Be An Undercover Boss
Have you been watching the new TV series – Undercover Boss. While I prefer to watch it on CBS.com to save time, I found the show and the story lines very interesting and very important for the executives involved. Then it hit me – How Many Executives Do the Undercover Boss Thing?
What a concept – going into the day to day operations of your company or enterprise and learning how things actually are going. This takes the “Management by Walking Around” concept to the ultimate level.
So what can you learn from using this new (old) technique? Here are seven things you could learn…
- How are your policies being translated at the lower levels of the organization? Middle managers, line managers and supervisors may have a totally different implementation from your intention.
- Find out who your champions are within your organization and see that they are honored for their attitude and performance.
- Learn about possible wrong-doing on the part of managers. This may avert a possible lawsuit or an embarrassing public relations moment.
- The old timers will show you how to reconnect the passion and focus of the original business model. Sometimes during tough times the real purpose of the company needs to be revisited by the new leaders.
- Opportunities to meet your customers (very important for retail companies) and learn first hand how your company is perceived by customers (and non-customers) could lead to major breakthroughs in strategy decisions.
- Find out the real reputation of “corporate” held by your employees. This can be a real eye opener for distant executives or reassuring for the hands on executive.
- Learn if your productivity programs are hurting the very people who need to be excited about either your company or their job. If they is any negative impact on either your line personnel or -worst- your customers, then it time to review what you are doing.
There you have quick seven checklist of things you may find by taking on the lower level positions within your company. You will reconnect with the people of the company. It is not all about the numbers and wall street. The real issue is how the people grow your opportunities and customers choose your company over competitors.
Our experiences with leading companies have shown that happy and high-energy employees create new business opportunities using their creativity and desire to take care of their customers. This leads to a competitive advantage.
Voss Graham
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Tags: Management by Walking Around, Seven Things to Learn about your Company, Undercover Boss, Voss W Graham
