Want a guarantee you’ll like this online shoe retailer? Zappos will pay you to leave if you don’t like it. After the first week of training, Zappos give you $2,000 to leave the company if you’re ready to pursue other options. If that doesn’t get your attention, then you’ll enjoy the extra cash you’ll get for passing company skills tests and the many other benefits that build a standout culture at Zappos.
A Culture for You
Before you’re even hired at Zappos, the company takes you through an interview process with the purpose of determining whether you’ll fit into the company’s culture. They want to know if you’re the kind of employee who will live by their ten core values–from communicating openly and honestly to being a team player. That “culture fit” interview counts for 50 percent of the job interview process alone.
At some companies, teams being described as a “family” feels manipulative. Not a Zappos. Teams are built on principles similar to what a biological family commits to looking out for another, resolving grievances, doing what is best for members and participating in growing a culture that everyone can benefit from on some level. It’s not that everyone agrees or is happy all the time. It’s more that, at Zappos, employees commit to creating an environment in which conflict can be resolved, employees can be humble and happy and the team can lean into positivity. That’s rare for any company, much less a company as large as Zappos.
Once you’ve decided to stay, enjoy raises based on your skills competencies and expect part of your work life to be infused with team-building. Zappos loves employees who can build a positive spirit among team members and embrace change. They want adventurous, passionate, product-delivering employees who also can, according to their values, “create fun and a little weirdness.”
Do you have to like shoes to work at Zappos? It seems that is if you are positive and ready to help build a good culture, that counts more.