Pay me to quit?

This week we learned about a company that will pay new employees to quit while they are in the training process. Zappos will pay them $2,000 in their first week of training and up to $3,000 by the last week of their training. On the surface this may seem crazy. Why pay someone to quit working for you? We had some excellent discussions about the benefits to the company but what I overlooked until just a few days ago was the benefit this would have for the employee who realizes this isn’t a fit for them. About 6 months ago we had an employee in our department who just did not enjoy the work. He was an internal hire, came into our department at a higher pay grade then his last position and our entire management team was very excited to have him. Unfortunately everyone quickly learned the job was only taken for the increased pay. He really didn’t enjoy the job and consequently did not perform. For this job he was not a fit, but to this day when he is brought up no one will deny that he was a sharp individual with great potential. I think trainees at many companies may realize they do not fit the culture or job but cannot make the decision to leave when they finally got a job and they have bills to pay. Zappos incentive to quit may give these employee the courage to quit and take some extra time to find a job that fits them a little better without having to worry as much about the financial aspect of quitting the job. In all reality even $3,000 is not a large amount of money when put into perspective of supporting life and lifestyle.

Changing topics…

In the HMM study this week the following statement was made. “Even firms that have relied upon high employee turnover—for example, fast-food chains, which have tended to hire low-skilled employees at minimal wages and provide them with minimal training—are beginning to understand that satisfied, long-term employees help build customer loyalty and satisfaction and cost less to manage. As a consequence, these companies are starting to question their traditional assumptions.”

This caused me to think of two fast-food style restaurants I went to recently. Unfortunately I don’t remember the name of one of them (but I know exactly where it is!)… It was a baja style fish taco place. A little nicer than a typical fast-food atmosphere but nonetheless still fit the style. The other was Chick-fil-a. Both of these restaurants were very impressive when it came to their customer service, the question was “How do these companies cause employees that probably aren’t making much more than minimum wage to be so happy?” I think these are companies that understand the statement made above, maybe they are making better money then I assumed, or maybe the company provides other means that help them be customer service oriented. I would love to find out, maybe I’ll just ask them next time I’m there… because I can guarantee you I’ll go back due to the nice experience (and the food is good too!).

Business update

Not a whole lot to update this week. The weather has gotten much nicer who knows how long it will last… but we are going to start pushing the idea of outdoor family pictures. My wife grew up in this area and knows of some really neat places to take pictures even when the trees are bare and it isn’t quite as bright and beautiful outside.