Bosses Go “Undercover” to Learn, Engage Employees

After last night’s Super Bowl, a new show caught my eye: “Undercover Boss.” The premise of the show is that for one week, a head of a large company hides their identity and goes undercover to work within the organization at entry-level positions.

Last night’s premier episode focused on Larry O’Donnell, Waste Management (WM) president and COO. Larry ditched his suit, avoided the razor, adopted an alias (“Randy”) and reported to duty for a week of manual labor. He was given menial tasks: cleaning toilets, riding the garbage truck route, working the recycling plant line, picking up litter in gusting winds, and working in a landfill office. "Randy’s" memorable highlights ranged from being fired from one job (picking up litter) to being asked to dinner at a coworker’s home. His weeklong experience gave him a new appreciation for each person he worked with during the week.

What does this TV show have to do with internal communications? Lots. Here are some great internal communication tactics that Larry used:

• Start the conversation. Larry O’Donnell left the comfort of his office and had a conversation with employees in the field. He asked questions. He got answers. His coworkers shared good attitudes and things they liked about their jobs, things that frustrated them, and barbs about “corporate office” policies. Larry saw firsthand how his decisions had affected these people's jobs. Are you talking to your employees to understand what they love about their jobs, and what frustrates them?

• Give feedback. Back at the office the following week, "Randy" revealed who he really was to the five employees he shadowed. He met with each and gave them feedback - about his perception of their performance and their attitude, and what he had learned from working with them. His feedback included insight that would help guide his decisions in his role of president and COO. Are you giving feedback to your employees on their job performance more than in an annual review?

• Reward stellar performance. Larry admired the people he met and solved a key problem for each. But some stood out from the crowd. One young woman had several health issues, was covering multiple positions in the landfill office and didn’t missing a beat. At the end of the day, she invited “Randy” to dinner. At home, her father and her sister’s family were living with her. The family had to put their “dream home” on the market because of finances. Larry asked her manager to consider realigning her role to allow her a more manageable workload, and to see if WM could restructure her compensation to make it feasible for her to keep her dream home. She was moved to a salaried position and made bonus-eligible. She hired two employees to fill the open positions she had been covering – a well-deserved promotion. Are you rewarding employees who are going above and beyond the job without fail and complaint?

• Make people part of the solution. While riding the garbage truck route, Larry was appalled to learn that women had to use a coffee can as their restroom to keep route productivity high. The following week, this woman was asked to be a part of a task force to address women’s concerns in the WM workforce. A diabetic was only able to work a certain schedule so he could go to dialysis three days a week, yet he was a highly productive employee. He was given a role that allowed him to help motivate others with health issues at WM. WM also instituted paid time off for certain medical issues. How can you engage employees in solutions for the challenges that touch them?

• Announce the changes. After meeting with the employees individually, Larry held a small company meeting to announce what he had learned and the resulting changes the company was going to implement. He let people know what to expect from him and the company. After you get feedback from employees, are you communicating the results back to them?

Does it make sense for the rest of us to go undercover inside the company to get employee feedback? Probably not. But Larry sets an example of internal communications tactics that can help your company build a stronger relationship with your employees.

Do you have an ongoing conversation with your employees? Do you have tips that have proven to be successful for you? Click on the comment box below and add your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you.