I’ve always said, “The body should go when the mind goes.”

Unfortunately, that’s usually six weeks or more later.

Zappos has a program that pays new employees $4000 to quit the company during initial training sessions. The policy is designed to make sure new employees are committed to working at the online retailer beyond just a paycheck.

Is this something you should do?  

Known to Zappos’ veterans as “the offer,” the quitting bonus offer typically comes a week or two into Zappos four-week indoctrination period that immerses new employees in the company’s strategy, culture, and obsession with customers. Typically, at some point in the training session, the training class leader leaves the room and designated employees enter to have a frank discussion with the new hire.

“They say: ‘Off the record, really, how is everything going? Does it seem like the right fit for you? Is this really where you think you want to be?,’” Rachel Brown, training manager at Zappos, told Internet Retailer. “Then we say if this isn’t the place for you we want to let you know about an early resignation offer that you can take advantage of.”

The quit-now incentive, which started with offers of $100, was instituted by Zappos’ CEO Tony Hsieh as an experiment about four years ago. The quitting bounty was raised to $1,000 in January 2008, and recently hiked to $4000 because Mr. Hsieh didn’t feel enough people were taking the company up on its offer at $2,000.

Only about 3% have so far taken the money since the program was initiated, Ms. Brown told Internet Retailer. Read full article here.

In an online interview with CEOshowonline.com, Mr. Hsieh explained how Zappos’ success is directly connected with its unique “two-step” hiring process that in its second-step concentrates on Zappos’ corporate culture and core values. Mr. Hsieh said, “We make sure the people we hire have similar values. We won’t hire them if they are not a “culture-fit even if they are technically strong.”

Less dead wood. Less paperwork. Less write-ups. Brilliant.

Yes, it would be great if you could pay people to quit but let’s start with the basics…

Here are there four elements of the Zappos approach any retailer could implement:

• Screen employees at a very high level
• Train at a very high level – two to four weeks making it a combination on the floor and training room.
• Monitor their progress with frequent quizzes and role-play
• Have a senior managment person who understands your philosophy and what you are trying to accomplish (for example “Create an exceptional experience for everyone you come in contact with from customers to the CEO to the delivery guy”) take the new hire out for coffee or lunch and asking how it really is going.  They need to be sure there is no judgement but looking for clues how they feel the fit is from their perspective.

We often find someone just “up and quits on us” when the clues were there for awhile.

And let’s be honest, it’s not like them quitting on you unannounced had no financial impact with overtime, additional training and lost business so whatever you paid them is a cost you already are absorbing.

From the time I was in seventh grade until I graduated Glendale High, every summer I toured with my church’s youth choir.

To make it financially feasible, we stayed in host families’ homes for the night before we went off to our next destination.

On my first trip, about to find out whether I’d hit the jackpot like the hosts who had a pool, or going bust and sharing a pullout couch with someone, I stepped off the bus.

Our youth minister pulled me aside, “Did you pick up your host gift yet?” I sheepishly answered, “No.”

He replied, “That’s OK, you’re new.  Here it is – a wrapped set of note cards and here is a card and envelope.  Fill out the card and thank them for hosting you tonight. Add one specific thing about their house, their hospitality or even a good breakfast. You can either give it to them when you leave their house or on the bed but don’t forget to do it.”

I asked, “Do they really care about note cards?” He laughed and said, “No, they don’t. But everyone wants to be noticed and appreciated when they have done something you benefited by.”

That youth minister knew the power of making the effort to say thanks. Even the National Retail Federation has taken to thanking Americans for shopping.

So today, I want you to thank the people who you have benefited from their efforts this year. Yes, it is the holidays and yes you’re slammed.

All the more reason to carve out fifteen minutes tonight and write out a thank you card.  If you don’t have an address, use an email but note it is not as personal. You can even post it on their Facebook fan page, but do it.

Here’s a partial list to get you started:

• Your best supplier. Sure you do it when they go out of their way but what about the job they do for you day in and day out?
• Your UPS, FedEx, or other delivery drivers for their efforts, especially during the holidays.
• Your employees for the job they do with a note to their home, rather than in passing.
• Your Association for the specific educational opportunities their conventions bring you.
• Your partner, family, children for understanding the busy season is upon you.

You get the idea…

Here’s the secret: add a specific service or thing they have done that you genuinely feel stands out. It usually starts, “Thank you for….”

Retailers can make the world a more civil and hospitable place through a lot of efforts, this is just one. What would you add?

