Delivering Happiness

part stand-up comedy. We had folks introduce themselves to the
group and share a fun fact (not a bad way to see who the outgoing
leaders are in the group) and also did an “Oprah” moment where we
gave away prizes (Zappos schwag) to “lucky audience members.”
We added an old-fashioned kitchen timer to the interview/dating part
and when the five minutes was up and the candidates were moving to
the next interviewer, we let them know with the buzzzzzzzzzz and a
chorus of “SWITCH!!!!!”
The energy and excitement from the growing recruiting team on
how to make the job fair better, more effective, more fun, and more
reflective of the Zappos culture was overwhelming. It quickly spilled
over into everything we did and manifested in things like themed
interview rooms where candidates would be more likely to relax,
respond to questions truthfully, and show their own personality and
creativity.
It even showed up in new hire orientation. As part of the
paperwork we cover, one deals with the expectations for the four-
week new hire class—which are essentially a list of reasons a person
might get fired in those first weeks. Talk about a buzz kill on the first
day. Yes, the information is important and needs to be shared, but
how do we do it in a Zappos way? Thanks to two loyal Saturday
Night Live watchers on my team, we decided to “steal” a few well-
known and loved characters from the show and perform skits to
convey the information but in a very over-the-top and funny way.
There are many more examples I could give but suffice it to say
that five years later, when I look at my team and what we have done
at Zappos, I am so very proud and so very fulfilled in our work. The
problem when someone feels burned out, bored, unchallenged, or
stifled by their work is not the job itself but rather the environment
and playground rules given to them to do the job at hand.
Let your employees take risks and try new things. Some will
work and some won’t and that is okay. Let your employees bring all
of themselves to their job. You may have an amazingly talented
software engineer who is also a rockin’ musician—let him or her find
an outlet for this passion at work too.

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I think when people say they dread going into work on Monday
morning, it’s because they know they are leaving a piece of
themselves at home. Why not see what happens when you challenge
your employees to bring all of their talents to their job and reward
them not for doing it just like everyone else, but for pushing the
envelope, being adventurous, creative, and open-minded, and trying
new things?
So you see, there’s always a happy ending, right? I am still in
recruiting, I interview people on a daily basis, and I absolutely love
it!