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4 Ways Credit Unions Can Be More Like Zappos

A tour of Zappos during CUNAs ACUC inspires executives to make corporate culture changes.

By Natasha Chilingerian | Updated on July 06, 2017

At CUNA’s America’s Credit Union Conference last month in Las Vegas, some attendees had the chance to feel like grade school kids again by hopping on a bus and going on a field trip. There were four excursions (which CUNA called “community safaris”) to choose from at the conference, and without hesitation, I picked the tour of Zappos’ zany headquarters in downtown Las Vegas – home of a corporate culture that is the envy of many HR departments.

There are good reasons to be envious of life at Zappos. First, the benefits are killer. Aside from a generous offering of medical, dental, vision and financial benefits, the perks include an employee library, life coaching services and luxurious onsite facilities like fitness centers, cafes and nap rooms. Second, to encourage employees to think creatively and vocalize their unique ideas, all employees are considered to be on a level playing field and traditional managers don’t exist (the kooky, colorful décor encourages creativity as well). Plus, working there means a built-in social life – the activities calendar is always full and employees can even be promoted based on the effort they put into making friends from other departments.

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Natasha Chilingerian

Natasha Chilingerian

Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.

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