https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/jeff-bezosamazon-just-offered-employees-10000-quitreal-glazer
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Jeff Bezos & Amazon Just Offered
Employees $10,000 to Quit. Here's Why It's
Brilliant
Published on May 16, 2019
Robert Glazer
Entrepreneur, Best-Selling Author and Speaker |Founder & CEO @ Acceleration Partners
218 articles
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Jeff Bezos found a new way to push the envelope as a strategic thinker. This week, Amazon
offered $10,000—in addition to up to three months’ pay—to employees who quit the company
and start a package delivery business.
This decision was driven by Amazon’s new Delivery Service Partner program, which drew
tens of thousands of applicants. When many Amazon employees applied for the program, but
were hesitant about transitioning to their own venture, Bezos decided to give them an incentive
for taking a risk.
At face value, giving people a financial incentive to quit seems like bad business. But it’s a great
example of sacrificing in the short term to win in the long term, and another brilliant strategic
decision by Bezos. Here are three reasons why:
People who want to leave should quit
A problem many companies encounter is when employees decide they want to quit, but stay on
for months, or even years, because they are either unmotivated to job hunt or are simply afraid to
take a risk. Employees like this can be more damaging than those who quit abruptly—they grow
more disengaged and dissatisfied, and can often spread that attitude to their colleagues. It’s no
surprise that over half of American workers are disengaged in their jobs.
While many of the employees who applied for the Delivery Service Partnership were certainly
engaged at Amazon, it’s reasonable to expect that their desire to start their own business would
grow over time. By offering this incentive, Amazon provided employees with an opportunity to
exit on good terms, rather than become dissatisfied and unproductive later.
The fact is that starting a business is risky, and quitting a lucrative job to do so is even riskier. By
offering an incentive, Amazon is addressing the financial concerns that might make an employee
unwilling to take the plunge. Bezos is eliminating some of that fear by giving an opportunity for
an amicable exit, and money to start fresh.
Good employees can become even better owners
Before I started Acceleration Partners back over a decade ago, I was torn between taking a fulltime role or trying my own idea. A friend who recruited me told me, as a compliment, that I was
close to becoming unemployable.
He was right. Many people are better suited to building their own business than they are to being
an employee at somebody else’s. Skills like thinking outside the box, breaking from past policies
and procedures and leading down a new path are vital for entrepreneurship, but can be detriments
as an employee. Many entrepreneurs spent years bored by office jobs, or were dropped from one
company after another because they couldn’t fit in.
Bezos knows as well as anybody that people who want to start their own businesses probably
will at some point. If Amazon has employees who could perform better at the helm of their own
company, and they can build a company that can be a valuable partner to Amazon, it’s smart to
give those employees the tools they need to do it.
It advances Amazon’s long-term vision
Most importantly, Bezos’ decision isn’t simply an innovative way to manage talent—it’s in
pursuit of a key strategic priority. Amazon created the Delivery Service Partnership as part
of a long-term goal to become less dependent on FedEx and UPS. Amazon is pursuing a future
where several delivery companies provide options around the United States for Amazon to ship
its products, leading to better prices and service.
By encouraging employees who start delivery companies Amazon is investing in the exact
partners they need—and building a mutually beneficial partnership from the ground up.
Bezos and his team recognize that achieving a long-term goal requires committing fully to it and
incentivizing actions that lead toward that goal—even if it means sacrificing in the shortterm. Bezos is betting that spending money now to build a network of delivery partners will pay
off exponentially in the future. Given Amazon’s track record, it’s probably a smart bet.
Bezos has always valued three core principles most at Amazon: customer value, speed of
delivery and price. This incentive is an opportunity to advance all three tenants with one move.
Unhappy employees move on, customers get their packages faster, and Amazon will save on
costs by being less dependent on UPS and FedEx—and helping to keep prices competitive as a
result.
While offering $10,000 to quitting employees seems unconventional, it’s another demonstration
of how Bezos and Amazon are often playing chess in a world that is playing checkers.
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Robert Glazer is the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners, an awardwinning performance marketing agency ranked #4 on Glassdoor’s best places to work. Robert
was also named to Glassdoor’s list of Top CEO of Small and Medium Companies in the US,
ranking #2.