U.S. shoe company pays employees $1,000 to quit

Initiative helps weed out the duds, ensures higher customer service: Zappos

After prospective call-centre employees complete a week of paid training, online shoe retailer Zappos makes them an offer some just can't refuse: Quit today and take home $1,000.

When Tony Hsieh, CEO of the Las Vegas-based company, started the quit-incentive program two-and-a-half years ago, the offer was just $100 and about three per cent of trainees since have taken the money and run.

The offer jumped to $1,000 in January and the philosophy behind the bribe, according to Zappos training manager Rachael Brown, is that if you want call centre employees to use their own judgement instead of relying on scripted answers when dealing with customer queries, you need to make sure they really want to be there.

The offer makes people stop and think about whether they really want to make a commitment to the company, said Brown, and that makes it worth the money.

In five years, the company has increased its sales from $70 million US to $1 billion US. The company says its success is due in part to its team of 1,600 friendly call-centre employees, who will do virtually anything to make customers happy.

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