On Monday's radio program, Kate interviewed Jenn Lim, CEO and Chief Happiness Officer (CHO) of Delivering Happiness.  Jenn Lim helped to launch the book, Delivering Happiness by Zappos' CEO Tony Hsieh, turning the book into a movement, a company and a methodology for building a culture that engages the loyalty and best efforts of employees. During the show, Jen explained how Zappos' has continued to grow and improve its corporate culture by clearly defining and upholding it's core values.

When talking about the importance of values in the workplace.  Jenn explained that employees need to commit to live and die by the values. As she put it, "A family with similar values can  weather the highs and lows better together. At the end of the day, you can trust others to make decisions knowing that they are operating from shared values. Decisions are also easier (not easy!) to make once you have identified your core values as you have a better picture of what is important to the organization."

How does a company define its values? Jenn recommends that all employees be involved in this process in order to create buy-in throughout the organization. Jenn suggests having all employees write down their top 10 core values. These values can be whittled down to the top 30 or so values, and then the list can be narrowed further with voting or team discussion. Once the values are determined, employees will feel ownership of the culture they have participated in creating and are more likely to care about upholding these values on a day-to-day basis.   

As Zappos continues to grow, senior leadership realized the importance of explicitly defining the core values from which they develop their culture, their brand, and their business strategies.

The Zappos Family Core Values provide a great example of how values can guide employees and contribute to a strong, positive culture.  Zappos values are:

1. Deliver WOW Through Service 
2. Embrace and Drive Change 
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness 
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded 
5. Pursue Growth and Learning 
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication 
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit 
8. Do More With Less 
9. Be Passionate and Determined 
10. Be Humble