Feeling Unrecognized at Work? You’re Not Alone, says David Novak | Big Think

Feeling Unrecognized at Work? You’re Not Alone

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People want to know that their efforts matter, says former Yum! Foods CEO David Novak, but 82 percent of workers say they don't feel recognized by their supervisors.

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DAVID NOVAK:

David Novak is the former Executive Chairman of Yum! Brands, following a successful 14 year run as the Chairman and CEO of one of the world’s largest restaurant companies (KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell). In 2014, Yum! was named among the top 100 Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility magazine. Novak has been recognized as “2012 CEO of the Year” by Chief Executive magazine, one of the “30 Best CEOs” by Barron’s, one of the “Top People in Business” by Fortune and one of the “100 Best Performing CEOs in the World” by Harvard Business Review. He is the recipient of the 2012 UN World Food Program Leadership Award for the Yum! Brands World Hunger Relief effort, which raises awareness, volunteerism and funds to address this global problem. Novak created the largest privately funded leadership service program for middle and high schools called Lead2Feed. It is based on a successful leadership program he personally taught at Yum!, which centered on teamwork and a belief in people. Novak received the Horatio Alger Award for his commitment to philanthropy and higher education. A renowned expert on leadership and recognition culture, Novak is the author of two highly respected and critically acclaimed books, The Education of an Accidental CEO and the New York Times bestseller, Taking People With You. Novak is now launching a new consumer brand, O Great One! (OGO), with the mission to inspire the amazing people in our lives through joyful, personal acts of recognition that deepen relationships.

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TRANSCRIPT:

David Novak: Deep down in the heart and soul of every individual they want to know that they really count. They want to know that what they do really matters. I’ve actually learned that 82 percent of employees believe that they’re not recognized by their supervisor for what they do. And 60 percent of employees say they actually like recognition as much as money. And we’ve also learned that recognition happens very rarely, you know. The average person in any company gets recognized, if they’re lucky, about once every two months.

And what I want to do is spend the rest of my life really building awareness of this fact and really driving home the fact that, as leaders and as family heads, our job is to let people know that they’re really recognized for the great gifts that they have and all the contributions they bring to a business and to the world.

The job of the leader is to create that work environment where people know that you care about them. And once you care about them as a leader I guarantee it they’re going to care about you. It’s sort of like this, you know, I’ve never liked anybody that didn’t like me. I bet you haven’t either. I’ve never really trusted somebody that didn’t trust me. And so if you want to get people invested in you boy, show them that you care about them and then they’ll care about you - and they’ll care about the company more. And they’ll come to work every day wanting to do all they can to make the company a success.David Novak-he best way to recognize somebody is to listen to them. When you listen to them you show that you really care. If you listen to them two things happen. Number one, you actually learn something because these people know a lot about your business and if you can just basically say, “Hey listen, if you have my job or if you could give me some input what would it be?” And then you listen to what they have to say and then you respond. Then you’re showing that you actually care.

I think there’s two reasons why people don’t recognize other people. Number one they think if they do they don’t trust people. They think, “Oh, they’re not going to work hard enough. If I recognize you and tell you you’re doing a good job you’ll take the pressure off yourself or you won’t put the pedal to the metal anymore. So you won’t work as hard,” which is absolutely crazy. People work harder when they know they’re really being noticed. The other thing is is if I recognize you, boy somebody else is going to wish they’re going to get recognized. And you know what? What’s wrong with that? You know find what they’re doing too and recognize their behaviors that are driving your business.

Thank you in my m...

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