The Customer Service Survey
VocaLabs' weblog providing news and commentary on the challenges of providing good customer service.
Paying People to Quit
Thursday - May 22, 2008 02:14 PM in
I've written about Zappos before, the online shoe store which has been building a reputation for do-anything-to-please customer service.
Today's fascinating story is that Zappos pays new employees $1,000 to quit a month after they start employment.
The idea is that Zappos only wants employees so committed to the company that they'll forego the bonus to work there (apparently about 10% of new hires take the money and run).
It's a fascinating idea, and I can certainly see how it would work for a hip, young startup; it's also a neat application of psychological theory: because an employee gave up a substantial bonus to work at Zappos, he's going to be biased to think it's a more desirable place to work than he would have if he hadn't made the choice.
It's also a lot cheaper to pay a couple weeks' extra pay to get rid of a potentially bad employee right away rather than pay him for months or years before finally firing him. After a month on the job, most people will know if the company is a good fit for them or not.
Despite the benefits, I can't imagine many Fortune-500 employees adopting this practice. It's just too counterintuitive, and (sadly) too many companies don't care enough about hiring only the best.
Posted by Peter Leppik
The idea is that Zappos only wants employees so committed to the company that they'll forego the bonus to work there (apparently about 10% of new hires take the money and run).
It's a fascinating idea, and I can certainly see how it would work for a hip, young startup; it's also a neat application of psychological theory: because an employee gave up a substantial bonus to work at Zappos, he's going to be biased to think it's a more desirable place to work than he would have if he hadn't made the choice.
It's also a lot cheaper to pay a couple weeks' extra pay to get rid of a potentially bad employee right away rather than pay him for months or years before finally firing him. After a month on the job, most people will know if the company is a good fit for them or not.
Despite the benefits, I can't imagine many Fortune-500 employees adopting this practice. It's just too counterintuitive, and (sadly) too many companies don't care enough about hiring only the best.
Posted by Peter Leppik
Posted at 02:14 PM by | | | |