"The Offer"

I'm reading a great book, The Referral Engine by John Jantsch, and wanted to share this story from it along with a few questions to ponder.

Zappos, the mega-successful online shoe retailer has a unique way to ensure that their employees are the type that will help them continue to grow. They call it "The Offer". When they hire a new employee, they go through four weeks of paid training and are immersed in the company's strategy, culture, and obsession with customer service. After one week on the job, Zappos makes "The Offer" in which they tell each employee that if they quit that day, they will be paid for the week of work plus $1,000 to quit. What Zappos discovered was that if any employee took them up on the offer, they were never going to be the kind of customer focused, high energy employee so important to their brand. It turns out that less than 10% of the new employees take the money and quit. One could figure that the cost of keeping uncommitted folks far exceeds the offer cost in letting them go.

How many of your employees would cash in on "The Offer"? Are they the ones that you want to continue to build your company around? What steps have you taken to ensure your employees are committed to your company's (and their) success?