The search to understand others has existed since the beginning of time.  Why? Because we have noticed certain types of people are easy to deal with and others just, well,  aren’t.

Have you had that exasperating moment when you were trying to train someone and you finally said, “I just don’t know how to reach them!”

Or maybe you had a boss that just got under your skin nitpicking everything you did?

Years ago I learned the power of knowing my own personality style, and I’ve found it helpful to not only manage employees better, but also advance my retail sales training and consulting programs.

No matter what your business, you should know which of the four personality styles best represent you. Once you know that you will be able to understand:

• What ticks you off is as much your fault as the other person’s and why.
• Which personalities you’ll feel comfortable with-and which ones you probably won’t hire.
• Which personality style you could most use help from.

No, it’s not scientific because ultimately it is a self-test – you’ll be the one saying its right or wrong. But I’ve found couples understanding their relationships better, business owners clarifying their understanding of the opportunities to grow their business and employees able to sell to all four types by becoming a chameleon.

So what do you have to lose?

Take the personality quiz and you’ll be presented with additional information about the Driver, the Analytical, the Expressive and the Amiable.

We’ve all been there. You just got into the office, put your keys down and an employee drops the bomb, “I quit.”

It might have come out of the blue from one of your best employees. Or, maybe it came from an employee that you’ve never gotten along with. Regardless of the reasoning, it’s never a positive experience to have one of your employees unexpectedly quit.

When this happens, you have three options:

1. “I’ll get your last check right now.”

This might come off sounding unfeeling and harsh, but it’s actually the best way to go. When you tell an employee that you’ll get his check, you force yourself to accept the inevitable and avoid contaminating your other employees.

It’s like a marriage. If someone is having an affair, his interests are elsewhere. Even if he tries to maintain appearances, he’d still rather be somewhere else. You need to let this employee go, rather than fight the inevitable.

2. “Let’s talk about it,” 

In this response, you’re reacting to your employe, not the other way around. If he has threatened to quit more than once, this could be a way to assert control. He could feel neglected or need approval.

Likewise, this option puts the employer and employee at an equal level. You are no longer the boss. Though this might lead you to keep an employee out of sympathy, it will cost you later in business.

I once met with an employee after inviting him to “talk about it.” He gave me four pages explaining why our business was terrible. Some of what he said was true, but it wasn’t constructive or an efficient use of our time because he’d already decided to leave. If he had come to me before quitting, it might have been different.

3. “I’m sorry, what can I do to get you to stay?”  

With this response, you’re putting the employee in charge. Often, this is a way for an employer to acknowledge his failures as a boss, which can make him feel better. However, it won’t solve the problem and it can actually make it worse.

Bargaining with your employee is the weakest option and sometimes results in the employee receiving a raise. If an employee wants to quit, he’s going to quit eventually and giving him a raise in the meantime won’t change that.

Bob Phibbs is the Retail Doctor, helping businesses of all sizes grow and deliver an exceptional experience for their customers since 1994.  Download a free chapter of his latest book, The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business (Wiley) here. This post originally appeared in the American Express OPEN forum.

He had placed them in the trash can.

I can’t imagine doing that to another person these days.  But I did something similar nearly thirty years ago…

I had hired a young woman who I thought was going to be excellent. She worked one day and never came back or called.  But she knew when payday was.  

When she came to pick up her check I unceremoniously tossed it to the ground.  Somehow in 1982 it felt good to watch someone have to lower themselves to me.  I felt I had to make her know I was upset at her leaving me high and dry. I’ve heard managers go on and on detailing how an employee had been terrible for a long time but had “kept them on” in hopes they could change.

When firing someone, unless theft is involved, just admit it isn’t a fit.  Order the check so you have it in your hands at least a day ahead of time.  Call them into your office, have a witness if necessary. Simply say, “Your services are no longer needed,” and be done with it.  

You should already have given them two write-ups that required their signature.  You don’t need to get into a laundry list of everything this person did.  So remain standing and don’t invite them to sit down. You don’t need a pound of flesh, you are taking their means of support from them.  Nothing more is required.

So many people fear firing someone because of what they might have to go through.  If you handle the firing as thoughtful as you handled the hiring, it shouldn’t be a big deal. 

Here’s the secret to avoid humiliating an employee: Don’t hire someone you can’t fire; that includes friends and family.

Don’t stoop to the level of pettiness like Radio Shack did two years ago when they fired people by email.  Or the big box who called their senior managers into a conference room telling them a few people would be let go by receiving a text during the meeting.

