Today we listened to a speaker from DocuSign to teach us all about their multi-national business approach, workplace culture, and success of the company. DocuSign is an electronic signature technology that allows individuals and organizations to sign, send, and manage binding documents securely and efficiently from anywhere, at any time, using any device. DocuSign is something I use frequently in the United States so I was very interesting about the inner-workings of the organization, and the speaker provided me with all of the information I wanted to hear.
But quickly before we met with DocuSign we went back to the Docklands with Dr. Darren Kelly again who continued to talk about the culture in the Irish workforce and Schools. Darren was a professor whose teaching style is very different from what I am used to in the United States, to emulate the workplace he never gave instructions for any of his assignments and you just need to figure it out. When you get a new job in Ireland you are supposed to show up to work and just figure it out, there will not be a syllabus to walk you through every step. Dr. Kelly made analogies to cooking with a formula, and how the greatest chefs do not need the formula in order to obtain the “A+”. I believe this is how the work culture should be global because going through the motions will not develop your personal branding and skillset.
DocuSign visit greatly exceeded my expectations, I knew they were responsible for virtual signatures, but they do so much more. There is a lot of unseen work that goes into a company that has goals of full globalization because there are so many adaptations to each countries tax laws, regulations, and work culture. DocuSign’s revenues have been trending upward but have been shrinking in percent growth. Their stock price peaked at $300 per share but has since gone back down $48.64.
The last two days we have visited Google and DocuSign, now I would like to compare and contrast their approaches to their cultures and their approach to multinational business. I am already seeing a trend about the work culture in every site visit. The large emphasis of hiring employees who are self-sufficient and easy to work with at the same time, none of these companies are hiring people based strictly off of academic intelligence. If you create an environment at work that people are excited to go to every day that is how you retain employees and build your business. Each organization did this in a different way… Google’s headquarters was everything an employee could have dreamed of they had a swimming pool, exercise classes, free food, a bank, bedrooms, and so much more. Not every company will have the money have the funds for this, and DocuSign approaches the same goal differently. Our speaker put a large emphasis on how DocuSign is the most enjoyable work environment he has ever been a part of and during his interview process they told him he will not find a co-worker that is hard to work with, and it was true.
Google and DocuSign both have contrasting approaches to multi-national business, mostly because of who their respective competitors are. Google is competing with renowned companies such as Microsoft and Apple while DocuSign’s largest competitor is paper. It seems such that DocuSign knows that due time organizations will switch to electronic signatures because how logistical it is, and there is not a close competitor for DocuSign in this market. Meanwhile, Google has an extremely competitive global market. but their team is extremely diversified and their headquarters speaks almost every language allowing them to work extremely efficiently.
The DocuSign site visit was a wonderful but out speaker’s professional path to get to where he is was very enlightening. He has been very successful for a long time but insisted that you have to take time to reflect on yourself and never get too caught up in your work. When you’re young take time off to travel and think about what will really make you happy. I will not forget my experience today he motivated me for my future.
P.S. the featured photo is Sandycove Beach at Dún Laoghaire Harbour, the water was freezing but we loved it.