You hired them — now pay them to quit?

You’ve spent the time and effort to recruit a great bunch of new hires. One company says your next step should be paying them to leave.
That’s what Zappos, an online shoe retailer, has started doing. The company spends about four weeks doing orientation and training. A week or so into the process, the hires are offered a $1,000 bonus to resign immediately.
Sound crazy? Here’s the reasoning behind it:
Anyone who accepts the offer must not have the sense of commitment the company’s looking for. Paying those people to leave helps whittle the staff down to those who really want to be there.
Of course, there seems to be a few problems with the system. For one thing, anyone who’s just started a job may not have another one lined up already — therefore, their motivation for not accepting the bonus might be purely financial, too. Also, it’s doubtful someone’s level of commitment after a week of training will be indicative of how engaged they’ll be later on.
The company thinks it’s worth it, even though it must cost a big chunk of money. In addition to the $1,000 bonus, the company has to pay a week’s salary, plus all the time and resources wasted on recruiting that person.
You can read more from Harvard Business Online.