While "innovation" is a positive word for most companies, knowing what this means for your industry is important. You shouldn't hire a candidate just because you think they have a different style. It's critical to consider the specific ways your CEO should innovate and why you need such innovation.
Amazon's Jeff Bezos has certainly received attention for his emphasis on technical innovations. However, in a recent letter to its shareholders, Amazon announced, among other things, that it will be instituting a "Pay to Quit" program for its employees.
A few aspects of this feature are noteworthy. First, the program is buried in the center of the letter, and is only a part of a broader series of new initiatives , including a virtual support system and a plan to support employee education. Bezos also notes that this wasn't entirely his idea, giving credit to "the clever people at Zappos" for coming up with the concept.
Essentially, Amazon will offer an escalating financial reward to employees to leave, starting at $2,000 and increasing every year. It may seem like bad practice to do this, but in the letter Bezos describes his rationale.
"The goal is to encourage folks to take a moment and think about what they really want," he said. "In the long-run, an employee staying somewhere they don't want to be isn't healthy for the employee or the company."
A report by PayScale published last year showed that Amazon employees had a relatively low level of loyalty. As Rachel Lerman of the Puget Sound Business Journal noted, more than 70 percent of the workers for that company have high satisfaction, yet the average length of stay in a position there is only one year.
If you're looking for a leader with the CEO experience to bring this sort of innovation to your company's processes, an executive recruitment consultant can help.
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