Delivering the Wow in Work & Life

I recently had the chance to attend AWLP's Work-Life Forum in beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona (it's a dry heat, so your hair still looks awesome!), and although there were multiple sessions on a variety of work-life strategies and topics, there was one little utterance during the meeting that stuck with me.

It was an example from Zappos.com (and yes, I'm reading the book too! Not Delivering Happiness, but The Zappos Experience), and as you may know, culture at Zappos is everything. They have 10 core values that they seriously live by, and this culture helped to catapult the organization into a leader in online service. The part that stuck with me was core value #1 - to deliver the WOW through service. But more importantly, it was that they consider the audience of this WOW (or clients) to be customers, other employees, vendors, and just about everyone a Zappos employee comes in contact with. This. Changes. Everything.

When we consider our clients to be our employees as well as our customers, you're creating a culture where everyone is valued and trusted, and a much more positive, collaborative work environment. 


This aspect of organizational culture is more important now than ever. Employee loyalty has hit a 7-year low (according to SHRM), and many Millennials, disillusioned by the massive layoffs their parents faced years ago, and they face now, can be turned off by bottom-line, shareholder-value focused organizations (see Millennial Study). Creating a culture where employees are valued, and where they find meaning in their work could help retain and engage these employees, particularly as the economy begins to pick up and they start looking for something bigger and better.

So wherever you are, whatever you do, try to deliver that WOW to co-workers, friends, and (most importantly) family. And, hey, maybe they'll wow you too :)