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The workplace conversation has gotten stuck in a false binary: flexibility versus accountability, autonomy versus performance, caring for people versus driving results. 

Patsy Mangan, Chief People Officer at Scribd, Inc., believes that framing misses the point. Her view is simple: those forces aren't inherently at odds, and companies that figure out how to make them work together will have a competitive advantage over those still choosing sides. Here’s how we’ve built a system around that belief, from how we review performance to what we expect of employees in the AI era. 

‍“Most companies still think they have to choose between high performance and a strong, human-centered culture. You don’t,” said Patsy. “The real work is building a system where people are expected to perform and be supported in a way that actually makes that possible.”

‍How does Scribd, Inc. measure employee performance?

‍We redesigned our approach to performance management around GRIT, a framework that defines success across four dimensions: Goal-Oriented, Results-Driven, Innovative, and Team-Focused. Instead of a single, vague rating, employees receive clear feedback across all four dimensions, giving them a precise view of where they excel and where they need to grow. 

GRIT also sharpens the hiring bar. Candidates know exactly how they will be evaluated. That clarity attracts high-quality talent who want to be held to a high standard. Candidates have referenced GRIT directly as a reason they applied, citing the clarity and fairness of how performance is defined. Patsy spoke more about GRIT recently on the Modern People Leader podcast. 

How does Scribd, Inc. approach flexibility? 

While much of the industry debated return-to-office mandates, Scribd, Inc. took a different approach. ScribdFlex is built on the belief that flexibility and high performance reinforce each other. We give employees the freedom to work where they perform best, paired with clear expectations and accountability.

But flexibility doesn't mean leaving connection to chance. We intentionally bring people together through monthly Hub Days for local teams and ScribdFest, our biennial all-company gathering. We're not anti-office. We're anti-arbitrary. Rather than requiring employees to show up simply to satisfy an attendance requirement, we focus on making the time we spend together meaningful.

What does Scribd, Inc. expect from its leaders?

A high-performance culture depends on strong leadership. At Scribd, Inc. every manager and leader makes a commitment to Lead with Care – our leadership philosophy – for our people, our work, our culture, and our business.

That means developing and empowering people, fostering trust and collaboration, creating a culture of belonging, and taking ownership of business results. These responsibilities don't always align, and that's where leadership judgment matters. Leading with Care means balancing competing priorities and making thoughtful decisions that serve both our people and the long-term success of the business.

How does culture connect to Scribd, Inc.’s products?‍

At Scribd, Inc., understanding our products and customers is a responsibility beyond just teams building them. We expect every employee to engage firsthand with our products – Scribd, Slideshare, Everand, and Fable – through structured reading goals and product challenges. 

This helps employees stay close to the customer experience, develop a deeper understanding of the people we serve, and bring fresh perspectives and ideas into their work. These challenges have also surfaced insights that directly shape product decisions. Ultimately, it's about creating a culture where everyone feels a sense of ownership for the products we build and the experiences we deliver.

How does Scribd, Inc. approach AI internally?

At Scribd, Inc., becoming an AI-native company is about fundamentally changing how we work. Early on, we invested in making enterprise AI tools available to employees and embedded AI fluency and application into our GRIT performance expectations. Those efforts drove strong adoption across the company, allowing us to move quickly through the adoption phase and focus on the more transformative work of redesigning how work gets done.

Rather than using AI simply to complete existing tasks faster, we're rethinking entire workflows, with AI taking on more execution and people focused on problem-solving, creativity, and judgment. We're also evolving how we hire, develop, and evaluate talent to reflect these changing expectations.

As AI compresses the time from idea to output, human judgment becomes more valuable, not less. Our goal isn't simply to make individuals more productive. It's to build a company that can make better decisions, move faster, and achieve more, while making our people more capable along the way.

What results has Scribd, Inc. seen? 

In 2025, Scribd, Inc. was named to Fast Company’s Best Workplace for Innovation category. Patsy wrote more about the recognition and our approach to building a culture of innovation.

Scribd, Inc. has maintained consistently low voluntary attrition alongside strong employee engagement and a culture of high performance. In our most recent employee pulse survey, 88% of respondents said they were happy working at Scribd, and 86% said our culture plays a positive role in their success.

But engagement alone isn't the goal. We believe the real advantage comes when talented, highly engaged people also have the agency to challenge assumptions, experiment, make decisions, and take ownership of outcomes. That combination of engagement, high expectations, and individual agency is what we believe ultimately drives innovation and has supported stronger business performance.

This isn't just a people strategy. It's a business strategy.

Learn more about careers at Scribd, Inc.

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