One cold morning this holiday season, the residents of Hanover, NH woke up to a delightful surprise. Each and every resident of the quaint New England town was the recipient of a Zappos box that was stuffed with goodies ranging from shoes to winter gear.
While these mysterious doorstep deliveries may sound like something from a Christmas movie, they were actually a goodwill gesture from Zappos to the area where their most loyal customers live.
The “elves” in this story were Zappos employees who were flown from Nevada to New Hampshire to pull off their holiday magic. The employees hand delivered the gifts during the late night/early morning hours and ducked out of town before too many residents would notice.
Yet, as Bryan Pearson wrote in this Forbes article, this loyalty gesture is nothing unusual for the happy-go-lucky online retailer.
Zappos makes it a point to hire the kind of people who enjoy giving back to the community and who want to keep loyal customers happy. The company also makes sure employees are provided the right atmosphere to do their job to the best of their ability.
As a result, Zappos is flooded with applicants who are all vying to become a part of the company with the “happiness culture.”
This careful attention to hiring practices pays off in the long run. When you have employees who feel empowered to their jobs and do them well, things like the Hanover Santa Claus feat can happen as a result.
But getting the right people into your company at the right time takes a lot of time, effort, and energy. Whether you’re looking for some extra marketing manpower to pull off your own customer recognition program or need to bring in some new talent who can think outside the box, we’re here to help.