Zappos has a unique 360-day return policy, allowing customers ample time to return any purchases they don’t end up loving.
American shoe retailer Zappos is a prime example of an organization which possesses a vibrant corporate culture. Upon reading Alexandra Jacobs’s “Happy Feet,” I concluded one thing for certain: I would love to work for Zappos. And, in my opinion, that’s what having a strong organizational culture is all about- having people who want to work for you because you are renowned for your positive relationships and treatment of employees. I believe Zappos does an effective job in fostering employees to embody company values, by providing extensive training and benefits to motivate employees to represent Zappos to the best of their abilities. At Zappos, I would say employees walk the talk, or actually believe in what their company stands for, and therefore prompt customers to do the same.
In class, it was interesting to participate in the debate for or against Zappos’ benefits for their employees. Despite the great costs to maintain all these employee benefits, intriguingly most students, when given the choice of which side they would prefer to be on, chose the side of keeping employee benefits. In an ideal world, I think we all would love to have 100% of our Medicare covered, exciting employee activities and of course, who wouldn’t love daily free food? Overall, as a fellow classmate mentioned, most shoe retailers make 20% in profits, while Zappos makes only 5%. Nevertheless, perhaps in this unique environment established by company CEO Tony Hsieh, the lively culture that promotes happy and productive employees comes before the profit. While feasibly not all companies can be like Zappos, this shoe retailer certainly has set the standards for a successful corporate culture and is a refreshing company to hear about.