What does a floppy, rubber chicken and $100 got to do with keeping great employees motivated? Plenty, according to David C. Novak, Chairman and CEO of Yum Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and other successful restaurants).  In an interview in yesterday’s New York Times, he explained, “I’d go into a restaurant and I would see a cook who’d been there for 25 years and the product was great, so I’d give him a floppy chicken. I’d write on it and tell him his ‘Original Recipe’ was fantastic, and take a picture of him with me. And then I’d give him $100 because you couldn’t eat a floppy chicken.”

Novak believes, as I do, “– that people have an innate need for well-deserved recognition. Using recognition is the best way to build a high-energy, fun culture and reinforce the behaviors that drive results.”

Mr. Novak made several points worth repeating. (His comments are in quotes.)

• You can’t give “too much” recognition.
• People are “starved” for feedback that will help them improve. It’s the managers’ job to provide employees with specific, actionable suggestions.
• Recognition needs to have two components. “One, it needs to be deserved. And, two, it needs to come from the heart.”
• When offering feedback always start with giving the employee credit for what he or she is doing right. “When you start out by talking to people about what they’re doing well, that makes them very receptive for feedback.”
• After that he phrases his suggestion for improvment this way: “And you can be even more effective if you do this.”
• Choose your words carefully. “I think ‘but’ is a killer word. ‘And’ really recognizes the appreciation part. If you say ‘but,’ it throws all the appreciation stuff out the window.”
• “No one is going to care about you unless you care about them.”
• Focus on recognizing the people who are “getting it done.” “Why be selfish on the thing that matters most people?”

This week think about what your equivalent of Novak’s “floppy, rubber chicken” could be. With a little creativity, I bet you can find your own “original recipe” for letting your people know that you care about them.
Gee, you look younger.

Since returning from my 9-day meditation retreat in northern Wisconsin, my friends have been asking me what the experience was like. They can’t quite fathom the idea of not talking for that long, let alone having zero contact with the outside world (no phone, email, newspaper, etc.) Frankly, neither could I until I actually did it.

I can’t find the words to explain the impact the experience had on me. Suffice it to say that I am a different and much happier person for having done it. I’d do it again in a heart beat. I guess my state of blissed-out happiness is noticeable. My friend, Machelle, said that “I look younger.” Now, that’s a bonus I didn’t expect.

( This is a photo of my happy roomies and me on the last day of the retreat. Left to right: me, Jean, Leah and Natalie.)