Skip to content 
WHY YOU SHOULD PAY YOUR EMPLOYEES TO QUIT
By Stig Brodersen
If you announced today that you’d pay a huge amount to anyone in your company to step up and quit his or her job right this instant, how many employees would you have left by tomorrow?
If you’re not sure of the answer, then let me ask you another question. First, look around your office and mentally count the familiar faces you see – the ones whom you know have been there ever since you started. Compare this to the number of new faces you get introduced to every week, month, or year.
Do you see more unfamiliar faces than familiar ones?
If yes, then it might be time to rethink your strategy and review your company culture.
If it’s the other way around, then let me tell you what you’re doing right.
Company culture
When we hear the word “culture,” the first thing that comes to our minds is how this defines countries or the factor that makes ethnicities distinct from one another. This is the typical notion of culture – that it is an intangible aspect that permeates the lives of a particular group of humans.
This could very well translate in companies. Although businesses do not necessarily exhibit very specific ways of working on their goals or develop languages just for their people, every company has a unique culture. This is not written in the guidelines or contract of the employees. It is a lifestyle.
A company culture is manifested in the day to day lives of every person working with the group. This could be seen and felt in the way things are done and discussed among employees.
Whether they are aware of it or not, the behavior of the people in a company is governed by this intangible guiding energy. In fact, a company culture is so ingrained in everyone’s psyche that it could easily be observed even without their top bosses around to check on how the employees are dealing with their work.
Healthy company culture
In a nutshell, a healthy company culture nurtures the passion and energy of its employees. That is, every member of the team gets up in the morning eager and excited to help the company grow. Ultimately, a healthy and happy workplace inspires employees to strive to become better and more efficient workers.
Naysayers would strongly argue that investing in nurturing a healthy company culture is a complete waste of time.
Most would say that high salaries and bonuses should be enough to encourage employees to do well in their jobs and contribute to the growth of the company. Businesses should generally allocate money for more tangible investments than vague notions of “happiness” among its employees.
After all, how much should one actually invest in the employees’ happiness? Is it really worth the effort and the money? Or is the necessity to foster a healthy company culture just a passing fad or trend destined to be soon forgotten the moment ROIs and portfolio take center stage once more?
It goes without saying that these results stem from a healthy company culture. A toxic and stressful work environment could subsequently drive away employees – yes, even the most desperate ones. After all, you can never ever put a price tag on peace of mind.
Company culture gone wrong
One of the most widely reported negative effects of the results of a poor company culture is the case of Wells Fargo.
The scheme not only saw an exodus of valued customers who could no longer trust the company and its people but also of disgruntled employees who opted to throw in the towel instead of serving as the scapegoats of higher ups also involved in the scandal.
Although imposing a quota to the employees was the primary reason for their participation in the scheme, the huge bonuses, and cash rewards bred greed among those who already achieved their initial goals.
These incentives eventually backfired as the workers turned a blind eye to unethical practices and strove to aggressively pocket more cash for their own accounts.
The combination of both a punishing and money-driven environment gradually built a toxic and suffocating environment to Wells Fargo employee – one that later on proved to be detrimental to the company’s future.
The cash value of a good company culture
While creating a healthy and happy company culture should be high on a company’s checklist, it should not be assumed that financial gains do not matter.
Actually, profits should still remain as a priority but not as an end all and be all of a company’s existence. The trick is learning to balance the crucial aspects of workers’ happiness along with achieving concrete goals such as earning from investments.
Research reveals that the majority of employees often only bring in 20 percent of their potential to their workplaces. However, a happy and healthy company culture has the capacity to encourage a higher percentage of its staff with some studies even claiming that the figure could double to 40 percent.
Across the United States, it was found that the biggest losses of businesses occur when their employees hold back in terms of creativity or are not encouraged enough to exert their maximum potential in their workplaces.
To create a more tangible scenario, picture the minimal loss at 5 percent per company. This means that the total losses of these businesses in a year could reach approximately trillions of wasted dollars.
Moreover, studies found that employees with happy employees outperformed their competitors by 20 percent. Contented employees tend to care more about their company’s goals. They are more participative and engaged in contributing to the growth of the business.