It’s petty, it’s humiliating and its unnecessary.  Yet it seems to be on the rise…

In this economy we need to remember our greatest assets are the people we pay to work.  That goes from the moment we hire them to the moment we fire them. 

You believed in them once, give them the dignity they deserve.

Please add your comments below.

“My customers don’t like it,” “I really liked the other one,” etc.  For the struggling, there was always an excuse and it was usually the Marketing department’s fault.

Are you in a position where you are trying to get people to change for their own betterment?  Here’s the secret to making it work…Leave the bottom 20% where they are.

Those 20% are not going to change.  As the old saying goes you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.

Should you spend your time instead on the top performers?  Regrettably no.  They are doing what needs to be done.  Give them space to crow about what they have and are doing but frankly, they probably understand what it takes to be successful more than you.

The sweet spot, the place you can make the most difference is that middle 60%.  You want to keep them from spiraling down to the lower 20%.  That’s because misery loves company.

Those who are struggling often are looking for allies and someone to blame.  Their view of the world is that it is nasty and something that is ruling their lives.  Being responsible for their own happiness is foreign.

This holds true whether you are dealing with a group of franchisees, a group of employees, a church group or a sports team.

You have to intervene and keep that middle 60% progressing forward, not going back.  That means giving them training, personal attention and opportunities.  But too often we spend our precious time on the ones who can least change – the bottom 20%.

There are only a dozen eggs in your basket of energy.  You spend 7 on the lower 20%,  there are only 5 left for the rest – and your sanity.

Give the Bitter Bettys – your lower 20% – a chance certainly, but don’t waste your precious time trying to raise them from the muck. Instead, let them go.

Learn how to increase your business with my book The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business from Wiley & Sons.

Please comment with a time when you spent too much time on your lower 20% below…

Many people will rightly ask you Ms. Entrepreneur, “The economy is so tough, why would you want to open a retail store or start a new business NOW?”

Look, the economy has always been tough…

In 1942 they dropped the bomb but the French came up with the bikini.  There is always an entrepreneur to look at things differently because they are up for the game.

Maybe you’ve always wanted to be your own boss. You’ve always enjoyed shopping and think opening your own store will be fun.  It can be fun but make no mistake, succeeding in retail is about planning, change, and making yourself available.

Scads of stores’ customers know who the owner is because they are seen there practically every day.  Then there are the  unsuccessful absentee storeowners -unmotivated employee inmates running what seems to be a prison within sterile surroundings.

The choice to open your store should be made with your eyes wide open. Just like deciding to have a child or adopt a pet is a major change in lifestyle, so too is owning your own retail store.

Before you pick out a dog from the ASPCA shelter, you need to know who will feed it, clean up after it, take it to obedience school, wash it, walk it twice a day, etc.

As the business owner, you’ll need to know who will run the store, what you are going to sell, how this will affect vacation plans, family responsibilities and your finances.

While you might have inherited or purchased a family business, the choice is still the same – do you want to jump in or tip toe around?  I call tip-toers hobbyists – they are owners when it is convenient for them. They take few risks and would rather not be bothered with the day-to-day challenge of running a successful business.  Hobbyists are great to compete against though – they give you a clear picture of the dangers of slacking off.

How do you know if a retail store is for you? Answer these questions:

What would you feel like if you had to work Christmas Eve until 8 pm?
Realize it could happen, no matter how great your employees.  Like Roseanne Roseannadanna said on Saturday Night Live, “It’s always something.”

What would you do when a friend’s child broke one of your expensive baubles and did not offer to pay for it?
It’s going to happen and it is best if you not take it personally.  You’ll need to be able to separate personal relations from your business.

How would you handle your manager leaving early and going skiing over the weekend without telling you in advance?
Would you be willing to reprimand them, especially a friend working for you?

What would you do if your favorite item that you stocked heavily didn’t sell?
You have to separate your personal favorites from what the marketplace desires.

Have you ever had to fire someone?
It’s part of doing business. If you hire them, eventually they will leave your or you’ll have to fire them.  You need to have the stomach to put someone out of work.

What would you do if you caught a shoplifter?
Shrinkage is not just from customers but also from salespeople.  A forceful response leads to less of it it happening in your store.

Do you hate repeating yourself?
Training is about sharing your vision of service and making your employees as close to a carbon copy of you as possible.  That takes a lot of time and reptition.

Do you genuinely like talking to other people?
Retail is connecting with people from your crew to your landlord to your vendors and to your customers.  If you don’t like to do that, this is probably not for you.

