The Carrot Principle - Softcover

Book Description
Got carrotphobia? Do you think that recognizing your employees will distract you and your team from more serious business, create jealousy, or make you look soft? Think again.The Carrot Principle reveals the groundbreaking results of one of the most in-depth management studies ever undertaken, showing definitively that the central characteristic of the most successful managers is that they provide their employees with frequent and effective recognition. With independent research from The Jackson Organization and analysis by bestselling leadership experts Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, this breakthrough study of 200,000 people over ten years found dramatically greater business results when managers offered constructive praise and meaningful rewards in ways that powerfully motivated employees to excel.

Drawing on case studies from leading companies including Disney, DHL, KPMG, and Pepsi Bottling Group, bestselling authors Gostick and Elton show how the transformative power of purpose-based recognition produces astonishing increases in operating results--whether measured by return on equity, return on assets, or operating margin. And they show how great managers lead with carrots, not sticks, and in doing so achieve higher

* Productivity
* Engagement
* Retention
* Customer satisfaction

The Carrot Principle illustrates that the relationship between recognition and improved business results is highly predictable--it's proven to work. But it's not the employee recognition some of us have been using for years. It is recognition done right, recognition combined with four other core traits of effective leadership.

Gostick and Elton explain the remarkably simple but powerful methods great managers use to provide their employees with effective recognition, which all managers can easily learn and begin practicing for immediate results. Great recognition doesn't take time--it can be done in a matter of moments--and it doesn't take budget-busting amounts of money. This exceptional book presents the simple steps to becoming a Carrot Principle manager and to building a recognition culture in your organization; it offers a wealth of specific examples, culled from real-life cases, of the ways to do recognition right. Following these simple steps will make you a high-performance leader and take your team to a new level of achievement.

"The Carrot Principle: How Great Managers Use Employee Recognition"
An Essay by Adam Gostick and Chester Elton
For organizations that do it right, it's a bit like discovering gold in your backyard. Employee recognition, long considered a benefit that costs money, can actually be a management tool that makes money. At first blush, the idea is counter-intuitive. As leaders, we've become accustomed to viewing recognition programs as a cost of doing business. But employee recognition is evolving. A groundbreaking research study of 200,000 employees, unveiled in our new book The Carrot Principle, presents a new paradigm: Applying employee recognition techniques within a context of goal-setting, open communication, trust and accountability, (what we have come to call the Basic Four) accelerates the impact of all of these critical management skills.

Continue reading "The Carrot Principle: How Great Managers Use Employee Recognition"

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Adrian Gostick is the New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Carrot Principle and The Orange Revolution, which are sold in more than 50 countries around the world. He is a founder of the global training and consulting firm The Culture Works, with a focus in Recognition, Teamwork, and Culture. Learn more at TheCultureWorks.com or AdrianGostick.com Chester Elton is co-author of the best-selling "Managing with Carrots," nominated as the SHRM Book of the Year. He is also co-author of "The 24-Carrot Manager" and "A Carrot a Day." As a motivation expert, Chester has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fast Company and has been a guest on CNN, Bloomberg Television and on National Public Radio. A sought-after speaker and recognition consultant, Chester is vice president of performance recognition with the O.C. Tanner Recognition Company. He has been a featured speaker at the Society for Human Resource Management annual conference, HR Southwest, Incentive Magazine Forums, New York City Premium and Incentive Show, and Chicago Motivation Show. He serves as a recognition consultant to Fortune 100 firms such as Johnson & Johnson, AOL/Time Warner, Avis and KPMG