Chester Elton

Have you ever received a hand written note from a friend? Or a thank-you note for a wedding gift that you gave? Maybe even a note from the parent of a kid you coached in a community sports league? It feels good, doesn’t it? You may have even kept it in your “pick me up” file to read when the days get a little tough.

Well, when was the last time that you received a note at work? When was the last time you wrote a note to someone that works with you? Too long I am willing to bet.

At Jumeirah hotels, headquartered in Dubai in the UAE, the owners have a new program that hopes to change that. “The CEO Thank You” program opens the door for any employee to get a personalized thank-you note from their CEO Guy Crawford. Ten colleagues every month will receive a hand-written note from Guy thanking them for their great work and their dedication to the Jumeirah brand; a personal touch from the very top. I LOVE it!

While talking with Alan Simpson, Director of Learning and Development for Jumeirah, he spoke about how he was constantly trying to “personalize” the workplace for all employees. “From the CEO to the doorman, we want everyone to feel appreciated,” he told me. “Everyone needs a Carrot!” This is a small and yet very effective way to create a sense of well-being in the workplace. Very simple, VERY SMART!

So many times we look for ways to communicate what we value most. We want to be creative and make a BIG SPLASH when the best answer is often the most simple and most personal. A hand written thank-you note could be just the thing to do all of that, and it’s easy.

So here is the challenge: Buy a stack of notes and start writing today. Try to drop a note to just two or three people a day for two weeks and see what happens. You may not be the CEO of a multinational corporation, but I know you will be surprised at the impact a note from you will bring. Try it. I think you’ll like it!

Want to drive engagement?

Want to really win the hearts and minds of your team?

Take a trip together!

I have worked at the O. C. Tanner Recognition Company for almost 18 years now and, being a recognition company, they really know how to make you feel appreciated. One way is through annual sales incentive trips. This year the trip is a Mediterranean cruise: How cool is that? We will spend 8 days on the ocean going to 5 different ports of call creating memories with our families and coworkers and senior management. It will be an incredible experience for us personally and a way to build strong relationships professionally.

Not every company can afford to go on a cruise, but you can create your own trips that can be just as impactful. Stephen Thorne, President and Founder of Pacific Dental Services in Irvine, CA has an annual conference in San Diego every year where he not only brings in his dentists and their teams, but allows them to bring their spouses as well. It is a couple of days of fun, learning and team building that impacts all of his employees and their families. It is brilliant!

If you want to reach the hearts and minds of your employees, don’t forget to reach the hearts and minds of their families too. Because, not only do the families enjoy these trips, but they help them better understand the goals of the organization and why their spouses are putting in all those extra hours. They better understand the sacrifices that have to be made for the company to move forward. It creates more understanding and support at home.

So find a way to create some memories with your team. Go on a trip together, create a memory and build a stronger team. You will get to your goals faster while building a lot of good will at home. I KNOW it works because I have been on several of these trips myself with my wife and sometimes with the kids too. They are memories that inspired me to work harder and better every time.

In this podcast, Chester reviews one of his favorite new books, "Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow" by Chip Conley.

5.24 minutes | Download | Read the Transcript

Transcript

CE:  Well this Chester Elton with your Carrot Culture podcast coming to you live and in color from beautiful downtown Summit, New Jersey, where I live and work, and I wanted to share with you a wonderful book that I’ve been reading by a gentleman named Chip Conley. 

The book is called “PEAK:  How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow.”  I had the chance to meet Chip at a SANG conference.  It’s kind of a networking place for speakers, and trainers, and entrepreneurs .  And I have to tell you, he is…he’s just beyond delightful.  If you want to have some fun, go to Youtube, search “Chip Conley”,  it’s C-o-n-l-e-y, and listen to his speech at TED.  He gave one of those, I think its a fourteen minute, or seventeen minute, or twelve minute, whatever it is, speech at TED on how you really drive your business by making it very personal.  He, as he was going through the recession, and he runs boutique hotels up in California, he’s done a brilliant job in creating this really unique environment, and very, very committed employees, and very, very loyal customers.

Anyway, as he was talking about how he came through the recession and how he wanted to continue to grow and make his business thrive, he really got down to the employee level, and I particularly like part two of his book, “The Relationship”,  and he creates several little other pyramids, if you’re familiar with Maslow’s pyramid, he takes it to kind of another level, he simplifies it, he redirects it and he talks about the employee pyramid and that’s what I wanted to share with you today.  Not only to encourage you to by Chip’s book, “PEAK”, but to start thinking about, in the workplace, your employee pyramid.

