Undercover CEO

[PepperElf]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertai...,6448053.story

My boyfriend watched this last night and really liked it.

I guess the "cover story" was that a laid-off construction worker was trying to win an entry-level position at the Waste Management company. The film crew was just there to document the hiring process or something like that.

In reality the worker was the CEO, and he was getting a realistic view of what happens at the lowest end of his company - without all the staff members in the way.

Things that surprised the man:

1) He didn't get hired.

He was too slow when it came to trash pickup. When picking up trash around the area he was suppose to fill one bag every 10 minutes.

Then he found out the man who grades them could meet the quota - even with shot kidneys. Seriously the guy was getting dialysis treatments. But he never asked the men to do something he couldn't.


2) Law breaking

One of the "management policies" was that you get 30 minutes for lunch. BUT for every minute you were late, you were docked 2 minutes of pay. And that's not legal.

I'm assuming he'll issue a mandate about the policy...



I personally hate reality shows but this... this one doesn't bother me so much.

I think a good CEO should know how his/her company really runs and what the consequences are to the rules the head office pumps out.

O'Donnell has a lot of epiphanies about how hard-pressed some of the workers are - and how some of the policies that come out of his big office are responsible for their pain.

I guess the proof will be in whether or not those policies change

[LillFilly]

Sorry I reposted this; completely missed it, but I loved it so much I posted right away! But here are my thoughts:

I watched the first episode. I think this is a great idea and that if more company CEOs, Presidents and the like did it, they would get a real feel for the best way to run a company. Granted, some of the issues were policies taken out-of-context by the managers working under them, but is also a good way for them to get their companies back on track and to remember that they are only as good as the people working for them!

The next episode is the CEO of Hooters working undercover at one of his locations, airing Sun, the 14th, 8/9PM.

[Aethian]

It is a good show so far.

[BookstoreEscapee]

My company sends home office employees to do 2 days in the stores. I don't know if the CEO ever does it...my boss made a comment wondering how many store employees would recognize him if he did. (His picture isn't hard to find on the intranet site, though.)

[mattm04]

I found it interesting. I wonder what kind of changes can be made in a situation, such as the garbage tuck driver who got her work done on time, even with a few stops with the residents that will not get abused by other not so honest employees.

[draggar]

I've always stated a good boss / supervisor should know how to do their subordinates' jobs - as well as the people who make decisions that directly affect their jobs.

Reality shows generally suck but this one isn't about "look how great I am".

I'm in the same boat as BE - my company's CEO is very easy to spot but I think the actual board isn't.

I remember once (when I worked for HP) we were at a conference and their second in charge was walking around the room talking to people asking what they thought. No one believed me when I told them who he was afterwards, some even ranted (quite a bit) to him.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I was thinking, with regards to this show, it's sad that so many companies are so big that most employees wouldn't even recognize the CEO if he walked right in the front door.

[Eric the Grey]

I just finished watching this online, and I really liked it.

I think that more CEO's need to experience the nitty-gritty of their business. Many may have that knowledge from the past, having helped build the company from the ground up, but often they loose sight of that. Then there are the ones who roll into their positions through takeovers, or are simply promoted into it, and have no idea of life beyond their office walls.

Yea, this may be worth watching.


Eric the Grey

[SG15Z]

Everyone in my store is talking about it. As much as I would love our CEO or even the division president to do that, they're both somewhat recognizable. It would have to be someone one step below them.

But either way it was a good show, and I think I'll be watching it for a while.

[PepperElf]

undercover CEO - hooters episode

just talking to my bf about it.

hooters was this week. good and bad i guess.

one manager had to formerly apologize to the staff for unprofessional behavior - a game of eating beans without hands to determine who got the rest of the day off, and comments about the servers being prima donnas.

another manager was given a free ticket to anywhere, because of being overworked. BF mentioned restaurant burnout.

[jedimaster91]

I think this show is brilliant. Can I nominate our library director to do my old job of babysitting the computer lab?

[yizuman]

I watched the 7-11 episode and I noticed that the manager who trained "Danny" to make a phone call regarding lights replacements wasn't shown at the end of the show for the CEO to put words into her store and condition. I think since the CEO mentioned the store was in a bad shape, despite of it being one of the busiest stores that they have. It looks to me the manager got fired or she quit when she found out that "Danny" was in fact a CEO.

I find this type of show to be too "fakey" as it were. What if there are parts of the story that is considered too embarrassing for the CEO to allow CBS to show it on air?

Remember, most of these companies also pay advertising dollars to these Networks to advertise their businesses. CBS wouldn't dare to go all out to show the company's own dirty laundry in it's entirety. So I see some bias in this particular show.

It's a good concept, but at the same time, I don't think this show is 100% honest.

[draggar]

I find this type of show to be too "fakey" as it were. What if there are parts of the story that is considered too embarrassing for the CEO to allow CBS to show it on air?

I'm starting to think this, too. It's becoming quite predictable.

They usually have:

- A highly overworked employee (more so than most) - usually a manager
- A hard worker who also has some disability - for inspiration
- An employee who is highly underutilized - to show growth
- A bad manager - to show it's not always good.

If it is truly random / unplanned (or planned based on numbers) then why do they seem to keep running into the same kinds of people?

[Eric the Grey]

If it is truly random / unplanned (or planned based on numbers) then why do they seem to keep running into the same kinds of people?

Perhaps it's because those types of prople exist everywhere? I know I've seen there likes every place I've worked.



Eric the Grey

[draggar]

Perhaps it's because those types of prople exist everywhere? I know I've seen there likes every place I've worked.

People like that are in a lot of places but it's odd how the "boss" person is *always* teamed up with that individual.

I'm not ready to call the show a fake yet, but I do think it's not as impulsive or manipulated as they try to make it look.