Last week, we removed job titles at ElevenLabs. We no longer have a Head of Growth, or a VP of Product. Now everyone is part of a team — like Operations, or Go to Market — and that’s it.
Has anarchy broken out? Not just yet.
We’ve found that at a company like ours — still relatively small and young, but growing very rapidly — job titles can be a distraction. They remove attention from the outcomes of the work — on coming up with the best ideas and executing them quickly — and reduce our ability to change focus flexibly. People start asking “how do I become Head of?” instead of asking “where do I have the highest impact right now?”.
We need every member of the team to step in wherever they’re needed most. So we got rid of the rigid ladders.
All the reasons not to do this
The reasons not to get rid of job titles were, of course, plentiful. Won’t customers want to know that they’re speaking to someone ‘important’? Won’t investors want to be put in touch with someone ‘senior’? Won’t administrative bodies need to verify they’re on the line with a ‘decision maker’? But at the same time: don’t we want everyone to be all of those things?
Our team was also concerned about what it would mean for their progression; how would they know they’re advancing in their careers?
And our hiring team wasn’t sure what it would mean for recruiting: would we get a deluge of not-right candidates because we didn’t make seniority clear in a job title? Yes, and this is something we need to make up for with detailed job descriptions, clear filtering of applications and clarity in interviews. What we get in return is an inbound pool that cares about the work we do and doesn’t apply because being the “Head of” something has a nice ring to it.
Going ahead
As the reasons for not going ahead were rushing in, we started understanding how much work it would take to make the transition smoothly. To reassure ourselves that we were making the right move, we focused on identifying the ‘why’ behind this idea. Our goal is to have a culture in which people run wherever they are needed most, the best idea wins, employees can focus on the problems at hand and the highest impact is rewarded quickly with accelerated growth of responsibilities. Keeping our eyes on this goal helped in working and talking through all other steps.
We also looked to other companies that followed similar journeys, like Palantir, where a few of us worked before; it didn’t have job titles even when it had a few thousand employees and we valued the effect this had on the culture. We spun in circles between go and no-go a few times and finally decided to give this a try.
Before implementing the change, we went through the downsides and came up with mitigations. We ensured that we could communicate what progression looks like clearly. We updated our job descriptions and interview process to be effective in filtering the right candidates. We talked through the change with people managers so they could raise any additional concerns they had, and felt equipped to run through questions with their direct reports.
One of our cofounders then shared the change and the reasons behind it with all employees. Most people knew it was coming, or were familiar with a job-title-free workplace from previous employers. Others sought further clarification from the cofounders, or spoke to their managers.
All the way through we were clear on one thing: we aren’t saying it’s perfect, nor are we certain this is a forever solution. We’re saying that this is an approach that serves our needs at this time.
A world without titles
Now we’re in a world where ElevenLabs has no job titles internally or externally. It’s been less than a week, so we can’t say yet what the overall effect is. The launch is done, but the work to ensure people have clarity around their own progression continues.
Job titles can be used as a tool to implement structure, offer people progression opportunities and recognise success. We need to find other ways to do that! What success looks like for us now is much more focused on growth of responsibilities. As employees progress, they see an increase in their scope of work, bigger responsibilities and higher autonomy (and higher compensation as well). This is our main mechanism for recognition.
We’re still working through how we will do this best, but in the meantime we’re also making an effort to celebrate outsized contributions internally (through spotlights, shout-outs, etc.) and provide employees opportunities to showcase their work and skills externally (at conferences, in blogs, etc,).
A brave new world
It’s only been a hot second without titles at ElevenLabs, but it already feels like some of the skeptics are coming around to it. We acknowledge that a title-free approach might not be adequate forever, and wouldn’t apply to all companies at all stages, but it’s our approach for us right here, right now. Will ElevenLabs stay without titles forever? Who knows; let’s see if it’s possible to IPO this way.
