What is the company culture like at GetHarley?

There were so many lovely and talented people within the company

I rarely write reviews, but I feel compelled to warn others considering a role at GetHarley. While the company presents itself as mission-driven and ambitious, the internal reality is far from the polished image. The culture is toxic, marked by micromanagement, lack of psychological safety, and a leadership team that discourages independent thinking. There are no strategies behind any of the numbers, decisions are made with little consultation or logic, If you bring alternative perspectives or challenge the status quo, you risk being sidelined or completely ignored. There is a clear culture of favoritism, and promotions or influence are often based on proximity to leadership rather than merit or performance. Creativity, autonomy, and collaboration are stifled. Talented people either burn out or leave quickly — and many do. Despite the external hype, the internal dysfunction is hard to ignore. I would advise anyone considering a role here to ask tough questions about team turnover, leadership accountability, and decision-making processes during the interview process. This company is not a healthy environment for high performers who value transparency, fairness, or professional growth

- Fast paced environment - Huge opportunities for growth - Flexible with working location and hours - Self starter environment

- Structural changes over the past year have caused a small decline in culture but the company are working hard to rebuild this

Its mainly work from home

There is a triangle for an ideal job: 1. You are well paid 2. You are developing 3. You enjoy what you do GetHarley does not offer any of these. 

Salary is embarrassingly low considering the market average and what is expected of you. It might be understood if this was due to funds being carefully spent. However it’s because it’s more important to spend on outward appearance such as fancy client dinners, gifting and celebrity cameos which apparently is the business priority. They say that they externally benchmark salaries with other top companies which is delusional considering the current gap in pay, both between teams and with the real world. GH is not a place for development or progression because you will be dumped with manual and meaningless tasks with no support or mentorship. There are impossible targets to meet and you are blamed for outcomes that are outside of your scope or control. The only thing you will be developing is severe mental health issues. There is a clear unhappiness within the workforce that has been brought up again and again through various mediums however it’s very apparent that the people team do not care because no action is ever taken to improve, there is no psychological safety in this environment -you are prodded to give honest feedback but then get punished and gaslighted once you say anything as you “chose to be in a start up”. 
As far as start up stages go, for a company that is going into their 6th year, there is no excuse for this level of ineptitude. There is no structure or guideline in place and management do what they like on a case by case basis. A common theme is that leadership put things in place just so that they can say they have them but it’s meaningless as there no action or outcome. People are undervalued and mistreated as most of the workforce are fresh graduates which are perfect for the company to exploit because they do not yet know what a healthy work place is meant to be like. Awful culture of toxic positivity where you are micromanaged, asked to justify every minute taken on a task and pushed to burn out with expectations of working outside of your scope. CEO would proudly say that we are a plane flying with one wing missing and the engine on fire which is somehow meant to be motivating but it just highlights how things are not done properly whilst running on fumes. Some fun incidences during my time: - Manager gave me a task and explicitly said I can’t ask for help. - Manager “promoted” myself and a few others as “leads” and gave us direct reports to manage but then back tracked when it came to end of year reviews. - Manager blamed me for my project not progressing when it was deemed as not a priority for engineering as if I had any say in that. - Must be a coincidence that senior and VP level people leave like dominoes - Team lead pressured a colleague to contact me whilst I was on holiday because boundaries are not respected. 

 I urge anyone looking at this company to take previous posts seriously, it is clear that these reviews are not one off which is evident by the amount of people leaving monthly and the average tenure being less than a year. If you want to suffer or tank your career prospects consider applying, if you value your wellbeing please move on.

The company has grown very quickly which creates lots of opportunities to learn, stretch and take on meaningful responsibility early. If you’re motivated by ownership and impact, there’s plenty of room to grow here. The leadership team is approachable and receptive to feedback. Following a recent restructure, there’s been a noticeable step change in transparency and communication, which has helped rebuild clarity and trust. Regular weekly updates and clearer leadership messaging have made it easier to understand priorities and direction, particularly after a period of uncertainty. The culture remains collaborative, with supportive teammates who are willing to step in and help when things are moving fast.

The recent restructure had a real impact on morale and created uncertainty across the business. While the changes were positioned as necessary, they were difficult and understandably unsettling for many people. As a fast-scaling company, priorities have shifted at times and some processes are still evolving. The pace is fast and won’t be for everyone - it’s best suited to people who enjoy a dynamic environment and can adapt as things change.

- No two days are the same with constant last-minute changes and shifting priorities, the role stays dynamic and keeps you on your toes. - Lots of learning and growth through taking on diverse responsibilities, gain hands-on experience quickly, and build a well-rounded skill set. - Great team members

- The culture is fast-paced and intense, which is typical of startup environments—some people thrive in it, while others may find it challenging or overwhelming.

