A group of 15 Zappos employees, led by Robin G. of CLT, presented Tony and Alfred (CEO and CFO/COO) each with a certificate designating a star that has been named for them. Robin explained to me that it was to thank Tony and Alfred for making the great working environment at Zappos a priority and for the generous 10% employee bonus. What an interstellar idea!
Starting from the left, Alfred, Jean, Robin, Angela, and Tony.
Today the American Cancer Society came in and showed us how to use these Dynaband exercise devices.
It was nicely paced and conducted and we all got these cool snappy blue elastic straps to use at our desks. We were first shown how to do some stretching and flexing exercises then we used the Dynaband in some pretty creative and effective ways.
There were 3 classes today and there will be many more wellness sessions, both Dynaband and other types throughout the month of May. It’s our traditonal wellness focus month. Here’s our very first class in action today.
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As most of the world knows, the Kentucky Derby is a HUGE deal for KY. Each year, from the kick-off at "Thunder over Louisville" to the "Chow Wagon" and "Hot Air Balloon Race" and all the way to the main event, the actual Derby race, the entire city is in celebration.
Here at Zappos we are no different, having our own mini-version of several events.We spend an entire night dedicated to the festivities. Having some "Kentucky HotBrown" for dinner, with our supervisors and managers serving nachos and cotton candy to the team, followed by our own horse racing (actually hopping), a horse decorating contest, AND a Derby Hat contest!
Each department and shift received a stenciled foam-core horse to cut out and deck-out for display by our break-room. Night shift photo department took an hour of our friday night to enjoy some pizza dinner and decorate our horse.
We decided to focus our horse in the direction of two fashionable and flashy brands, Ed Hardy and Betsy Johnson. All complete with an actual Betsey Johnson jockey and finished off with a pair of New Balance running shoes to win the race. We are very proud of our "Zappotariat" A.K.A. "Betsy Hardy".
Lots a great comments to me personally (though none posted) about Andrea's Winged Sunglasses art project from Happy Hour last Thursday. Here's a few more! Steve, Andy, Chris Jerry, Brian, Meg, Brett, Richard, Thad and Tony himself! You're all ready for Bingo Night at the Trop!
So, Andrea.... what will you be doing for the next happy hour?
There has been a pretty big change here at Zappos.com. What was once known as Product Information, Photo and Imaging has now officially made the change to the Content Team. It makes sense when you look at the inner workings of the site.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what each area is responsible for:
Product Information (PI) is in charge of all product descriptions on the site. Yes sir, that means every piece of leather, canvas, nubuck or tweed that is on the site must be described by Product Information first. PI is also in charge of creating the brand “about text” which gives the customers a quick rundown of the brand history and what they bring to the table. PI reads every single customer review as well. No simple feat might I add. There is so much more, but Ash touched on that stuff in his past blog here.
The Photo and Imaging teams in Kentucky and Las Vegas have also fallen under the Content Team umbrella. Photo is in charge of all of the product shots that we have on the site. They make sure the customer gets a good idea, visually, of what they are getting. After Photo takes the pictures, the Imaging team makes sure the pictures are in the right places and that the blue you see is blue and the pewter you see is pewter. How many of you guys would order something with out seeing it? It’s important that we all work hand-in-hand, since I would never buy anything without being able to read about it either.
That’s just the quick nuts and bolts of it all. In short, say hello to the Zappos.com Content Team.
LV Content Team
Um, those of you who think a blended RedBull Pretzel mixture is the epitome of distastefulness should stop right here. Yes, the title of this post is accurate. You see I am the notorious ZSG – Zappos Smoothie Guy. About a year ago, I brought in my own blender and started whipping up smoothies with stuff from the lunch room. Some of them were really yummy – and that’s not just me saying that but from my enthusiastic consumers, some only so so yummy, and some quite intentionally un-yummy. Perhaps the foulest intentional smoothie I’ve made is the Sauerkraut SlimJim Smoothie. This is “for reals” and here are some pictures. SORRY!
This is another example of Zappos putting the money (show me the money!) where their mouth is. Basically, any employee who is in good standing and has been with the company for 90 days can grant a $50 bonus to another qualified worker just because “You Feel They Deserve It!” How cool is that?
I’ve passed out quite a few of these and you know, cynical me is almost convinced it is better to give than receive. Yeah, yeah – the money is not coming directly out of my pocket – see, I am cynical. And on that note, yes there have been some chuckleheads who didn’t quite work “to the spirit and intent” of the program and changes were soon made after the original rollout. So much for the downside.
The upside is we can quickly and directly recognize the people we know make Zappos a better place. Another part of the program is that we are encouraged to present the award sheet “in the most creative way possible” to the recipient. I’ve tucked a couple into empty beer bottles and then used my capper to seal it up. Today I presented one to Renee in Training (the best department at ZAPPOS!)
I taped the folded up form to a CD that had a funny title. I was going to gently toss it to her like a Frisbee but then I saw a red toaster lying around. (Random Red Toaster = Classic Zappos) so I dropped the CD into the toaster, walked over to Renee and ejected the CD. She’s accustomed to such antics from me. So why did I feel Renee deserved this Award? Two reasons, first, (and mostly) because she has done such a great job with our Las Vegas Encounter program for our Kentucky people. And second, because her cube has provided some great photo ops for me.
So what are the other examples of Zappos showing the money? Well, the 10% employee bonus bought a big bunch of credibility.
And did you know that when our Customer Loyalty Team new hires are in training, they are told that if Zappos wasn’t what they expected, they can opt out be paid a severance sum to help tide them over. Did you ever hear of such a thing before? You’d be impressed how few people take the offer. When I was in new hire training, a few confided that they were tempted, but no one took it.
Another example is that all employees go to new hire training. Not only does this mean we are away from our “real jobs” for 4 weeks, but Zappos also loses some job applicants because they either cannot complete the program or they “refuse to do phones.” It’s best to find this out as soon as possible because they probably aren’t Zappos culture matches. Zappos feels in the long run it is worth it for everyone to be firmly grounded in our Customer Service philosophy and practices. And people who refuse to “do phones” just aren’t the type of people for the Zappos culture. I was amazed how nice you, our customers, all were when I was in training. Thank You!