Providing them with a healthy work environment and nurturing a great culture would inspire them to treat their jobs at a more personal level. The company will cease to become just a place to earn cash, but a second home with them treating their colleagues as dear friends and even family.
These workers are also 12 percent more productive and capable of producing 37 percent more sales.
Let’s face it. The truth is, most people spend more time at work than at home. With this in mind, the stress and pressure from a toxic job could drive anyone to either quit or just function in a marginally acceptable manner. But, why are happy employees more productive and efficient in their jobs?
The answer is simple. Employees who look forward to spending time in the office and with their colleagues perceive their jobs as fun and exciting. Hence, they are more inspired and tend to be more productive.
They also have lesser chances of getting distracted as they do not view their work as a boring or tedious responsibility but as a fulfilling role.
Even sick leaves are affected as happy employees opt for 10 times fewer days off than their unhappy counterparts. This result actually has a scientific basis. Studies showed that happiness fortifies the immune system.
It even lifts a person’s energy level and makes one less susceptible to stress. Meanwhile, unhappy employees suffer from anxiety and stress which could cause problems in the cardiovascular and immune systems.
Simply put, a happier workplace has the potential to produce more competitive, healthy, and efficient workers. In turn, the increase in productivity and efficiency will translate to higher profits for the company.
Company culture done right
The most surprising statistic in terms of employees’ satisfaction is the fact that a resounding 36 percent would willingly give up $5,000 worth of annual salary just to be part of a healthy and happy workplace.
In fact, some employees revealed that they would turn them higher paying jobs to keep their positions in companies that value them more and provide healthier environments. However, achieving a happy and healthy company culture works both ways and requires effort from all parties concerned.
Tony Hsieh, the CEO of online shoe company Zappos and author of best-selling book “Delivering Happiness,” has one of the unique ways of fostering a healthy workplace culture. In his book, he revealed that every person hired in his company would be required to undergo the same training as the rest.
Regardless of the position the person signed up for, he or she would be included in the four-week program in which they are taught to handle calls from the company’s customers.
After their first week with the program, they would be offered an upfront payment for the time they spent in the training along with a cash bonus of $2,000 to quit and abandon the company right away.
Although a lot of people would raise their eyebrows on this strategy, Hsieh explained that it would be a better investment for his company to basically weed out those who are simply with them for the paycheck.
This means that the people opting to agree with the offer after the first week are those who are not fit to form part of the company culture. Hence, the businessman believes that it would be in their best interest to just pay these employees to leave.
However, Hsieh rejected the notion that there is something wrong with the people who chose to take the offer. Instead, he pointed out that the company culture does not revolve around money. So, those who opted to stay rather than take home the bonus shares the same values with the rest of the employees in the company.
He also reveals that potential employees undergo two sets of interviews. The first would be to assess the qualifications of the candidate in terms of professional background and other relevant factors.
It’s the second set though that catches the attention of other companies as it is dedicated solely to determine whether or not the applicant fits in the company’s culture. In this round, the human resources department evaluates if the personal values of the candidate agree with the business’ vision.
The objective is to find an employee who naturally typifies the brand both in and out of the office.
In a sense, Hsieh’s efforts push the employees to reveal the true nature of their personalities and be comfortable with it. His goal is to foster a workplace that allows employees to just be themselves.
That is, he wants his workers to be comfortable in their own skin and not put up a front when they get to the office. His goal is to integrate his employees’ work and home lives.
More than the profits, Hsieh values the happiness of his employees. But, he is also clear that earnings are an important aspect of the business.
This desire to strike a balance is apparent in his book, “Delivering Happiness,” as it has a subtitle of “A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose.” To achieve long-term success, he believes that companies must be able to find a way to inculcate these three aspects of its corporate culture.
Ultimately, Hsieh’s company has been successfully fostering a healthy and happy workplace because he himself believes in the values they look for in their employees.
His determination to ensure that his workers are content, well-appreciated, and inspired in their jobs resonates across the entire business that even the lowliest member of the team feels valued and included in the plans moving forward.
This article was originally published at Yahoo! Finance.
