Here at Zerve, we are honored and thrilled to be recognized as one of the best places to work in the U.S. for companies with less than 1,000 employees! Since our founding in 2003, we have had a fanatical focus on providing a world-class employee experience, and creating a unique and phenomenal (Zervey!) culture. It is the secret to our 12 years of success.
We aim for a work environment that is focused, productive, efficient, just a bit intense and extremely professional…but at the same time fun, warm, filled with laughter and just a bit quirky (again…Zervey!). We see this Glassdoor honor as a humbling confirmation that, to date, we have succeeded in our lofty goal of achieving this balance. But we will continue to work vigorously to take it to yet new heights as we always have. How will we do that? A roadmap below.
Value your team above all else
Many people have asked us how we were able to build such a great business, with such unique assets, while operating under the radar for so long. The answer is simple to explain but incredibly hard to replicate: our team, a group of passionate, hard-working and intelligent people who are driven by our mission for both our merchant partners and for consumers. The same team who shared page after page of their thoughts about working with Zerve on this very website and drew attention to our world-class spirit. Of Zerve’s many valuable assets, our team and our culture have always been the most valuable of all.
Listen to your employees… read your reviews!
We’re proud that our body of employee reviews comes from essentially every team and every level of experience within the company: from new intern to veteran leader, and from product to customer service to sales to engineering and more. We’re incredibly proud of the content and passion in these reviews. And while we try to provide as many perks and benefits to our employees as possible, you’ll notice that the enthusiasm represented in the reviews are not driven by things like ping pong tables and happy hours. We like to have fun as a group, to be sure, but the reviews represent a deep-seated passion that Zervers have for our mission and for thrilling our partners and customers, and the love and loyalty they feel towards their teammates. The extra perks are fantastic whenever they are possible, but at the end of the day they won’t determine whether or not your company’s employees are truly happy and fulfilled.
Build the right culture and work hard at it
Like most things of value, building a great and lasting culture takes time and hard work. Leadership in the company should know exactly what defines the desired culture and should have a game plan in place as to how to achieve that culture. Zervers become so immersed in the culture that they become better, more productive and confident even outside of the office, and they use words like Zervey, Zervonian, Zervestar…oh, and Zerver while barely realizing it! This kind of immersion and pride did not happen overnight or without tremendous amounts of time and attention poured in.
Lead by example and treat each other with respect – it starts from the top
There is no chance that you’ll succeed at building your desired culture if the company’s managers are not leading by example. If you want your team to be determined and hard-working, your leaders need to be just that. And if you want your team to work well together, keep level heads and treat each other with respect, your leaders must do the same. New employees at Zerve are delighted to find that even the most senior leaders in the company treat them as a valued team member and speak to them with kindness and appreciation. When a challenge comes up for a Zerver, whether in or out of the workplace, Zerve managers see that as an opportunity to shine, to be there for the Zerver and to help them work through the issue.
Work tirelessly to provide a world-class product and service
Work hard to offer a product and a level of service to your consumers that your team can take pride in. Make sure to let new employees know right from the get-go that your company has high standards and that whoever your company may serve, you take thrilling them darn seriously. New Zervers are sometimes taken aback by how high our standards are and how tenaciously we approach our customer service and product releases, but it is these ultra-high standards that have people going home feeling happy and proud to be a Zerver, and jumping out of bed the next morning to do it all over again!
Hire (and fire) extremely well
We invest a very significant amount of time recruiting the best people to work at Zerve, and then we pour a ton of time into immersing, training and continually developing these new hires. Applicants are often shocked at how thorough our hiring process is, even for an internship position. Typically, folks who are a great fit at Zerve find this motivating and special, and for those who don’t, it becomes clear to both us and them that it’s not a good fit. Make sure when you hire someone, you’re not just doing it because you need someone or because they seem competent. Make sure they feel like a superstar, like someone who has a specific, deep interest and growing passion in your company. And if they prove not to be a good fit or not harmonious with the culture that you’re trying to build, don’t hesitate to part ways. Figuring that out quickly is the best thing for the individual, even those that don’t work out, and it is critical for maintaining your standards and culture as you scale your team.
PROMOTE FROM WITHIN—reward your superstars!
That first part was worth putting in caps! Zervers—like pretty much all employees—want to know that there is room for growth within the company. And they generally aren’t going to gauge that by whether we tell them there is or not. They want proof. And at Zerve, boy do we have it—all they have to do is look at our leadership team for that proof! Anytime a new position opens up, we always look around the room first, and look to promote one of our stars. This way, we’re able to keep our stars challenged, compensated fairly and happy, which leads to amazing advancements for our business…which leads to more growth…which leads to new positions being created for more superstars to step into! It’s a virtuous cycle and one of the most important keys to our success.
Another thing that is extremely important when it comes to building the right team and culture is keeping at it and staying focused. If your company didn’t make the list this year, don’t sweat it – just keep at it! Here at Zerve, we are truly honored by this year’s recognition, but we also know that we can do even better. And we will.
As we head into 2015, we plan to leverage this honor from Glassdoor to further bolster our efforts to recruit the best people in the world, to thrill our customers, and to charge forward in our mission to build a world-changing company, empowering consumers and business owners alike. We also plan to use the honor as further motivation to stay humble, stay Zervey and to keep thrilling our employees—we hope to find ourselves right back on this list next year!
