There’s a great video on the AMEX OPEN Forum of Tony Hsieh from Zappos on corporate values.
The premise: Values create a common language and way of thinking about the organization. They also provide a clear decision making tool – would this decision fit the values of our organization?
The catch? You actually have to live the values.
They can’t just be words on a piece of paper. They have to be how your organization truly thinks and acts.
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Back in March, Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, gave an awesome presentation at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival about culture.
You can check out the presentation and download the audio below (subscribers click through).
Here are some of Tony’s HR insights.
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A few weeks ago, I talked about the problem with “Best Place to Work” lists.
Most of these lists talk about all the stuff these companies do for and give to their employees – the perks. But these perks usually have little to do with why a company rocks.
A great company is defined by it’s culture. While perks may indicate a great culture, but they don’t create one. Culture isn’t about stuff. It’s about behavior. It’s about actions.
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Should corporate values be aspirational or reflect the way your company actually operates?
Some people argue that if your values aren’t reflective of your actual culture, they’re disingenuous. Other people assert that if your culture sucks, you should aspire (and actively work) to improve it.
Here’s my take: If your culture rocks, your values already reflect that, whether they’re written down or not. And if your culture sucks, it doesn’t matter what your stated values are if you’re not actively working to fix it.
Zappos (who I also wrote about on Monday) believes in this thing called “committable values.” That means they’ll actually make hiring and firing decisions based on them.
What are your organization’s values? Are they committable?
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You may or may not have heard that Zappos, the online retailer, was recently purchased by Amazon.com for a ton of money. One of my favorite things about the sale was the way Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, told his employees.
Read Tony’s email
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Laurie Ruettimann of Punk Rock HR discusses the future of human resources. (34:52)
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