Human Resource Management International Digest

Vibe manager: the most millennial job title ever

Ila Mehrotra Anand, Himani Oberai,
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Ila Mehrotra Anand, Himani Oberai, (2018) "Vibe manager: the most millennial job title ever", Human Resource Management
International Digest, https://doi.org/10.1108/HRMID-03-2018-0044
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 Vibe manager: the most millennial job
title ever
Ila Mehrotra Anand and Himani Oberai

If you want your people to have a better time at work, then the job of the vibe manager is to set a Ila Mehrotra Anand is
positive culture Assistant Professor and
Himani Oberai is Assistant
Vibe at workplace Professor, both at the
Institute of Business
Companies these days are giving due importance to the look and feel of the workplace. The Management, GLA
way the office is designed has been found to have a great impact on productivity, wellness, University, Mathura, India.
Downloaded by INSEAD At 04:25 31 May 2018 (PT)

and engagement levels of employees. Most organizations today, have a well-designed

office space, thereby helping to create an environment conducive to the overall productivity
of the employees.
Businesses have become increasingly concerned about creating “good vibes” in the
workplace. This would lead to an increase in productivity. For this purpose, they are looking
for managers who can create those vibes within the office.

Vibe managers
Companies are looking for people who are well connected, who think out of the box, and
have their finger on the pulse of the fast-changing lifestyle and industry trends. Throwing
parties, designing the office, and organizing outings and lavish dinners are all part of the
job description of a vibe manager. They need to find the best of the venues, menus, and
places to connect potential clients to employees. They are expected to keep themselves up
to date with the latest changes in the lifestyle and industry and adopt the same.
Such trendy arrangements help in ensuring that employees enjoy themselves at work, which
in turn can do wonders for their satisfaction levels. Millennials today are looking for
employees who are cool and can match up their lifestyle.

Case of Bateman Company

It was for the first time in the year 2014, Bateman Company in San Francisco put up a
recruitment announcement for “Talent and Vibe Manager”. The person’s responsibility
would be to help recruit “rock star candidates” and also come up with some trendy ideas for
office activities. “You need to be plugged in enough to find us the right venues, connected
to the right people at the right hotels and basically able to leverage the very best of what
Brooklyn and San Francisco have to offer,” CEO and founder of Bateman Group, Fred
Bateman, stated in one of his interactions with the media.
“Adding vibe to their responsibilities gives them something more meaningful and gives their
job more respect. It’s not just answering phones or planning parties, they have to be
thoughtful about it,” he added.

DOI 10.1108/HRMID-03-2018-0044 © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 0967-0734 j HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST j
 Some of the job roles included were:
n organizing “agency parties,” “happy hours,” “monthly birthday lunches,” and
“professional lunches”;
n recruiting PR talent through one’s own contacts;
n organizing “healthy office outings;
n researching and coordinating healthy office activities;
n organizing events with some high-profile speakers and celebrities; and
n assisting the marketing team for event set up.

The listing mentioned that the individual should have “Super-human problem-solving abilities,”
“A love for small and fast growth company environment,” “Propensity toward extroversion,”
and “A wicked sense of humor,” which was “not required, but would be appreciated”.
Things have grown since 2014, and now, the Bateman Group has a “Vibe squad” of more
than ten people who handle more entertaining tasks and come up with unique ways to help
the employees and clients to get to know each other and also relax.

Importance of vibe managers

Vibe managers fit in with the trend of making employees comfortable and happy, thereby
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enhancing their productivity. The Dutch entrepreneur Schevernels (2015) wrote in his book,
“The use of vibe managers can ensure that a positive working environment is created, in
which people really feel at home at work and therefore get better into a flow.” This is what
helps in the creation of a dream climate in place of just a good organizational climate. It is
important to attract people who believe in the same dream, and vibe managers just help in
ensuring ways and means to get such people together and bind them.
A vibe manager can also be termed as a “mood manager,” as they are the ones who master
the art of managing the moods of employees by ensuring all ways and means through
which they can feel better and have an impact of their efficiency. Some organizations get
their vibe mangers to organize monthly birthday celebrations, happy hours, agency parties,
and professional development lunches.
These managers are also involved in researching and promoting healthy office activities,
such as lunch time yoga, chair massage, and so on. They assist the operations manager in
ordering office supplies that make employees feel happy and welcome. They even support
the marketing team in organizing branded events, inviting guest speakers, and looking after
the event from start to end.

Benefits to workplace by employing vibe managers: a case of Heroku

Heroku – a cloud application platform company came up with the idea of appointing vibe
managers in their organization. The company’s ideology was “everyone in the company
should love what they do”.
Having vibe and vibe managers has helped this company to go from a mere start-up
incubation to a $212m acquisition by salesforce in 2010. The credit goes to the staff
comprising 100-odd people. At Heroku it is believed that vibe is the new culture and it can
help the company get over tough times to “deliver awesome”.
Sharon Schmedt, the vibe manager at Heroku, in one of her interviews, quoted, “Vibe is
about having fun and not taking yourself too seriously.” That means one need not do things
that he/she has always been doing, rather it calls for all employees to come together, work
and play together. That’s the “spirit” of Heroku.

j HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST j

 Vibe managers basically aim at identifying as to what the employees expect from work and
then draw ideas and provide support to make it happen. Thus vibe is all about enabling
people to become all they can.
It is believed that Heroku couldn’t exist without vibe. It is the only reason that they are able to
operate and be dynamic, flexible, and resilient.
Oren Teich, the CEO at Heroku, also emphasizes on the importance of vibe and vibe
managers. According to him, “We know we have people who are thinking about how we are
being the best. If I had people who weren’t happy at their job they would just chase the
perks go to where they could get more massages or more puppies. I want people in general
to work in jobs that truly make them happy”.
Thus, positivity and productivity in the work environment reflect well to the company’s
clients, customers, vendors, investors, and potential employees.
Hence, to summarize the benefits, vibe and vibe managers help in ensuring a positive work
environment, encourage fun at workplace, which further helps in facilitating better
communication among the employees, and thus helps in developing personalized
relationships. It also encourages properly designed workspace so that the employees can
feel at ease and they can get a family-like environment.
Vibe managers have become an important part of the HR team. This definitely sounds like a
job that millennials dream of but is challenging too. Keeping track of the moods of the
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employees and their expectations is not that easy as it sounds. But, it has bought about
positive results for the organizations by enhancing the productivity of the employees. Hence
it makes sense for companies to invest in vibe managers.

Way forward
Organizations today should realize the importance of vibe and vibe managers. In the case of
India, we can find only a handful of companies focusing on creating vibe in their organizations. Keywords:
The posts of vibe managers have not been given much of importance; however, much of the work Productivity,
Mood manager,
that a vibe manager performs is a part of roles and responsibilities of the HR manager. Future
Positive working
research studies targeting the importance of vibe managers and how it yields to an increase in environment,
productivity and fostering a healthy environment in the organization can provide useful insights to Vibe,
the HR strategists for further enhancing the competency of productivity of the employees. Vibe manager

Reference
Schevernels, Q. (2015), Suits and Hoodies – The secret of the successful startups, Business contact.

Web references
Available at: www.bateman-group.com/banter/bateman-group-seeking-talent-vibe-manager
Available at: www.fastcompany.com/3008412/vibe-new-culture-and-it-can-help-you-get-through-hard-
times-deliver-a

Corresponding author
Ila Mehrotra Anand can be contacted at: ilameh@gmail.com

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