I saw on the HBR blog that Zappos no longer does job postings. They had 30,000 applications for only 300 positions, and it was becoming cumbersome. Instead, they have created a Zappos Insider program where people can simply get to know some real people inside Zappos. That’s where they’ll look when they are hiring.
I think this is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, I love that Zappos is innovating HR. I have been saying for a while that changing HR processes is a great way to work on your culture and get it more in tune with today’s reality. Companies with the strongest cultures seem to be frequently throwing HR “best practices” out the window. As I said at a recent Ignite session at an HR conference, HR is being reinvented, and we’re not asking HR’s permission.
But the second piece that interests me is the overwhelming demand for jobs at Zappos. I heard a similar story when I visited Menlo Innovations last month. The fact is, companies with strong cultures attract. They attract the best employees. They attract more loyal, longer-term customers. They attract more supportive partners. This doesn’t mean they’re perfect, and they certainly have their share of problems to solve (like the drain of too many job applicants), but that force of attraction puts them so far ahead of most organizations.
They don’t struggle with hiring and then replacing mediocre people, or scrambling to replace their top performers who leave. Their loyal customers and supportive partners build extra slack into their system, giving them space for innovation and creativity.
But it starts with their culture. Let me know if you want some help with that.