What would you say if a company offered you $1,500 to quit during your new-hire orientation?
Zappos, an online shoe retailer, makes this offer to every new employee during the initial training session. It’s a quick and dirty way to winnow down candidates. Folks that are truly interested in the job leave the cash on the table. Those that aren’t feeling too sure about the position get an easy out. Only about 3 percent have taken the offer, Zappos’ training manager told the trade publication Internet Retailer.
I think this is a fantastic idea, one that I would’ve loved to implement during my days as assistant manager of a florist. People have these grandiose ideas of what it’s like to work in a flower shop. How could it NOT be a great job? You get to be around beautiful, good-smelling blossoms all day! (Something I’m sure you also hear in the garden center business.)
Then, during our ‘breaking-in’ session, they learn about cleaning and disinfecting buckets, toting wilted flowers out to the dumpster, hauling in cases of vases and dethorning roses. You know, the un-glamorous things that make up 90% of the job.
During the 3-day orientation, you could see the enthusiasm ebbing away for many of our new recruits. It would’ve been great to say, “Hey, is this job really for you? If not, we’ll give you X number of dollars as an incentive to get out now.”
This tactic would’ve saved us a lot of hassle in the long run. Inevitably, some of the newbies would start being late for work, calling in sick or shirking their less savory duties. We’d have to send them packing after investing time, money and effort in training them.
-- Sarah
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