Hating HR? Lessons from Tony Hsieh of @zappos

Remember there was this article some years back in the Fast Company called "why we Hate HR?"

There's now a follow up post at the HBR Blogs title Why We (shouldn't) Hate HR.

And I have often blogged about it - if business leaders were as demanding of HR as they are of Marketing and Finance, then they'd ask their HR people to do a lot more.

I was again reminded of this when over the last few days I read the book "Delivering Happiness" by online retailer @zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. The book is a mix of a personal story and is also tied in with how his experiences led him to build the culture at Zappos.


When I was reading the book, I was reminded of a book I read more than a decade ago - Maverick by Ricardo Semlar.

Tony is as much of a maverick as Ricardo, taking decisions that puts the culture of the organization, openness and transparency at the centre of the structure, and then challenging the norms of the industry.

Tony's belief is that the culture of the organization is the biggest brand it has, and that value drives the way Zappos treats its people and lets them take decisions. The culture is tied to the core competence of the organization which is Customer Service. Zappos knows that both the core value and core competence need to be invested in, and while it has twice faced tough economic times it didn't compromise on them. Long term needs to be balanced with short term. It is not an either-or option, unlike what most senior executives believe

But most importantly Tony's belief is that an organization's larger goal is not profits, or even passion but a purpose - and for Zappos that purpose is to Deliver Happiness - to its customers, partners and the world at large. I personally think that Zappos is the archetype of the Organization 2.0 I keep blogging about.

The HR processes support such thinking within Zappos. For example they have a culture book, which is a collection of how each of their employees experience the culture at Zappos - and now anybody can read that book.

During interviews HR people can reject a perfectly technically suitable candidate if they don't meet the "culture fit" of the organization.

After a person is recruited, they are taken through a few weeks of training - where every employee has to experience the core competence of the organization - customer service - by manning the contact centre phones. Doesn't matter if your job is in Finance or Legal or HR. You have to man the phones for some time.

After training - each employee is offered $ 2000 to quit, if they want to. That's a lot of money, and Zappos believes that people who are not touched by the purpose of the organization will take that option and leave. About 1% do.

If you are aspiring to build the 21st century's next enduring business, you should read Tony's book.

Here's a slideshow put together by Tony which captures the salient points of the book. Check it out

Zappos - Amazon - 02-25-10

View more presentations from zappos.

Does your organization have a Social Media Policy?

My colleague @evansdave has a great article on how critical it is for businesses to set up social computing policies.

I quote:

Current social computing and social media policies range from an outright prohibition of employee participation on the social Web, including at home (yes, some firms do this), to the more open - and very much informed - use of social media by Zappos, Dell, and IBM. Zappos encourages employees to participate. Dell builds disclosure into the social media handles of employees: "@StefanieAtDell" runs @DellOutlet. IBM's policies clarify that employees using social media should refrain from using "we" and instead use "I" when publishing posts or comments that might relate to the workplace. At SAS Institute, employees using Twitter include a statement to the effect "these views are (mine) and not those of SAS" in their profile.

These are all solid examples of how to smartly approach social media and its use by employees. It's essential that your employees understand the rules, ahead of time. Situations involving employees and social media will arise. If you don't have social computing policies in place now, consider making this a priority.

Where do you start? First, visit IBM's page on social computing policies. Social computing policies are not a "one size fits all" proposition, but reviewing IBM's and other firms in your own industry is a great place to start. Then, go meet your legal team: show them the policies of other firms like yours and the best practices of firms like IBM's and ask them to draft a set. Champion this effort and sell it in through HR.

Not only will you do yourself a lot of good - in the process, you will become the organization-wide go-to person for smart decisions involving social media - but you'll also set in place a larger team of people within your organization that understands how social media can be responsibly brought into the business. That's a huge win, and it sets you and your team up for further advances as you push from social media-based marketing to a more holistic social business.

With your policies in place, the next hurdle you'll likely face is what to do about employee social media in places like Facebook, where individual pages or pages of their friends may or may not reflect the kinds of activities that you want your customers seeing. I'm not saying...I'm just saying, as the expression goes.

In a recent workshop in Toronto, we talked about this very issue. Up, Inc.'s Catherine Sturm suggested connecting the business social Web presence to employees' LinkedIn pages, and then specifically connecting the "About Us" or a similar social page on the corporate site - where holiday party pictures might be posted, for example - to the Facebook pages. This provides the flexibility employees and employers need, and sets the correct expectations for what one might find - as a client, for example - when visiting these larger, related social postings.

Finally, think about an oversight policy. For example, use your listening tools to monitor mentions of the brand. When you find them, affirm that any postings by employees are appropriately within your policies. If not, work with employees constructively to address any issues. Should you choose to go down this path, disclose this to your employees.

Read the full article. It's well worth your time!

And also check this list of social media policies courtesy the Altimeter Group.

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