And, at the very bottom, you know, as you know, from Maslow,  you’ve got to take care of the basic need, and so at the bottom of the pyramid he’s got money, the pay, those things that you need to sort of get people in the door.

Second in the pyramid, it’s only a three tiered, three tier pyramid, he’s got recognition.  After you’ve taken care of the basic needs, people need to be appreciated.  They need to be engaged.  They need to feel that what they’re doing matters.

And at the very top, how do you give that work meaning?  How do you give it meaning?

Well, you know, through all the things that we try to do as we build our teams, and we build our organizations, is we want to plug in the right people in the right jobs.  To find those people, for example, in Chip’s business, in the hotel business, where ‘meaning’ for them is really taking care of other people, pleasing other people, making sure that they have a once in an life-time experience.  Find people where that meaning is important to them and then reinforce it with recognition, then of course, make sure that their pay is in line.

You know, the thing that I really enjoyed about meeting Chip is he was so genuine.  You knew that everything he talked about he believed to his very core, that absolutely you have to take care of the basics, but then when you add the level of recognition on top of that to reinforce all those good behaviors and find out what is meaningful to the employees, that’s when you start to get what he calls, “peak performance” and really drive results.

Well, you know, from time to time when I find a really great book, I want to pass it on to you and encourage you to keep learning and keep reading.  You know one of my favorite quotes from Mohandis Gandi is, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow, but learn as if you were to live forever,” and there’s no better way to keep learning than to keep reading whether it’s on your ipad, or your kindle, or the good old fashion, you know, book from Barnes and Noble, or Amazon, or your local book store.  So today let me recommend Chip Conley’s book “PEAK:  How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow.” 

I think you will really enjoy it.  I hope you’ll keep learning.  I hope you’ll use all these kinds of things to help build your own Carrot Culture, and if you need anything, please go to our web site carrots.com, follow our blogs, follow us on twitter.  I’m at chester.com.  We’ve got Garrett the Carrot at @garrett_carrot.  He’s got a lot of great stuff and, of course, my wonderful co-author Adrian Gostick is simply at adriangostick. 

Well, I hope you know that we’re rooting for you.  We’ll do our best to give you the tools to really build great teams and great organizations, and reading and learning more from great leaders like Chip Conley is just one way to do that. 

Hey, know we are cheering for you.  Have a great day.  I’ll talk to you again soon.  Take care.

End 4:48

I just flew Continental Flight 41 from Rome to Newark, NJ and this is the Carrot Flight Crew!

Lead by Eddie Goldman, these three attendants at the back of the plane made our 7-hour flight a delight. They were courteous, helpful and kind. I am always impressed when I see a team that enjoys their work and each other.

I got to know Eddie best given the fact that he was also on our flight to Rome a week earlier. He is originally from Hawaii but speaks flawless Italian--how cool is that? It's a little unusual, so I wanted to know how it was possible that a guy from the Aloha State could speak Italian so well.

Eddie loves his job. It is evident in everything he does and how he does it. He realized on his frequent flights to Italy that having an Italian speaker wasn’t always possible, and that it was critical for the passengers to fully understand the instructions and the procedures on the flight. In case of an emergency it could be life saving. So he started to study the language.

He took a few classes, made some Italian friends and practiced, practiced and practiced! I speak semi-fluent Italian but I can tell when someone speaks well. Eddie doesn’t just speak Italian well; he speaks with a wonderful accent. I thought that perhaps his mother was Italian!

Here is what I love about this story. He wasn’t asked by Continental Airlines to learn Italian. He saw a need at work, and took it upon himself to develop that skill. He knew it would help the crews he worked with, the passengers on his flights and make the flying experience better for everyone. It was HIS idea.

When we take it upon ourselves to commit to personal excellence, everyone wins. It builds better teams, team members and a better customer experience.

For his wonderful commitment to excellence, I awarded Eddie the Carrot of the Flight!

You can learn more about Eddie’s story on his FaceBook page.

Giving praise without a purpose is like a boat with holes in it. It just doesn’t float.
   
Recognition is not about being nice; it’s about results. So, before you make a single awards presentation, sit down and figure out what you want to accomplish. Don’t hold back, imagine your ideal future. Then consider these specifics:

  *  What do our clients value?
  *  What does the company value?
  *  What do our employees value?
  *  What is our basic purpose?
  *  What is our competitive situation?
  *  What will make us more productive, more valuable to our company, more efficient in the purpose of our vision?

Once you’ve got a plan, put it into action through recognition.