Creating meaningful, engaging experiences for employees is the most critical component to achieving business growth (if you don’t believe me, there are numerous studies to back up this claim, including this one).
I am always surprised that discussions about growth-hacking are solely dedicated to product and technology hacks. Employee engagement hacks are equally (if not more) important.
An example of an efficient and impactful employee engagement hack is included in this story featuring Yum Brands CEO David Novak. Yum Brands achieved a CAGR of over 17% between 1997-2013 (pretty good for his industry at the time !). He credits corporate growth to a unique culture of recognition, including the now-famous “rubber chicken” strategy:
When I became president of KFC, I wanted to break through the clutter on recognition, so I gave away these rubber chickens. They were called floppy chickens. 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. I now give away these big sets of smiling teeth with legs on them for people walking the talk on behalf of our customer.
So, before you strategize about SEO or launch an Instagram campaign consider: What is your Rubber Chicken?
The Growth Hack Lab 