LOS ANGELES (KNX) – It’s an offer that seems too good to be true - $5,000 to leave a company if a new hire doesn’t want to stay there.
That’s exactly what Arizona-based tech company, Trainual, does.
Chris Ronzio, the company’s founder and CEO, told In Depth there is more than meets the eye to such an initiative.
“It’s encouraging a better culture, we feel, by giving the employees an opportunity to really double opt in to working here,” he explained. “So they opt in the first time they accept the job, and then after they go through two weeks of training and onboarding, meeting all the people, understanding their role, they opt in again by refusing this cash offer.”
Ronzio said the idea came to him when he heard Zappos had conducted something very similar.
The concept, according to Business Insider, was one of many ideas that Tony Hseih, the late former CEO of Zappos, implemented. The program, named “The Offer,” offered a $2,000 bonus to new employees who quit after one month of training.
Trainual started the program in May 2020 with a $2,500 offer.
“We doubled it once no one took it after the first 25 or so people, so we’ve had 39 people turn down this offer so far,” Ronzio said.
It’s a concept, Ronzio believes, is a win-win.
“It’s good for the person if they can get out early and not feel stuck in some place that’s not a long-term fit, and it’s good for the company because at the time we’re hiring someone and training them, we probably have a pool of applicants of other people we could have offered the job to,” he said.
“And if one person doesn’t work out, we’d rather move on to the next than be stuck with someone for six months or 12 months and they quit when they’ve got a lot more responsibility.”
But Ronzio is not worried someone might sneak their way into getting the prestigious offer.
“We have such faith and trust in our operations and our people's opps department. They go through such a great process with screening and interviewing and our hiring managers are tremendous so if we really believe in our company and our process then we’re only gonna hire great people,” he said.
There have been some people, however, who have reached out to Ronzio to get the $5,000 without the interview.
“I’ve had people messaging me their direct Venmo handles and saying, ‘Let’s just skip the process! Just send me the money!’”
Listen to the full interview in the audio above.
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