Yesterday we visited the office of Zappos in Las Vegas. This is a multibillion online footwear store, one of the most famous startups in e-commerce.
And this is business No. 1 globally in the corporate culture.
And this is business No. 1 globally in the corporate culture.
The book by the Zappos owner Tony Hsieh Delivering Happiness. A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose is a reference book for our company. It is a must for every new employee of ours to read it.
It was the source of inspiration to realize and write our values. And yesterday this book came alive.
The company office moved to another building just 4 years ago. It used to be a public institution. Naturally with grey walls. Zappos staff coloured them in their style.
We saw the call centre – customer loyalty service. They have challenging tasks – operate 24/7 and process 50 calls per hour. Each desk has the person’s name sign.
Each employee of Zappos must work one day per year in the support service to understand customers better. For this purpose every employee (be it a programmer or the CFO), must work the first weeks after being employed in the call centre receiving calls.
We liked absolute absence of the dress code and the freedom of behaviour. When people are on the same wavelength, they adapt to the company style themselves. They should not be taught anything.
It was the source of inspiration to realize and write our values. And yesterday this book came alive.
The company office moved to another building just 4 years ago. It used to be a public institution. Naturally with grey walls. Zappos staff coloured them in their style.
We saw the call centre – customer loyalty service. They have challenging tasks – operate 24/7 and process 50 calls per hour. Each desk has the person’s name sign.
Each employee of Zappos must work one day per year in the support service to understand customers better. For this purpose every employee (be it a programmer or the CFO), must work the first weeks after being employed in the call centre receiving calls.
We liked absolute absence of the dress code and the freedom of behaviour. When people are on the same wavelength, they adapt to the company style themselves. They should not be taught anything.
During the tour we were told the key point of the book: in recruiting people, the name of the game is their being like-minded. It is even more important than professional skills. If a person is a top professional but does not share the team values, he or she will have to go.
We looked at the way the marketing department works. At Zappos there are dedicated people in charge of supporting corporate culture: from training to picnics and sports events.
We saw the way Zappos team live and relax. They may bring their pets to the office, there is a corporate bar. We were also in the corporate café. The team (around 600 people) always have lunch together.
Certainly, we were in the corporate souvenir shop too. America would not be America if a successful business did not make extra money on its success and recognition.
We got convinced that unified values are the basis of Zappos business.
Like we do. We wrote them together and indeed live by these values. And currently at the stage of selecting candidates the main criterion for us is not their professional experience but the unity of our values.
Work must bring pleasure. We spend too much time at work not to love it.
We looked at the way the marketing department works. At Zappos there are dedicated people in charge of supporting corporate culture: from training to picnics and sports events.
We saw the way Zappos team live and relax. They may bring their pets to the office, there is a corporate bar. We were also in the corporate café. The team (around 600 people) always have lunch together.
Certainly, we were in the corporate souvenir shop too. America would not be America if a successful business did not make extra money on its success and recognition.
We got convinced that unified values are the basis of Zappos business.
Like we do. We wrote them together and indeed live by these values. And currently at the stage of selecting candidates the main criterion for us is not their professional experience but the unity of our values.
Work must bring pleasure. We spend too much time at work not to love it.