Do you get a thrill from making a sale?
The sense of accomplishment and rush from a particularly large sale is necessary to balance the inevitable slow day or January doldrums.

Have you visited other stores who carry similar products and know where they are weak?
Competition is healthy to see how you would be different.  You should not be afraid of anyone selling anything similar to you.

Could you survive financially for 8 – 18 months without drawing a salary from the business?
The greatest cause of retail businesses closing is due to having an unrealistic idea of breakeven and profitability.  Get enough money from your bank so you don’t cripple the business from the start.

Do you have a great location?
This can be a great asset but test it by asking your friends if they go to that center and why or why not. You don’t want to get “a deal” on a property only to learn later it was due to poor visibility or parking. You never want to be 100 feet from success so visibility is key.

Do you like to create a team atmosphere or do you want to be the “OWNER?”
Retail is teamwork.  Employees rarely go out of their way for the boss or the customer if they are afraid.

Do you have a great idea of how your retail business will standout from the rest?
A plan created early assures success. Who are your customers and why would they be willing to crawl over broken glass naked to come buy from you.

Are you prepared to work long hours?
The average retail store is open 70 hours a week including weekends.

Reasons not to open a retail store or your own business:

• I need to get out of the house.
• I have some money I need to do something with.
• I’m bored with my present job.
• I want to be my own boss.
• I love to buy things.
• I want to do something with my husband/partner/wife.
• I want to get the manufacturer discount and never pay retail again.

Reasons to open a retail store or own your own business:

• You want to create wealth for yourself and your family.
• You want to make a difference in your community by opening a store that meets their needs.
• You want to create opportunities for people in your community to better themselves through working with you.
• You have a passion to serve others by helping them purchase items.

Yes you can have a passion to serve others, but without the rest of the sentence, you could be a welfare worker.

To get a head start on your decision, pick up a copy of The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business.

I’ve taken their responses and categorized them in two basic areas regardless of job title:

Basic

• Answer Phones
• Assemble merchandise
• Basic Cleaning
• Direct Customers
• Dust
• Face shelves
• Meet & greet/Welcome Customers
• Mop Floors
• Open/Close store
• Price products
• Replace Stock
• Ring up customers
• Show up on time
• Smile
• Wash windows
• Water Plants

Complex

• Anticipate Needs
• Be Courteous/Sincere
• Be creative
• Be On Time
• Be positive
• Believe In Your Product
• Brand Representation
• Build Mailing List
• Change Showroom Looks
• Create Promotions
• Create staff competitions
• Demos
• Displays
• Educate the Consumer
• Explain Customer Perks
• Further Education
• Give Opinions/Ideas
• Give store tours
• Keep Up On Blog
• Listen
• Look for New Products
• Love their Job
• Maintain Business Inventory
• Maintain Store Computers
• Newsletters
• Place Orders
• Price Products
• Problem solve
• Product Research
• Respect Each Other
• Respect Your Company
• Satisfy Customers
• Sell
• Show community love
• Show Customer Empathy
• Social Networking
• Special Orders
• Thank You Notes
• Use psychology
• Website Updates

It is a varied list. Now look at the few roles you see employees doing in stores:

• Answer Phones
• Clean
• Direct Customers
• Price Products
• Replace Stock
• Ring up customers

Is it a wonder they don’t excel, go out of their way to surprise and delight or otherwise provide an exceptional experience?

While we can say this is exacerbated  by the personality styles we hire, it is more basic than that.

Every day is the same.  Put your head down and do the work. Unfortunately, that creates a drone-like atmosphere where no one stands out.

Retail employees need just as varied a day as anyone else. What would you add to the list and how do you keep it fresh for your employees?

We need to cut spending!

We need to draw in our belts!

We need to trim like every family is doing in America!

They acknowledge they can’t raise taxes during a slow economic recovery. So they keep saying the same thing over and over, namely, cut, cut, cut.  In many cases, they have proposed going beyond anything we’ve seen before.

But this is not a blog about politics…

They are about 3 years behind what many businesses have been doing. The trouble is, many too have cut past the fat and muscle; into the bone.

How else you explain three or four employees covering an entire floor of a department store? Showrooms full of stacks of merchandise? Deferred maintenance on store exteriors?

The trouble is, most aren’t looking at how to get more money in.

While owners may be reading articles on how to save money on your small business utilities, the amount of money saved is nothing compared to the upside of focusing on how to capture more of your market.

For example, the sweet spot for restaurant food costs is 26 – 30%. If yours are running at 50% what is really happening is that you’re not busy enough and having to throw out much of what you purchase. So instead of trying to cheapen up your menu, get better servers! Or cooks! Increase revenues and your percentages go into place.

