We just got back from a visit to Etsy! We heard Etsy’s Senior Manager of Values & Impact speak at the Small and Medium-sized Great Place to Work conference in September, and we were so interested in the way they measured employee engagement and overall employee happiness that we asked to meet with them to learn more. (The office, by the way, greets you with an entryway of walls of plants which feature a couple of staff- and seller-made Audrey IIs lurking. They started as Halloween decor, and now they’re permanent fixtures. But we digress.) In preparation for this tour, we read their Etsy Values & Impact Annual Report 2013, filled with pretty incredible stats about their employee engagement, company culture, and green initiatives. Of all the awesome facts and practices we learned about, here are our top four:

First of all, they source as much as they can in their offices from Etsy sellers themselves. Their desks, the art on the walls, the ceiling pipes wearing sweaters — all purchased from Etsy businesses, with Etsy providing any necessary assistance for environmental certifications to comply with Etsy office standards. Such a cool, full-circle practice.

Etsy Core Values

One of their core values, “We plan and build for the long term,” really lines up with one of ours, “Take the long view.” Etsy’s view is so long, they look 100 years out when considering business decisions. Like the fact that 30% of their staff is dedicated to helping the businesses who sell via Etsy. It’s the right investment to make for the long term growth of small businesses in the arts and crafting space.

Through the report and their dining room (featuring a luscious plant wall), we learned about Etsy, their program to serve a special lunch twice a week, where employees are encouraged to eat with people whose paths they don’t normally cross.

Finally, not only are they a certified B Corp, but they won three awards from the B Corp organization: Race to the Top (for most improved B Corp score of any company), B Corp MVP Award (for their efforts in getting B Corp legislation passed in Delaware), and Best for the World Worker Impact Award (for making Etsy a great place to work).

Congrats on such inspiring practices, Etsy! And thanks for having us!

Questions, comments, concerns, poetic insights? Let me know at pam@storiesincorporated.com; I’d love to hear from you!