We also decided a long time ago that culture fit always trumps a technical fit when hiring. Just because someone is great at their particular job at this particular moment doesn’t mean they’re going to be a good fit down the line when systems change, or practices change, or the marketplace changes, or we move to a new location, or whatever it is they might have to adapt to. If “Embracing and Driving Change” isn’t something they value, they wouldn’t enjoy working at Zappos—and they wouldn’t be very successful here.
Mostly, though, we want to make sure our new hires understand what we mean by customer service. That a “customer” is any person they come in contact with, including coworkers. Just because a person can interface with a computer doesn’t mean they’re on board with “Delivering WOW Through Service” to their fellow human beings in the office, or elsewhere. It’s important that we see who they are, as an authentic person, to know if their core values align with ours.
Maritza Lewis
Engage Team
My parents have five daughters, but they decided to name their restaurant after me. I guess I’m the favorite. :P
“Culture” is not about conforming here. We value diversity. We value individuality and personal growth. It’s the reason I’ve stayed and taken on different roles here over the last twelve or thirteen years—just like Hollie and so many people who’ve stuck around—because Zappos values me as a whole person and wants me to flourish.
We don’t expect everyone to be the same. Not at all! But the most important thing about building a workforce and hiring the right people is figuring out: How are these people going to work together, and work together extremely well, to deliver great service and to make your company grow?
MEGAN
I hate wearing shoes when I’m teaching.
VERONICA
I believe all life lessons can be learned from watching My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
STEPHANIE
I love boxing and trying to coerce people into coming to boxing class with me.
Megan Petrini, Veronica Montanez, and Stephanie Hudec
Onboarding
VERONICA The reason we have ridiculously high expectations during new-hire training and onboarding is because our company culture actually comes down to one thing: Relationships. Our company isn’t siloed. We work really, really hard to make sure that we’re not isolated from each other as we continue to grow. So everyone needs to have the same foundation. You need to be here every day. You need to show us that you have good time management. You have to pass a final, just like everybody else. You have to pass a quality check, just like everybody else. You have to get on the phones, regardless of the position you’re being hired into, to show us that you’re the right fit for the company, not just one department.
Our company culture actually comes down to one thing: Relationships. Our company isn’t siloed. We work really, really hard to make sure that we’re not isolated from each other as we continue to grow.
Even though the re-cruitment process is long and the vetting is thorough, our new-hire training is basically the last stop. Because during a month of training, you’re going to see a person’s true colors come out. You’re going to find out if they’re someone who abuses an attendance policy, or who tries to skirt around the edges of an assignment, or who doesn’t actually work well with a team.
It’s funny because around week two, a lot of the trainees are like, “We’re gonna die here!” It feels really long. But by week four, people are like, “I can’t believe we’re graduating on Friday!” Assuming they’re actually a good fit, they’ll have built great relationships and made friends, and are actually now living embodiments of the foundation of our culture. And if they’re not a good fit, well, then we pay them to leave. And that’s a pretty great deal for all involved.
MEGAN The foundation winds up being “You’re a part of the team.” We do a lot of team building, like a middle school–style egg drop, where you work with a team to make a contraption to hold and protect an egg, and then we drop the eggs from the second story of the building and see which eggs go unbroken. These activities seem like fun and games at first, but they’re not just fun. We learn our core values through doing. So “Do More with Less,” all of the team and family spirit we talk about, it all comes into play.
STEPHANIE A lot of the team-building activities are timed, so there’s no time to think about what might go wrong. That pushes another thing we love here at Zappos: “Don’t think about how it’s not going to work. Imagine it done, imagine it working, and work backward from there.” We want them to get in the habit of trying new things, fearlessly, and building on top of each other’s ideas and learning from each other’s failures.
VERONICA At the end of training, there’s an office parade, people dressing up in costumes and going through campus—it’s all about having fun and letting people know that it’s okay to be themselves here. When we put people on the phones we want them to be themselves, which is what helps them relate to our customers authentically. You can be on the phones or be the CFO of the company—no matter what your role is, we want you to provide the Zappos experience 100 percent of the time. You’re going to do that in your own unique way. There’s no one way to do it. But by providing the foundation of training, we know that you’ll be able to go out there and represent the company in every interaction just by being your real self.
MEGAN That’s actually the last conversation we have with new hires, right after they graduate. We pull them back into the classroom and remind them, “You’ve had this full immersion into the Zappos culture, to really understand what it’s all about. But now, you have to be the one to continue this. No one else can force it to happen. You just have to go out there and make sure that you continue this.”
Our job is done when they have the right tools to go out and do it themselves.
VERONICA It’s amazing to see people relax, too. Some of them will come in from a corporate background and show up on the first day in a dress shirt and slacks, thinking it’s a casual look. And by the end of NHT, they’re in their favorite band t-shirt. It’s a metamorphosis. And it’s about way more than how they dress. The metamorphosis unlocks their creativity and excitement. They come to realize that their individuality is actually valued here. That it matters to Zappos that they bring their own unique stuff to the table that no one else can bring.
MEGAN Truly, one thing no one could ever accuse us of is judging a book by its cover.
Ironically, the team that worked on this book went through what felt like hundreds of different iterations of the cover, with various fonts, layouts, and wording—which they asked for Christa’s and my opinions on because we both hold the Brand Vision role. At some point they all started to blur together, so I told them to stop asking me for my advice and do whatever they felt was