Instead of looking at yet another Santa Claus marketing attempt for your brand like using the online coupon sites, do sales training to convert more shoppers to buyers.

If you are a village, town or state, you need to look at how to get businesses to be doing better, not just trying to attract new ones with fat tax-free incentives.

If government has gone past cutting the fat, through the muscle, and into the bone, as the economy picks up, they may have accidentally gotten rid of the very thing that makes their community special.

If you are a business and you’ve cut past the fat, past the muscles and into the bone, you may have accidentally created a stagnant business with few opportunities, and a prime target for a competitor to clean your clock.

It isn’t incumbent on someone else to make you successful – its up to you.

While no one is saying go out and spend like a drunken sailor, balance any cuts with how you will grow revenues.

Remember: a rising tide lifts all boats.

For more ideas on how to grow your business, check out The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business (Wiley)

The fear starts when the phone rings and your caller ID shows it is your business.  You are snapped out of pleasant feelings into the “fight or flight” mode so you answer, “What’s wrong?”

Or …

You just got into the office, put your keys on the desk and an employee says, “We have to talk.”

You know its not going to be good in either situation. Don’t care if you are the biggest manufacturer or smallest retailer, here is the worst thing they could say to you and how you might handle it.

I’m quitting today.

It may have come out of the blue from your best and brightest. Or from your assistant who takes care of much of the day-to-day problem solving.  And they may have even offered to give two weeks notice.  (I’m not talking about someone who has a catastrophic family emergency and has to quit or addressing the legalities of your states’ employment laws.)

But I am talking about the random quitter.

It might even have come from the one you’ve hated working with for awhile. You know the one…

You’ve written them up a couple times. You’ve taken my quiz to clarify your thoughts so those four words elicit a sigh of relief. The nightmare employee is leaving of their own accord. Whoo-hoo! Get the check! No drama. No more complaints and no unemployment benefits being paid.

Either case is not so good, right? You envision yourself being chained to the business, working long hours, handling the mundane events on the field instead of being up in the blimp directing strategy.

In either case, you have three options:

1. If you say, “I’ll get your last check right now, ” it may come off sounding unfeeling and harsh.

2. If you say, “Let’s talk about it,” the employee has you reacting to them. If they’ve threatened it more than once, it could be a way to assert control.   They may feel neglected or want to assert their need for approval.

3. If you say, “I’m sorry, what can I do to get you to stay?”  You’ve as much as given them the keys to your wallet. We’ve all done it, thinking we were good bosses by acknowledging we should have been paying closer attention to their performance and now want to make up for it.

Number one is really your only option and here’s why…

When you tell them you’re getting their check, you deal with all the awfulness. You force yourself to accept the inevitable, and you avoid contaminating your other employees.

It’s much like a marriage where someone is having an affair – their interest is elsewhere. Even if they try to keep up appearances, they already have somewhere else they’d rather be. You need to let them go there.

Option number two has you becoming their counselor, and then you are being seen as an equal rather than a boss.  This can lead you to keep an employee out of sympathy even though it will cost you business.

Or it might just lead them to vent their frustrations on the business and make it all your fault.

I know, I had a guy set up a meeting after I invited him to “talk about it.”  He gave me four pages about why our business sucked. Some of which was true but did nothing to improve his situation.

Why?

Because once he had determined to go, I didn’t have the desire to address his concerns and make changes. I had lost trust just like he had. If he had come to me before quitting, it might have been different and that is regrettable. We both should have valued our relationship more.

The weakest is option number three, bargaining to give you some room.  Frequently this results in the employee receiving a raise.

Sorry, but I’ve never seen it work. Sure she might stay because she’s making a little more money but she’ll still be wanting to quit and eventually will.  That kind of employee certainly won’t grow sales when someone comes in contact with them.

Just like a rich spouse who offers more money or extravagant vacations, you’ll learn that’s not what it takes to keep them happy and you’re just postponing the inevitable.

Certainly we all fear the phone call, but people have quit your business many times before and you did fine. You found even better employees the next time. You modified the way you managed. You started to notice the warning signs. You regularly checked-in with employees. You grew.

That isn’t a bad thing, its how you become stronger.

When the employee’s mind goes, so should their body.

Bob Phibbs is the Retail Doctor®, helping businesses of all sizes grow and deliver an exceptional experience for their customers since 1994.  His latest creation is the magazine Prosperous Retailing which you can order here.