For the introduction to this series click here.
For Chapter 1 Part 1 – An interview with Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO and author of Delivering Happiness click here.
To read about the origins of Corporate Soul click here.
To become a member of the Corporate Soul Movement click here.
The Architect Builds a Culture of “We”
When Tony Hsieh joined Zappos as CEO he vowed that building a culture would be job one. If not, he would again find himself waking up with a sense of dread at the thought of going to work in a company he co-created. At Zappos he sees himself not as a leader but as an architect designing an environment in which people grow and create the company. All employees develop ideas for the business as well as for growing and evolving the culture. It’s not Tony’s vision. It a community vision.
CEO Tony, however, did have some favorite notions about the culture in which he wanted to work. It would be fun. People would be part of building a community. They would enjoy spending time together during and after work.
The rest was an act of collaboration.
Hiring the Right Souls
How do you make sure you hire people who will like, love, live and grow the culture? Enter Rebecca Ratner, HR Director.
A prospective employee participates in one interview with the hiring manager and his/her team and a second interview with HR. The former is focused on skills and experience fit. The latter is purely about culture fit. According to Rebecca,
You shouldn’t have to be a different person at work Monday through Friday. We want you to come here and be you. The core value is ‘Create fun and little weirdness.’ It’s our way of saying ‘Be Yourself.’ At Zappos everyone is responsible for the core values. It’s HR’s role to preserve these values at the point of entry, beginning with the decision about who walks through the door.
The HR interview questions are developed in accordance with the core values. For example, candidates are asked to use a 1-10 scale to rate “How weird are you?” The assessment of fit lies as much in their reaction as in their rating. “Be Humble,” is another Zappos value. So Rebecca and her team have learned how to spot humility or lack thereof.
Letting Go of Mis-matched Souls
If you really want to hire the right souls why not provide an incentive to leave once they’ve experienced the culture? That what Zappos does. After an initial five-week training program on key skills and core values, if the fit is not right, if the employee is not engaged in, satisfied or fulfilled by their work, they can avail themselves of a $2000 option to leave. Only 1% do so.
Is building a soulful culture and hiring the right souls a worthwhile and profitable endeavor? Amazon certainly thinks so, to the tune of over $845,000,000 the amount they paid to buy Zappos in the summer of 2009. And so far the on-line giant has left the Zappos culture and it architects in tact.
To read how souls are trained and rewarded at Zappos click here.