Chester Elton

Called the “apostle of appreciation,” by the Globe and Mail, Canada’s largest newspaper, and “creative and refreshing” by the New York Times, Chester Elton is co-author of several successful leadership books and is an in-demand speaker the world over.

Elton’s books have been translated into over 20 languages and have sold over half a million copies worldwide. The Carrot Principle by Simon & Schuster has been a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, and 24-Carrot Manager has been called a “must read for modern-day managers” by Larry King of CNN. In 2006, The Invisible Employee, from John Wiley & Sons also made the New York Times bestseller list.

As a motivation expert, Chester has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Fast Company magazine and the New York Times. He has also been a guest on CNN, Bloomberg Television, ABC’s Money Matters MSNBC and on National Public Radio. A sought-after speaker and recognition consultant, Chester is the senior vice-president of Carrot Culture with the O.C. Tanner Recognition Company.

Chester has spoken to delighted audiences from Seattle to Singapore and from Toronto to Istanbul, Turkey. In 2005 he was the highest rated speaker at the national Society for Human Resource 
Management annual conference (Bill Cosby was the number-two rated speaker). He serves as a recognition consultant to Fortune 100 firms such as DHL, KPMG, Wal-Mart and Avis Budget Group.

However, the thing of which he is most proud is that he is the father of four EXCEPTIONAL children!

Carrots Keynote

The Carrots Keynote highlights proven ideas, powerful case studies, and uses humorous examples to show how recognition engages people and improves your bottom line. It’s a no-holds-barred, high-energy, high-level event that entertains and boosts productivity.

Based on the New York Times bestseller, The 24-Carrot Manager, The Carrot Keynote gets your leaders excited about recognizing their people as it teaches them what recognition can do for your employees and your organization.

This keynote presentation highlights proven ideas, cites powerful case studies and includes humorous examples that illustrate how recognition can engage people and improve the bottom line. It’s a high level event that touches on valuable tips and techniques to positively impact engagement, productivity and retention.

The Carrot Keynote is a great way to kick off a new recognition program and a strong foundational event prior to introducing A Carrot A Day Training to your managers.

The Invisible Employee: Realize the Hidden Potential in Everyone

There’s a crisis in business today: the invisible employee. Feeling overlooked, ignored and unappreciated, these invisible employees fight back the only way they know how … by staying hidden in the corporate shadows, doing just enough to get by, grumbling about this and that, and passing these techniques along to new workers. You probably know your share of these folks — you may even have a few working for you. But what can be done?

Employee recognition experts Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick teach how simple praise and recognition techniques will result in productive employees who feel noticed, valued and appreciated. Their compelling presentation is packed with examples and best practices from leading companies such as DHL, VNU Media Measurement, Xcel Energy, and Friendly Ice Cream Corporation.

The Invisible Employee: Realize the Hidden Potential in Everyone discusses real leaders who have learned how to better manage employees by valuing and appreciating them. In today’s competitive environment, all of us are looking for the next big product, the next big capability or solution. But great managers are turning back to the basics. They are finding that recognizing people leads to a more engaged workforce and a more successful business.

Become A 24-Carrot Leader

Gostick and Elton’s most popular presentation, “Become A 24-Carrot Leader” illustrates there is a way to retain your best employees and win the commitment of all your people. It’s called employee recognition. In a dynamic, humorous and powerful presentation, corporate recognition consultants Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton show business leaders how to create powerful, bonding recognition experiences and present case studies of effective recognition from some of North America’s finest companies.

Plentiful examples show how to choose the right reward for your employees, how to time the giving of a reward to motivate performance, how to effectively present rewards, when to give praise in public and when to make it a private celebration, and how to motivate employees to work harder and smarter with the company’s goals in mind.

Everything You Need to Know About Recognition You Learned from Your Mom

Who says employee recognition has to be difficult? Using a combination of non-cash recognition and simple training for the presentation of formal awards, many of today’s leading companies are successfully transforming their corporations into “Carrot Cultures” – creating workplaces where employees are committed, profitability is high, and retention is among the best in their industries. In a presentation that serves exceptionally well as a keynote address or breakout, authors and recognition consultants to numerous Fortune 100 firms, Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick illustrate how companies like KFC/Tricon, Avis, and Johnson & Johnson spread the power of recognition across diverse locations and how every organization can implement these simple principles.

"Carrots was the highest-rated session at the show." — 2005 National SHRM Conference

"You were simply outstanding. Specifically, your suggestions on low-cost-no-cost appreciation were well-worth stealing - the car wash in particular. Thank you for inspiring us and entertaining us, for making us laugh and for making us sing. We have been talking about how much we thoroughly enjoyed the show, for you are quite a performer -- delivering both steak and sizzle. Thank you forever, on behalf of all who were inspired." — HSBC Leadership Conference

"Hands down, your presentation was the highlight of our meeting! Not only was the message dynamite, you presented with such energy and enthusiasm that the ENTIRE crowd was hanging on your every word! As a training professional myself, I think I often look at speakers with an overly critical eye, and I can honestly say that this was the best presentation I have ever seen. You really related the message appropriately for the varying levels of our group and they are still talking about it today. This was just what we needed to get the message across and we will definitely look for opportunities to carry this message forth into our everyday business practices. And, to boot, you seem like just a fantastic guy - very genuine and sincere. I hope your book sales are through the roof!!!" — Director of Training & Development, Securitas

Chester truly engaged our Management Team at our full day Leadership Development Institute in February 2005. "Becoming a 24-Carrot Manager" was one of our highest rated programs. People continue to talk about it as "an extraordinary day." Chester was an "excellent motivation ... outstanding speaker...very dynamic! ... energizing...[he] tied into our values." The audience left with new ideas to recognize staff. Many managers have since used Chester's tool to ask staff their preferred method of recognition. Chester's particular style of humor increased the learning for the day. Thank you, Chester! — St. Peter's Healthcare