DoorDash Asks All Employees (Engineers and White Collar) to Deliver at least Once

Diversity and inclusion are gaining a lot of traction in the marketing movement. Brands that talk to and about their exclusivity while concentrating messaging on a small, possibly elite, clientele are missing out on the exclusivity part. 

But for a brand like DoorDash, which is beyond the set boundaries of different types of customers trying new things to impress and attract, must take a new approach. And that is exactly what DoorDash has done with a shocking announcement a couple of weeks ago. 

DoorDash has asked all of its employees, literally, everyone to deliver at least once a month. So no matter if the person is working as the lead engineer or the lead designer, or even the CEO, everyone has to follow the new rule. 

Before you guess, yes, this decision has invited a lot of heat from the employees who think that they “didn’t sign up” for this. But this move is a part of a new campaign, and the proceeds from all the deliveries made by the in-house employees will go towards a non-profit organization. 

Let’s see how the DoorDash employees have reacted to this announcement and why DoorDash has decided to implement this strange regulation. 

Why the Move? Is it a Publicity Stunt or Has a Purpose?

The founders wanted everyone to experience different aspects of the platform as the company evolved. This is going to help the company and its employees get closer to all the consumers and understand how the product works. 

This way, the employees will learn firsthand how the technology tools we make strengthen local economies by participating as a Dasher, assisting a merchant, or shadowing a customer experience agent, which helps us build a better product.

WeDash is the flagship program of DoorDash under which new arrangements are made for employees to deliver the items as required. The rationale behind this is to allow the employees experience firsthand how it is to deliver. 

This program by DoorDash is not new. It was launched before COVID-19 and was put on hold due to the pandemic. But this time, it has taken more heat from the employees than before, with some employees even using curse words against the company on public platforms. 

This kind of resentment from within the DoorDash team is not good and can put the company in a bad light. The reintroduction has irritated numerous new employees who joined the firm in the interim, evidently uninformed of the policy. 

On Blind, an anonymous professional social network, an unhappy DoorDash employee started a nearly 2,000-comment thread.

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As we analyzed the thread, not every comment was negative. Some of the employees also lauded the move and understood the motive. 

DoorDash says that this will help the engineers, developers, and every employee understand the pains of the delivery personnel and the customers. Due to this, they will make a better product because they have got first-hand experience. 

So, we can say that this is not just a marketing gimmick but also a way to understand the pains and needs of the customers as well as the delivery people. 

Is this Required? Can DoorDash adopt Another Way?

Industry experts have deducted three unique reasons for DoorDash to run its WeDash program and ask the employees to deliver for one day in a month. These are;

• They can understand the customers and work around the demonstration bias. In other words, such a move will help remove all the roadblocks in providing a great customer experience. 

• Become an integral part of the company and an expert in the products and logistics infrastructure that keeps the company running.

• Develop and sustain humility and awareness of the three-sided marketplace. This includes customers, dashers, and merchants. They will understand the day-to-day experiences of every participant and take pride in the product they are building by witnessing firsthand the impact DoorDash can have in the community.

So, by doing what the delivery people do and dealing with irate customers along with finding the loopholes in the system is one of the core purposes of this program. As the employees see what happens in the real world, they will work to solve the issues and improve the systems from the backend. 

Earlier, these same employees were accessing user-generated data from merchants, dashers, and customers to make the required changes. But by going out and feeling what people feel in the real world, they will be better at understanding things. 

Is This Move Justifiable?

Well, if you approach it from the employee's perspective, it won’t be. But we will try to understand the principles behind the same, and one thing that we think seems to fit here is INCLUSIVITY because inclusion sells.

Until a few years ago, ads with an exclusive character used to be the talk of the day. Every ad used to show glamour and richness associated with their product, but that seems to be changing now as the ads are getting more inclusive. 

This is because it's difficult to argue that a company can be truly innovative if it excludes big segments of the market; a fashion label can't claim to be mainstream and superior if its size range is too narrow for the average customer to wear. 

As a result, inclusion has become its own criterion for being the best in class, and millennials are voting with their wallets. According to research, the generation, which is expected to exceed baby boomers by 2030, responds to relevant and authentic marketing that reflects the variety they observe in their communities. 

Because it pays to be inclusive, several brands are making it the focal point of their whole product range. DoorDash is attempting to become more inclusive by making an effort to understand the entire lifecycle of its services. 

That said, this is an excellent move to become more sympathetic, forward-thinking, asking well-paid, white-collar people to stand in the shoes of the delivery workers and learn from their hardships through an illuminating exercise.

So, yes we think that this move is justifiable and more companies must follow suit in order to improve their services. 

Conclusion

Inclusivity and inclusion is a movement and one that needs to be taken seriously. With DoorDash starting a new trend, we can expect it to garner good results and substantially increase the customer experience while improving a few things for the delivery agents and merchants. 

From Xbox launching the Adaptive Controller for disabled people to DoorDash asking employees earning $400K a year to deliver items, these are only a few examples of what we can do if we make up our mind to provide a better experience to the customers. 

Now we will wait for the changes and adaptations DoorDash brings on their platform on every end to build a more inclusive brand and provide better services.