We love seeing corporations loosen up a little. The workplace doesn’t have to be an uptight, stressful environment all of the time, does it? The trend for businesses of all sizes is to transform certain areas of the office into inviting hubs for relaxation. This benefits the team in more than one way. First, employees understand that they can retreat to a designated area that allows them to unwind for a few minutes, collect their thoughts, sketch out the day’s assignments, and even brainstorm for creative projects. On the other hand, it strengthens the efficiency of the work area because employees understand that sitting down to work means devoting a solid, uninterrupted 2 hours or so of dedicated work. Happy employees are the best kind of employees, which is why we love helping brands add a touch of comfort to their otherwise dull environments.
Zappos is one brand that we particularly enjoyed working with because we can relate to its business model. Comfy Sacks is an e-commerce site, as is Zappos, there is a lot that we learned from its corporate culture.
A few things stuck out to us, and they really reflect the down-to-earth nature of this brand. For example:
- They invited us to take as many books as we wanted from the Zappos library to keep as long as we promised to read them (so of course we snatched up Delivering Happiness by Zappos.
- They asked us to join them for lunch at the on-campus cafeteria, which provides delicious, free food to its employees. Sodas were a staggering $.15 – but all of the money is donated to charity.
- Zappos is very dedicated to its customers’ needs. The longest phone call was 5 hours!
- The “work hard, play hard” mentality is evident throughout the brand; the employees are extremely dedicated.
This team really knows how to balance productivity and camaraderie. Running an online business might seem like a piece of cake because there’s no physical store, but it also means that customers are free to shop 24 hours a day. Any website flaws can be detrimental to business, and sometimes it’s very difficult to rely on telecommunications and email as the only form of contact with customers. This kind of pressure isn’t always easy to manage, but companies like Zappos do an excellent job of accommodating the needs of its employees. Zappos worked very carefully with Comfy Sacks to determine which products would best suit the needs of those who visited and worked at the headquarters.
The result is a happy, relaxing work environment with even happier employees. Comfy Sacks is proud to have been a part of that and we are especially grateful to have learned how to apply those principles to our own brand.
Check out some of the Zappos employees enjoying their Comfy Sacks below. For all the pictures you can check out Zappos Insights website