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Why Zappos Offers New Hires $2,000 to Quit
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Why Zappos Offers New Hires $2,000 to Quit
I met Tony Hsieh, CEO of billion-dollar e-tailer Zappos, on a shuttle bus at a CEO conference a couple of years ago. So I was interested when Bill Taylor posted a piece on Harvard Business Online about a startling hiring practice at Zappos a few months back.
Yes, the companyâs breathless pursuit of the ultimate customer experience is the stuff of legend. Zappos offers extremely fast shipping at no cost and will cover the return shipping if you are dissatisfied for any reason at any time. Customer service reps are given a lot of leeway to make sure every customer is an enthusiastic customer. The company folklore includes an anecdote about reps delivering flowers to a customer whose mother had recently died.
But even in light of Zapposâ customer service obsession, the practice Taylor highlights caught my attention. Apparently, when Zappos hires new employees, it puts them through an intensive four-week training program, immersing them in the companyâs culture, strategy, and processes. Then, about one week in, Zappos makes what it calls âThe Offer,â telling newbies, âIf you quit today, we will pay you for the amount of time you have worked, plus a $2,000 bonus.â A BusinessWeek reporter interviewed Hsieh recently. He says only 2% to 3% of people take the offer. The other 97% say no dealâthey choose the job over the instant cash. [Note: The bonus amount increased by $1,000 since the Bill Taylor piece.]
Open to Abuse
On first reading about this, my inner cynic wanted to meet the HR folks who do the initial screening. Then I wondered if hordes of people are going to start queueing up outside Zappos headquarters in Henderson, Nev. I mean, whatâs to keep every young hopeful with gas money to roll in, attend part of the training, and head down the highway to the casinos with $2,000 in his pocket? It will be interesting to see what the impact of word-of-mouth will have on this odd HR process.
Source:
http://www.hrguru.com/news/1251-why-zappos-offers-new-hires-2000-to-quit
Yes, the companyâs breathless pursuit of the ultimate customer experience is the stuff of legend. Zappos offers extremely fast shipping at no cost and will cover the return shipping if you are dissatisfied for any reason at any time. Customer service reps are given a lot of leeway to make sure every customer is an enthusiastic customer. The company folklore includes an anecdote about reps delivering flowers to a customer whose mother had recently died.
But even in light of Zapposâ customer service obsession, the practice Taylor highlights caught my attention. Apparently, when Zappos hires new employees, it puts them through an intensive four-week training program, immersing them in the companyâs culture, strategy, and processes. Then, about one week in, Zappos makes what it calls âThe Offer,â telling newbies, âIf you quit today, we will pay you for the amount of time you have worked, plus a $2,000 bonus.â A BusinessWeek reporter interviewed Hsieh recently. He says only 2% to 3% of people take the offer. The other 97% say no dealâthey choose the job over the instant cash. [Note: The bonus amount increased by $1,000 since the Bill Taylor piece.]
Open to Abuse
On first reading about this, my inner cynic wanted to meet the HR folks who do the initial screening. Then I wondered if hordes of people are going to start queueing up outside Zappos headquarters in Henderson, Nev. I mean, whatâs to keep every young hopeful with gas money to roll in, attend part of the training, and head down the highway to the casinos with $2,000 in his pocket? It will be interesting to see what the impact of word-of-mouth will have on this odd HR process.
Source:
http://www.hrguru.com/news/1251-why-zappos-offers-new-hires-2000-to-quit
