my university’s career fair. I was sold on Workiva when my now-coworker told me about a customer who was able to see his family during SEC filing season, thanks to the software we provided. My interview process started with a technical phone interview, followed by an in-person interview.
I could tell the people I interviewed with genuinely liked their jobs. I felt like I could have a conversation with them. Workiva drew me in because of the casual work environment, use of more relevant technologies and being a tech-focused company.
Now, even as a junior engineer, I am able to give feedback and input to my team members. I participate in code reviews, sprint planning and code design meetings as much as my other team members. I’ve also worked on features that required me to work with teams outside of our office.
How did the engineering team welcome you to Workiva?
Laura: I was able to start working on tickets with my First Friend almost immediately. The team included me in relevant meetings, invited me out to lunches and introduced me to other teams and people at Workiva. Within my first month, I was hanging out with many of my coworkers outside of work. We often do movie nights, go rock climbing or get drinks together.
