Creating a company culture is fundamental to success in recruiting, engaging and retaining your workforce. But it’s also fundamental to having a successful business. In this podcast episode, we are talking about creating an amazing company culture and I thought it best to sit down the head of people operations from one of most iconic and successful consumer brands when it comes to creating unique and engaging company culture. I’m talking about Zappos.

Episode 108: How Zappos Creates a Culture of Service for Employees with Hollie Delaney

Hollie has a long background in HR having worked in a variety of HR roles and industries before joining Zappos in the mid-2000s. Her team is called people operations versus HR because they are focused on serving the employee versus being the company police which HR is often known for.

We quickly dive into the foundation of the Zappos culture. Hollie explains Zappos’ 10 core values that are focused on serving the customer; people operations is focused on supporting the employee to help them be the best at serving the customer. These core values are critical to their culture of service mindset which if you are a Zappos customer you have experienced. Their employees have a great deal of autonomy to do the right thing for their customers which is part of their legendary service you probably have experienced.

Zappos Core Values

· Deliver WOW Through Service

· Embrace and Drive Change

· Create Fun and A Little Weirdness

· Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded

· Pursue Growth and Learning

· Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication

· Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit

· Do More With Less

· Be Passionate and Determined

· Be Humble

The hiring process is long and more of a courtship than a typical interview process, because Zappos is an organization that is not for everyone. Fit is very important not just for Zappos but also for the candidate. Zappos has a traditional process in the sense of phone screens and interviews, however, they also rely on behavioral based interview questions with the goal of immersing the candidate in the company culture, and meet 15-20 different Zappos employees throughout the hiring process.

How Holocracy Helps Drive Employee Engagement

Hollie walks us through the basics of holocracy which Zappos adopted several years ago. She says the holocracy system allows employees and team members to better organize their work, be more involved and more accountable, regardless of how large the organization grows. Holocracy does have strict rules to create freedom. It is structured and organized and it supports the culture of service. It helps bring back authority to front-line managers and employees.

HR became more well-rounded as a result of the switch to holocracy. The change has made for easier transitions and more accountability throughout the employee life cycle. There are less gray transition areas where the employee gets lost.

Hollie says that leaders need to get in same room and decide what the company culture is because it is already being decided and discussed for you. Next is living the values and culture in good times and bad. Not veering off the path with random fire drills and projects that aren’t aligned with the culture and goals outlined.

Connect with Hollie Delaney on LinkedIn.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

• Zappos Insights

• A Look Inside Zappos and Their Company Culture

• Ep 73: How to Hire for Culture Fit Like Southwest ~ Podcast

• Hollie Delaney Talks About Holocracy

• What is Holocracy & Should I Implement It Like Zappos?

• New Challenges for Managers in the New Challenging World of Work

How to Subscribe to the Workology Podcast

• Stitcher
• PocketCast
• iTunes
• Podcast RSS
• Google Play
• YouTube

You can also click here to find out how to be a guest on the Workology Podcast. 

*A special thank you to my production team at Total Picture Radio.