Better, together: Why your growth comes first at Zalando

Jay Kaufmann on how the Product Design team fosters professional development that furthers both individual interests and business needs.

Over 6 years ago I started as an “interim” manager at Zalando and although my journey at this fashion e-commerce leader no longer feels transitional, change has been constant. I often say “change is my religion” — so I am grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to take on new roles, new responsibilities, and new projects along the way.

Growth has been a part of Zalando’s DNA since its founding in 2008; in 12 short years the company has grown from 2 founders to 15 thousand employees, and has gone from making zero to 8 billion euros in gross revenue. Zalando is growing so fast you can’t help but grow with it.

However, just growing in numbers is not our ambition — we care about who we hire and how we support our employees on their evolving journey. Our Founding Mindset — the values we live by and the guardrails of Zalando culture — highlights our ambition:

“Make us better, not bigger: We promote and hire to shape the company we want to become, not to fill the roles we need today. We create a company as diverse as the customers we serve.”

We apply the same intention to professional development in the Product Design community: We help each of us become better, together.

Principles for professional development

Our goal is to foster professional development that furthers both individual interests and business needs in an intentional, aligned, and balanced way.

In the past (and still in many companies today) there was something of a glass ceiling for expertise. So what happens when you want to advance in your career and you don’t want to go into people management? For UX designers, writers and researchers we provide an Expert track alongside our Management track. It offers them the opportunity to grow their level, salary, and impact without managing people. Seniority isn’t about how many people you lead, it’s about the impact you make.

If you’re curious to learn more about our approach to expertise in Zalando’s Product Design team, and want to pick up a few practical tips on how to plan your professional development, watch the talk I recently gave at the UX Crunch Meets Zalando meetup:

Own your development

Our Founding Mindset says:

“Ownership is about being responsible to our customers, partners and colleagues, not about being entitled. We own our destiny and are not stopped by circumstances: Zalando is what you make of it.”

Your career is in your hands. We empower you with “high challenge” and “high support” to help you reach your goals.

Set in motion a virtuous cycle

We use the learn-do-share model to illustrate three key aspects of professional growth:

• Learning is about proactively acquiring knowledge through courses, books, talks and other sources. But we all know that practice makes perfect.
• So it’s the doing part that lies at the heart of the broader learning process. Doing means building expertise by putting in hours of work to hone your craft, taking on stretch assignments, and practicing your empathy, communication, and soft skills.
• We also want to pay it forward and share our learnings with each other. One person’s sharing is another person’s learning! Learning by teaching is a powerful way to deepen your understanding and build on your knowledge.

Scope of seniority

In addition to more detailed guidelines and frameworks that outline and define role expectations and career paths, we sometimes refer to this simple model of radiating circles of seniority:

Advancing in seniority and experience is not about moving ‘up the ladder’ but rather about widening your circles of impact and influence — whether as a people manager or hands-on expert.

One size does not fit all

Our approach to growth is multi-faceted. Professional development is about finding your own groove — a place where you (for a period of time) can make an impact and find joy in your work. Each person’s journey is going to be unique.

We’re actively looking for creative, collaborative candidates to join our team. If you want to be a force for good in the fashion world, apply to one of our open positions!