UNDERCOVER BOSS

I had a chance to watch this new series on CBS, just after Amazing Race. One of the best episodes I have seen, ever.


The whole idea of this show is to have a CEO or a President of a company visit the lowest level company location - a franchise or an outlet or an office - as a regular worker. The employees at that location do not know about this undercover operation and the big boss can see what is going on at the grass root level of his company.


This is such a good idea, especially for organizations with a fat management structure. The biggest reasons for good corporations to fail is because the uppermost management layer never knows the ground reality. The real information is filtered out by the middle management and they just get to hear what they want to hear. Bad decisions are made which ruin the reputation and eventually, the business.


The "Undercover Boss" operation is a very sure way of leaping over this middle management information filter. Sometimes, the ground reality is harsh and other times, the information that comes out of such operations is really heartening. Most important part though, is what action the management takes out of such unsolicited feedback.


The episode I saw featured the 7-Eleven chain. The CEO Joe DePinto changes his identity to "Danny" and visits 4 stores in NY and Texas. These stores are one of the most successful ones for 7-Eleven in the entire nation and CEO wanted to see the truth that made these stores stand out.


The journey was really fascinating. From each store, Danny befriended at least 1 employee who he saw was critical to the successful functioning of the store. He got down on the floor cleaning toilets, cleaning trash bins, brewing coffee and baking donuts at every location he visited. He tried to understood the ground realities and challenges faced by his employees on a daily basis. He was amazed by the passion and dedication of the key employees which drives these locations on a day to day basis. How cheerful and happy the lowest level of employees were in spite of low wages, personal issues, health issues and career challenges, made his very emotional.


Then came the best part, he returned back to his office and set an action plan based on all his findings. He set people in charge for those items and said that he is going to undertake more missions like these to ensure that the corrective measures are implemented actually.


For e.g. All the donuts / bagels / pastries etc which are 1 day old and can not be sold, should be given to charity. These were being thrown, every single day and every single shop. Hundreds of them. Joe ensured that this program is implemented strictly. Just imagine, hundreds of baked goodies will now be fed to orphans instead of throwing them down the drain.


But then, he ensured that the real good employees are rewarded. He called all the good employees to the head office and revealed his true identity. He not only rewarded them with what they really wanted -- 
1 - A student who thought that he had no career in 7-Eleven is now a head of 10 franchises.
2 - A baker who was an excellent artist has now a professional portfolio with 7-Eleven's ad agency and a possible alternative career in advertising.
3 - A truck driver who can not meet his wife every day has a franchise of his own. And he sent the couple for a week long vacation, just so that they can spend quality time together.
4 - A coffee maker who has kidney problems now has a kidney donor awareness program and $150000 for her kidney operation once a donor shows up.


It was a touching ending to a beautiful program. But more importantly, the employees of 7-Eleven will now look forward to the day when Danny shows up at their store undercover. They will treat every Danny as a Joe DePinto and those Danny's will show up every day, day after day, and ensure more business and more profit.


If every CEO or, for that matter, every highly placed officer does this in his organization, there is no reason why the company can not turn the tide.