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.
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!
Last Friday we had an "ALL HANDS!" meeting here in Las Vegas and at our Kentucky Fulfillment Center on Saturday. The meeting was to go over how 2007 went and what we'd like to accomplish in 2008. Everybody who could attend did - we shut down the call center here and warehouse ops in Kentucky. Vanessa started the program for both audiences with some improv comedy. (She flew out to KY and back to Vegas and boy are her arms tired! ) She works in our Outdoor Performance Merchandising group by day and at night she is a professional comedienne. Many of us have had the privilege of seeing her perform before and she is great! She had ZERO warning for Friday - she was just called down and handed the mic. We were all rolling!
Here's a picture of the house right after we learned we'd be getting a 10% bonus for 2007. 
