Managing 450+ Across Warehouses & Remote Teams w/ Hive’s Charlotte Theiß

Charlotte created dedicated people teams for fulfillment centers versus office workers, recognizing that warehouse employees working shifts have fundamentally different needs than laptop-based remote workers. Each team focuses on environment-specific challenges like shift planning, physical workspace needs, and different motivation drivers. This specialization allows for targeted approaches while maintaining unified company culture across all locations.

Rather than fighting culture change during growth, Charlotte deliberately evolved Hive's values as the company matured. The value "do more with less" worked for early-stage resource constraints but was replaced with focus on caring, ownership, and development as the company scaled. This intentional value evolution prevents culture from becoming a constraint on growth while maintaining core principles.

Charlotte embedded meritocratic decision-making into all people processes, from performance reviews to daily problem-solving. The best solution wins regardless of hierarchy level, preventing senior-level bias from hampering company progress. This framework creates clear expectations and prevents politics from influencing career progression, resulting in more objective talent decisions.

Charlotte prioritizes demonstrated skills and internal motivation over traditional career progression markers. Candidates without "five main big companies" on their CV can still be perfect fits if they bring needed skills and clear personal motivation. This approach, combined with willingness to hire on potential rather than complete qualification boxes, has uncovered exceptional talent that might be overlooked by credential-focused hiring.

Charlotte built systems supporting dramatic internal career growth, like an intern becoming a talent partner in two years. This requires providing resources, coaching, and environment support for employees to learn new functions from scratch. The key is matching individual "why" with growth opportunities and providing structured learning pathways across different business functions.

After initially giving hiring responsibilities back to managers, Charlotte rebuilt centralized talent acquisition as a two-person team supporting all roles through close hiring manager collaboration. The approach emphasizes understanding exact needs rather than volume candidate delivery, with hiring managers maintaining ownership and responsibility in the process. This creates efficient hiring with strong culture fit.

Charlotte prioritizes bringing people together physically across seven locations, recognizing that in-person meetings create stronger subsequent virtual collaboration. Despite operational needs requiring on-site presence, she builds flexibility for office workers while maintaining the collaborative benefits of physical presence, especially for coaching younger employees and maintaining unified culture.