The year was 1998, and Zappos.com founder Nick Swinmurn was walking around a mall in San Francisco looking for a certain pair of shoes. One store had the right style, but not the right color. Another store had the right color, but not the right size. Nick spent the next hour in the mall, walking…

“A lot of the stuff we do, both from the Zappos perspective in terms of employees within the office and the city level is really thinking about how do you get people to collide more often. We prioritized collisions over convenience.” – Tony Hsieh Whether it was a small apartment or a few spaces in…

Personal Core Values Can Act as a Guide “It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” ~ Roy Disney Considering all the time spent at work, spending it somewhere that aligns with one’s personal core values is quickly becoming more and more of a factor in where people decide to…

Taking care of your employees’ health and wellness plays a large part in your employees’ happiness and well-being. Wellness initiatives don’t have to be boring or expensive, you can make them engaging and fun! Here are a few fun, low-cost ways to promote wellness in your company. Stair/Step Challenges – Nothing beats some healthy competition…

The benefits of regular team building are well documented, from increased productivity and better communication to more team support and less conflicts, but how do you make them a priority without breaking the bank? The standard of getting drinks after work can get old (and pricey) pretty quick. Not to mention, you can lead your co-workers…

We’ve all heard the saying, ‘do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life’, but is that always true? With about 260 work days in a typical 5-days-a-week work schedule, it can be daunting to love every-single-one-of-them. Sometimes work, well, feels like work, and is more in line with Thomas Edison’s…

At Zappos we strive to develop quality relationships and engage team members. Building strong relationships makes communication easier, and increases collaboration and productivity. Below we share 6 ways we build relationships and engage employees at Zappos. 1.) Coworker Bonus Program Has a coworker gone above and beyond to help you get your work done, jumped…

“Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed.” ~ Paulo Coelho Some people argue that the objective section in one’s resume is a now defunct relic of the past full of…

Watch this Tony Hsieh interview on how to hire the right people to build a great company culture: “From the beginning, company culture was always important. Is this someone I would choose to hang out with or grab a drink with, if we weren’t in business? If the answer was no, we wouldn’t hire them.”…

So what is a culture fit, anyway? Does it mean signing up to be a company clone, a Yes man or a Yes woman? Can candidates be a culture fit and still be themselves? “We believe you can put your best foot forward and still be you – core values are our guide,” says Christa…

“Launching a business is kind of like a motorboat: You can go very quickly and turn fast . . . a bigger business is like a cruise ship: There are lots of amenities and you can go a lot further, but it’s harder to turn quickly.” – Tony Hsieh So what’s the big deal about…

When you think of a typical call center you probably imagine a sea of cubicles and the most uninspiring place to work. Right? Well, Zappos is anything but boring, and everything fun, weird and inspiring. They’ve taken an old model and not only reinvented its internal atmosphere, but set a new standard of workplace culture and customer service…

A guiding principle behind Zappos.com has been that a company will function well if employees are happy. Check out this 20/20 interview to understand Tony Hesieh’s idea of delivering happiness in the workplace. https://youtu.be/Lfp9LHFIXfI

HolacracyOne refers to Holacracy as a “distributed authority” system, but I think it goes further. It is a system which incorporates: distributed accountability, authority, and leadership. First, it distributes accountability. It allows each person to understand clearly who is expected to do what throughout the organization. After that understanding is gained, Holacracy distributes authority. The…

Designed and refined after years of custom events and participant feedback, the newly launched School of WOW has two offerings: one for customer service leaders and one for frontline employees. Led by Zappos customer service experts, both platforms review the key tools needed to set your customer service apart and really WOW your customers. Hosted…