None to be totally honest

The whole aim is to increase revenue no matter what. Account managers are driven hard to hit targets at whatever cost. Very little thought is given to improving processes and scalability. In fact, you are made to feel like the problem for pointing them out. I have worked at a few hyper growth companies of a similar size and been successful and valued whilst here I was seen to be a problem and that I wasn't a good fit. A lot of people there don't actually care. There's no company culture. Barely anyone goes into the office. During my time there were no socials or company benefits I can recall. I honestly had a terrible time here that led to me having to leave without having anything lined up for the sake of my mental health. During my notice period, I saw my job with the same title advertised at a much higher salary. When I asked about it, I was told that it was to try and get more applicants but they wouldn't get that salary. Complete dishonesty to me or to whoever was applying and would potentially end up working there. They also didn't bother to do an exit interview with me. Then when I left, they underpaid me. I had to wait a month until I got all that I was owed after chasing them up and them getting my pay wrong twice

It is rare that the 'joyful' ethos is actually created and cultivated in a company, yet alone a start up, but GetHarely has exactly that. GetHarley fosters a culture of improvement and encouragement. They put honour, integrity and a joyful work environment at the heart of what they do. GetHarley is an exciting and interesting place to work with constant scope for learning new skills and problem solving. The people and culture of the work place was my favourite part of this company. My colleagues were genuine, kind, and respectful. They went above and beyond to care for my wellbeing and maximise my potential. Work parties and a great communal working space in Central London fostered an environment of Friendship across the company. Some may be sceptical of such a glowing review but it is simply a pleasure to share what an exceptional work place GetHarley is.

My only con is that I couldn't stay longer at GetHarley.

Remote, good social budget, nice office

Toxic culture, low pay, long hours

Somehow manages to find and employ some special people, so was great for meeting some new friends (who have also now all left because they are decent people with morals, who won’t tolerate the manipulative bullying that GH thrives on)

I write this with the hopes that future potential employees will read the reviews on Glassdoor and take them seriously. The negative ones written on here are sadly accurate and positive ones are usually where the CEO has messaged employees asking to post positive ones to try and counteract. I just hope that people looking for their next opportunity and are excited at the prospect of joining this company think twice or at least question what is being done to rectify the issues before joining. CEO thinks it is acceptable to consistently comment on character and personality when criticising or commending you rather than skills and output within the workplace. One memorable experience was a ‘strategy’ day in which the sales team were seated around a table and the CEO went around commenting on the flaws of employees that were potentially hindering their sales abilities and asked the team to also share their personal opinions on each individual one by one. Just the thing to get your team feeling supported and motivated! If your role carries a target just know it will be very difficult to achieve 100% or above. They will dangle all the carrots in front of you that will make it feel as though they’re being generous but you will rarely take home commission. Leadership team know exactly how to manipulate their teams. Meaning, they will make it seem as though you have the space to contribute ideas and feedback but will never implement and will instead create resentment towards you if they take what you are saying as negative. Best advice here is to just befriend leadership team and never challenge anything. Thanks to the favouritism that drives the company culture this should mean you’re okay. If you can stand to go thru life without morals and integrity that is. Do not expect any real support for if you are experiencing burnout, down on your numbers or finding something challenging. It may be met with understanding initially but this vulnerability will be used against you later down the line when they want to create an unpleasant narrative about you. Be prepared to be put on the spot like a little puppet, CEO/leadership team take joy in singling people out and enforcing role play of unrealistic scenarios. I think they insist on doing this to tick the boxes of being a startup/unicorn/silicone valley company with no real considerations of how it tangibly improves the day to day performance of their teams. Expect messages and calls to your personal number outside of working hours with no heads up. Boundaries don’t exist at GH despite feedback to ‘HR’ team. CEO wants to be ‘friends’ with everyone. This is only so she has more leverage on you to manipulate you later down the line. CEO has no prior experience in running companies so really has no idea what is appropriate behaviour and where the boundaries are. For a company that is 6 years old and has around 90-100 employees you’d expect a pretty substantial HR function. Sadly there is currently 0 HR as alluded to earlier. If you genuinely wanted to discuss something confidential or ask for help from HR there is no one employed to deal with this specifically. They did hire someone to do this but from what I was told they were fired shortly after sharing honest opinions about concerns around the culture at GH 😔 Lastly and most importantly, there is one employee in particular who I strongly advise to watch out for. This person has inconceivably been put in charge of onboarding all new joiners (even those in a team they do not manage). This is worrying for multiple reasons. Has little experience managing people. As someone who is responsible for the success of others is innately jealous and doesn’t like to see other’s successes, will make it seem like they do but it’s all in favour of how they appear to CEO. Is a bully (picks on new joiners for being slow to pick things up, sends passive aggressive messages, brings a different personality to work each day making it impossible to feel at ease around them etc). This has been fed-back to CEO multiple times with nothing having been done about it, which tells you everything you need to know. The fact that someone like this is trusted in a position of responsibility and leadership of what could be such a great company is genuinely really sad. So many incredible people could be doing the job that they’re doing but instead greed and manipulation have led to their success at GH. Whilst they are at this company, it will struggle to be a success because ultimately a great company needs great people, and this individual is sadly driving the best ones out.

It is rare that the 'joyful' ethos is actually created and cultivated in a company, yet alone a start up, but GetHarely has exactly that. GetHarley fosters a culture of improvement and encouragement. They put honour, integrity and a joyful work environment at the heart of what they do. GetHarley is an exciting and interesting place to work with constant scope for learning new skills and problem solving. The people and culture of the work place was my favourite part of this company. My colleagues were genuine, kind, and respectful. They went above and beyond to care for my wellbeing and maximise my potential. Work parties and a great communal working space in Central London fostered an environment of Friendship across the company. Some may be sceptical of such a glowing review but it is simply a pleasure to share what an exceptional work place GetHarley is.

My only con is that I couldn't stay longer at GetHarley.