How about a buyout offer for all acquisition personnel? say…6 months after close of the acquisition?
Just read the article below on an innovative telesales hiring practice of offering early exit bonuses to trainees. Essentially to make sure that Zappos had the right people and chemistry in their customer facing tele-reps. Like Zappas we all know that our companies may NOT for everybody.
This would give everyone coming from each acquisition a chance to buy-in or be bought out? Many people either know immediately, or find out quickly in those first months that maybe this new company is not for them.
This would help you build upon our culture, improve morale, improve customer satisfaction, increase employee retention and focus on the customer. IF nothing else we all should take a look at this practice for our telesales, new-hire on-boarding and phone support teams.
Excerpt from the article:‘Zappos has also mastered the art of telephone service—a black hole for most Internet retailers. Zappos publishes its 1-800 number on every single page of the site—and its smart and entertaining call-center employees are free to do whatever it takes to make you happy. There are no scripts, no time limits on calls, no robotic behavior, and plenty of legendary stories about Zappos and its customers.
This is a company that’s bursting with personality, to the point where a huge number of its 1,600 employees are power users of Twitter so that their friends, colleagues, and customers know what they’re up to at any moment in time. But here’s what’s really interesting. It’s a hard job, answering phones and talking to customers for hours at a time. So when Zappos hires new employees, it provides a four-week training period that immerses them in the company’s strategy, culture, and obsession with customers. People get paid their full salary during this period.After a week or so in this immersive experience, though, it’s time for what Zappos calls “The Offer.” The fast-growing company, which works hard to recruit people to join, says to its newest employees: “If you quit today, we will pay you for the amount of time you’ve worked, plus we will offer you a $1,000 bonus.” Zappos actually bribes its new employees to quit!Why? Because if you’re willing to take the company up on the offer, you obviously don’t have the sense of commitment they are looking for.
It’s hard to describe the level of energy in the Zappos culture—which means, by definition, it’s not for everybody. Zappos wants to learn if there’s a bad fit between what makes the organization tick and what makes individual employees tick—and it’s willing to pay to learn sooner rather than later. (About ten percent of new call-center employees take the money and run.)”
Link to the full article Related links:http://www.zappos.comhttp://discussionleader.hbsp.com/taylor/http://www.bighatmarketing.com
