Nick's Pizza & Pub: It's NOT About the Pizza

Max Brown and I conducted a great radio show interview today with the founder of Nick's Pizza and Pub, Nick Sarillo, and one of his many great employees, Joe De Luca.

Nick is quoted as saying "It's not about the pizza". When we asked Nick about that he came right back at us with the company's purpose statement. Read this carefully, because it says a lot about this wonderful pizza restaurant.

Our Purpose: “The Nick’s Experience” Our dedicated family provides this community an unforgettable place, to connect with your family and friends, to have fun and to feel at home!

Joe, who is a GEN Y Millennial said that when he comes to work he is simply going to hang out with friends, work hard, and have fun because "we're family".

Nick said probably 40% of their workforce is Millennials. He admires the great work ethic of this generation because they want to understand "why" they have to do certain tasks and work. At Nick's Pizza & Pub they have a purpose statement and values that are constantly reinforced right from hiring to two days of orientation JUST on the purpose, values and communications before anyone even touches any pizza ingredients. With this great purpose these young employees are making a great experience for Nick's customers.

Is this focus on culture and purpose making a difference?

Nick Sarillo reports less that 30 percent turnover in an industry typically averaging 150 percent turnover level. He is outperforming the industry earning averages and even sustained performance and sales during the down economy.

Nick has learned how to create and keep corporate culture one slice at a time.

Nick's Pizza & Pub

Only 50% Completely Satisfied with Recognition

In August 2009 Gallup conducted their annual survey of Worker Satisfaction with 13 Aspects of their Current Job. It seems some media channels picked up on the apparent negativity of only 50% of surveyed employees being “completely satisfied” with the recognition they received at work for their work accomplishments.

Truth be told, having only half of the folks at work feeling valued and appreciated for what they are doing is not exactly thrilling.

However, what is often missed in telling the story of facts and numbers is the comparison. Seems if you examined the 2008 survey results the level of complete satisfaction for being recognized on the job was lower than 2009 – in fact it was only 45%.

So even amidst a crazy financial meltdown, layoffs and cutbacks, somehow a small percentage of employees felt more appreciated during a very tough year.

To those managers and supervisors who had the courage and gumption to make a difference to these Gallup surveyed employees – THANK YOU! Please continue the trend and regularly express appreciation to those you work with. Let’s ensure this coming August, when these same people are asked again, there will be even more people who feel valued and respected for what they do each and every day.

I know you can do it.

Global Employee Recognition Survey

I am delighted to be able to introduce you to a colleague and friend, Christophe Laval, President of VPHR, based in Paris, France. He is conducting a global survey on employee recognition practices and learning the commonalities and differences across cultures.

Christophe’s survey will examine perceptions, types of recognition practices and the barriers that get in the way of giving meaningful recognition in the workplace.

I invite you to take this survey. If you have colleagues across the world who could participate and help widen the diversity of input that would be HUGE. It’ll be accessible until the 30th of May 2010 and is completely anonymous. Click here for the survey.

Christophe will then be sharing the results of the survey at the 13th World Human Resources Congress in Montreal this September.

Values: The Important Rewards

Peter Buffet, son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett has learned a powerful lesson from his father. His wisdom to pass on to other parents is shared in his latest book "Life is What You Make it: Finding Your Own Path to Fulfillment".
His message to other money-rich parents comes straight from his own father, Warren Buffet: teach your children values and do not give them everything they want.

There is a tendency to give children all the things we may not have received from the generation before us. However, “things” may have become too much of the focus of today’s generation.

If we are to instill true motivation we must work from the inside out. And that is where instilling and living intrinsic values counts most.

"Economic prosperity may come and go; that's just how it is," Peter Buffet writes in his book. "But values are the steady currency that earns us the all-important rewards."

ROI and Recognition

After attending a two day program of Dr. Jack Phillips’ “ROI Methodology”TM course it is easy to see how we have done a great disservice to the many clients utilizing recognition and reward programs.

The process developed by Dr. Phillips is “a balanced approach to measurement and includes a technique to isolate the effects of the program, project or solution”. What this process allows recognition practitioners to do is isolate the real effects and impact of recognition practices and programs on performance or upon other HR metrics and indicators.

Using the term “ROI” can be construed to mean one can always create a return on investment percentage. However, the “methodology” piece of the equation highlights a numerical and measured outcome can always be generated even for the intangible benefits so typically associated with recognition.

I am concerned we focus too much on recognition outputs with web-based delivered recognition programs. It is only when we focus on the effectiveness and perception of recognition in the eyes of the recipient as well as the business impact recognition makes that recognition programs and practices will be taken seriously.