The online retailer Zappos is known for its top-shelf customer service. One way Zappos excels at customer service is the amount of flexibility and discretion it gives its customer service representatives to make the customer happy. Hiring and training the right customer service representative makes all the difference between success and failure at Zappos.
Zappos puts new trainees through an extensive four-week training program. At the one week point, they make an unusual offer to their trainees. Each trainee is offered several thousand dollars to quit that day. Zappos figures that if a trainee can be lulled into quitting for a few thousand dollars they are not going to turn out to be the employee they want representing the company.
Zappos figures it is better to pay out a few thousand bucks after only a week than to continue the training process. Zappos does not want to get a person working with customers, only to learn that the employee is only there for the money and has no commitment or loyalty to the company.
How can you use the lesson from Zappos to test your employee’s level of commitment?
