A “Shoe-In” for Staging

To the leaders of Zappos, their well-defined core values are just the beginning of setting the Stage for their team members. Zappos consciously designs their corporate culture and then reinforces and supports it along the team member journey. From a nontraditional hiring process that “is more like a courtship” than an interview, and unique onboarding practices such as a scavenger hunt and time working in the call center, to celebrating milestones in ways that support the company’s values, Zappos prioritizes Staging these Moments to reinforce the Experiences team members should be creating for their customers. Each team member is explicitly taught and shown how to LIVE the Zappos values‚—such as “Embrace and Drive Change” and “Be Passionate and Determined”—and understands how to reinforce the culture of “a fun workplace that is a tiny bit weird.”

Do all of our team members have a clear Stage set showing them how to LIVE our organization’s values? How can we better help team members understand the role they play and how to best make it shine?