Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
- Amazon updated its famous 14 leadership principles days before Jeff Bezos' exit as CEO.
- The first new principle is "Strive to be Earth's Best Employer," a common Bezos refrain.
- The second is "Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility."
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Amazon has amended its famous company values days before Jeff Bezos is set to step down as CEO.
The ecommerce giant announced Thursday that it has updated its leadership principles, a list of 14 guidelines that Bezos developed in the early days of Amazon. The list includes principles that have defined Amazon's business, like "Customer Obsession," "Frugality," and "Deliver Results."
The two new principles speak to the current size and scope of Amazon, which is now a $1.7 trillion business and one of the world's biggest employers. The first new bullet – "Strive to be Earth's Best Employer" – appears to speak to an internal push from employees last year to add "inclusion" to the leadership principles. The internal movement arose after corporate employees shared stories of experiencing racial and gender discrimination at the company.
While the new principle has a broader focus than diversity and inclusion – and echos a phrase Bezos has said numerous times in the past – it seems to be encouraging leaders to better manage their employees.
"Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher performing, more diverse, and more just work environment," the principle reads. "They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun."
Amazon also appears to be acknowledging the scale of its operations in its second new principle, "Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility." The company has faced criticism for the working conditions its delivery drivers and warehouse workers experience, as well as its reputation on the world's stage.
"We started in a garage, but we're not there anymore," the second principle reads. "We are big, we impact the world, and we are far from perfect. We must be humble and thoughtful about even the secondary effects of our actions. Our local communities, planet, and future generations need us to be better every day."
Bezos last day as CEO is July 5, the day Amazon was incorporated in 1994. Andy Jassy, an Amazon veteran who previously served as CEO of AWS, will take his place.