Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/72524
ATalk continued entire class of new hires payment for time served and a bonus as high as $4,000 to quit.The offer varies depend- ing on the size of the training class and the economy and remains on the table through the training period and a few weeks beyond.Two to three percent of trainees take the bonus and leave, according to Hsieh, who believes the money is well spent. New hires get a chance to decide if they really want to be a part of the shoe retailer's over-the- top culture and Zappos gets the oppor- tunity to weed out those who are not fully committed to its vision. In Hsieh's eyes, lukewarm equates to a potential threat to the culture and he goes to great and unusual lengths to pro- tect it. Instead of routine employee eval- uations, for example, Zappos measures the mood of its crew with a monthly happiness survey (which looks as if it doubles as more data for Hsieh's happi- ness research). Channeling the four basic needs, it asks employees questions Instead of routine employee evaluations, Zappos measures the mood of its crew with a monthly happiness survey. such as would they categorize their co- workers as family,do they feel their role in the company has meaning, and are they happy in their jobs. Responses are then broken down by department and reviewed to identify opportunities for improvement. "Keeping your culture intact involves constant monitoring, consistent nudg- ing and reminders, " says Vik, who was tapped to develop a leadership class he called "Dr. Vik's Leadership Essentials" for that very purpose."Aswewere grow- ing at Zappos, " he says, "we wanted to make sure we had the right DNA for those in management that would help deliver and pollinate the way we empower our employees for years to come. The one stipulation I was given was that the program had to be three hours long and presented to everyone in management.We covered all the topics that were important to the way employ- ees are treated, e.g., criticism vs. feed- back, and vocabulary that had the best impact on empowering our team. We also covered the opportunity, duty and responsibilities of the leader as well as the importance of re-invention in the waywe do things in our future to evolve with the times. Case in point (and brought up in the workshops): If we shipped now like we did when we first started,we would be broke because the old way didn't allow for the current vol- ume. "So basically,with the leadership pro- gram,we wanted to make sure that the future generations of our employees were empowered—while getting the DNA stronger.Maintaining your culture is repetitious. If you don't do it, it goes away. "u 28 FEDA News & Views