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As co-founder and former CEO of Yum! Brands, one of the world's largest restaurant companies with a portfolio that includes franchises such as KFC and Pizza Hut, David Novak achieved tangible results.
In the 17 years he was CEO, from 1999 to 2016, Novak helped grow the company eight times its original size, from a market cap of $4 billion to $32 billion. But Novak attributes the numbers to a qualitative rather than quantitative aspect of leadership – creating the right work culture.
In a conversation with Jeff Berman, host of “Masters of Scale,” which aired earlier this month, Novak explained how he led Yum! Brands from the beginning.
“My number one goal was to create a strong company culture where everyone matters,” Novak said. “That became my top priority as CEO because if I can create the right work environment, people will innovate and thrive.”
Novak explained that early on, he tried to learn from companies that were successful or consistently delivering good results. He went out and visited companies like Walmart, Home Depot and General Electric.
“We met with them,” Novak said. “Then we came back and codified what really drives the success of these companies and enables them to achieve great results year after year.”
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Novak, who oversaw 1.5 million employees worldwide, valued recognition and embedded it in Yum!'s company culture. In previous interviews, he talked about how he would use recognition to motivate employees. At KFC, for example, Novak handed out rubber chickens and $100 as rewards for a job well done.
Today, Yum!'s corporate culture is still one of recognition and collaboration, as reflected on its public culture page.
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