Toy motivation.

In 1994, David Novak was promoted to Pizza Hut CEO.

He wasn’t excited. "It was a graveyard for executives," he said.

"Morale was down, business was down. It needed energy injected into the business.”

The solution? A rubber chicken.

Novak handed out a mini rubber chicken toy (and a relatively small cash bonus) to hundreds of high-performing employees.

Give Away Rubber Chickens – The Growth Hack Lab — Not much of a gift, but a surprising impact.

The tiny gift had a dramatic impact.

"This took off like you wouldn't believe it helped turned around the mindset of the organization and we started working together with the franchisees and turned around the quality in three years. And the franchisees were now giving us ideas," he told CNN.

Rubber chickens were handed out on planned visits to honour exceptional employees, but they were often awarded spontaneously to staff who went above and beyond.

Yet, it wasn’t just cash and a chick, he also wrote a personal note explaining why they deserved the reward.

How rubber chickens and wind-up teeth can motivate workers | CNN Business — A personal note on a deflated chick. From David Novak's office.

“You have to be very specific with what the person has tangibly done and how it is contributing to the success of the organization. It has to be purposeful."

David Novak and his team tie this seemingly small gesture to a dramatic turnaround in the company’s fortunes.

Market cap increased from $4.6 billion to $31 billion. Employee turnover dropped and staff satisfaction rose.

Walk into Novak’s office in 2016 and you would see every inch of every wall covered in pictures of those who received the rubber chicken.

He handed out 1,400 toys in his 22 year tenure and turned the company around.

The behavioural science literature can help breakdown why this small intervention was so significant.

Variable rewards: We’re more motivated by variable benefits than consistent ones (B.F. Skinner, 1938). Spontaneous toys and cash motivate more than a yearly bonus.

Reciprocity: We need to return a favour (Cialdini 1984). Staff feel indebted to a CEO who’s hung their photo on his office wall.

Input bias: We value communication more if we see the effort behind it (Chinander and Schweitzer, 2003). It’s not just a gift and some cash, it’s a handwritten note from the busy boss. The effort makes staff appreciate the gesture more.

A rubber chicken, a $100 bill and a scribbled note won’t transform your business.

But it won’t hurt.

We shouldn’t undervalue these seemingly insignificant gestures as the scientific literature suggests they dramatically outweigh the effort they take.

Cheers!

Phill