📺 Stream EntrepreneurTV for Free 📺

Pepsi's CEO Writes Letters to the Parents of Her Employees to Express Her Gratitude Looking for a new way to make your employees feel appreciated? Try this one.

By Rose Leadem

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Monica Schipper | Getty Images

What we accomplish today is, in part, due to our upbringings. Parents, mentors and guardians play major roles in our success -- that's what PepsiCo CEO Indrani Nooyi believes.

After becoming Pepsi's CEO, people began complimenting Nooyi's mother on how she raised her. That made Nooyi realize the large role parents played in the success of their children. As a result, Nooyi got out some pen and paper and began writing personal letters to hundreds of employees' parents to express her gratitude.

Related: The Four A's of Expressing Gratitude

"I was a product of my upbringing. ... It occurred to me that I had never thanked the parents of my executives for the gift of their child to PepsiCo," Nooyi said in a video with Bloomberg's David Rubenstein.

Nooyi herself attributes much of her success to her mother and how she was raised. To continue expressing gratitude to parents, Nooyi takes it upon herself to not only make sure these parents are appreciated, but to make sure employees keep their parents updated.

"If I felt that our employees were not calling their parents often enough," she said, "I'd write a letter to them on why it was important to call parents."

Rose Leadem is a freelance writer for Entrepreneur.com. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Marketing

4 Things Ecommerce Startups Need to Be Careful About When Running A/B Tests

A/B testing is a powerful tool, but you should be aware of these aspects that people often overlook.

Marketing

10 Ways to Use AI for Hyper-Personalized Marketing

The future of marketing is not just about privacy and personalization. It's predictive, proactive and powered by AI.

Career

Jobs Are Disappearing — These 3 Strategies Are What You Need to Future-Proof Your Career

Adopting tech tools for professional development, combined with boosting soft skills and staying tech-savvy, offers a path to becoming an invaluable asset in a tech-driven future.

Business News

Is It an iPad or a MacBook? Apple Makes It Tough to Tell By Revealing a 13-Inch iPad Pro With 'Outrageously Powerful' M4 Chip for AI

The new iPad keyboard has a function row and larger trackpad "so the entire experience feels just like using a MacBook," said John Ternus, Apple senior vice president of hardware engineering, at Apple's first event of 2024.

Business News

'An Obvious Move': Elon Musk Suggests Warren Buffett Should Make This Investment Move Next

Berkshire Hathaway held its Annual Shareholder meeting over the weekend.

Science & Technology

A Business Leader's Beginner Guide to Cybersecurity

Take advantage of available cybersecurity solutions to protect your business and its digital assets.