The October issue of the Carrot Culture newsletter is focused on how organizations can achieve measurable results through The Carrot Principle. Last month we hosted the 5th annual Carrot Culture Summit in Boston, MA, where business leaders from across the country met to share best practices. This two-day event was packed with stories of wildly successful organizations who get what recognition is all about. Click below to read more of what the Summit was all about.
Oh, we remember the cooing. The cute little burps and hiccups. It seems like just yesterday we started with a baby carrot. But today our little baby is now in the real world, creating real results.
It was five years ago when we held our first Carrot Culture Summit in New York. Quite honestly, we weren’t sure if anyone would show up for that first event. Of course, we were thrilled to have more than 100 executives attend, even though it was little more than positive affirmation that the ideas in The Carrot Principle could work.
Did they work? Fast forward five full years to a few weeks ago—business leaders from around the world met in Boston for the fifth annual Summit. And this year, it was all about results—dramatic business results that organizations are seeing from living The Carrot Principle.
Ned Lidvall, CEO of Friendly Ice Cream Corp., and Cheryl Hutchinson, Friendly’s senior director of human resources, kicked off the event with details on how the 500-restaurant, 13,000-employee chain differentiates in their very crowded market.
Said Ned, “Every restaurant has a chicken Caesar salad. The way to win in a sea of sameness is to capture the hearts and heads of your people. You can’t pay people to be creative and passionate. You must create a culture that inspires behaviors through recognition.”
Cheryl added to that comment, saying that her organization turned to Carrots after an eye-opening employee survey in 2004, which showed a majority of workers did not understand the big picture, did not feel thanked for their efforts, and did not feel their manager cared about them.
It’s stories like this that have cultivated growth—both of The Carrot Principle and the organizations who have become our close friends.
Back then, the executive team at Friendly Ice Cream Corp. agreed that a change was in order, but most thought cash rewards would work best. Cheryl put her foot down. “They thought cash was king. They said, ‘Just give them cash or a $10 gift certificate.’ I asked them if they still had a box of trophies in the attic from high school? Yep, everyone did. The items in those boxes tell a story. That’s what recognition is. We want to have something that helps us remember our achievements.”
Cheryl then developed a recognition solution that connected to real business results—such as guest recovery and teamwork. And the results have been outstanding, including a 40-point upswing in trust levels on their employee surveys, not to mention stronger sales, higher guest counts, less guest complaints and lower employee turnover.
“The cost savings from reduced turnover alone funds recognition at Friendly’s,” said Cheryl. “How can you afford not to have a recognition program? It accelerates business results.”
Is that the full scoop? No way. The stories at the Summit continued to pile up…
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