Imagine what they could do for these organizations if they were engaged and happy? The power of your people’s ideas should never be underestimated. In almost every episode, there are employees who despite being mistreated by the company, still want to do the best they can. They create time saving processes and go out of their way to better support customers. In the face of pay cuts, poor benefits packages and difficult working conditions, employees continue to find better ways of working. Why we side-line many of our most experienced people when we make decisions blows my mind.
While the managing director breaks from his disguise to try to fix the problems, it’s a clear example of a decision made with no consideration for the humans at the end of it.įor as long as I’ve been watching the UK and US series, I’ve been amazed at the innovation and capability of employees in almost every business. It’s an unbelievable oversight that left the employees so upset and despondent they refused to be filmed for the episode.
#UNDERCOVER BOSS PORTABLE#
In episode three of the new UK TV series, Pickfords is found to have closed one depot and opened a temporary one in a very busy, narrow industrial estate with no break room or running water and a just portable toilet for employees to use. The reasons why? Because no-one ever took the time to ask the employees what they wanted or needed, or even involved them in any decisions that will affect them. In every episode of the new UK season so far, the bosses are shocked and surprised at some of the decisions their company have made that created challenging environments for their people. Similarly, the season’s opening episode saw Wyldecrest Parks‘ founder and chairman, Alfie Best, break down in the face of the realization that he has ‘neglected’ his employees.Ĭollectively, these three men run businesses worth almost $400 million, but become emotional wrecks after spending just one day with their employees. In the latest episode of the newly launched UK version of the show, ‘ Undercover Big Boss’, Euro Foods’ CEO Shelim Hussain is reduced to tears when one of his employees tells him they don’t feel valued.Įarlier in this season, Mark Taylor, Managing Director of UK removals company Pickfords also cried when faced with disengaged, upset, and undervalued employees. The level of detachment between CEOs, their people and the realization of how damaging that has been is the most obvious theme that exists in every season of ‘Undercover Boss’ around the world.
#UNDERCOVER BOSS SKIN#
“You never really know a man until you understand things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”, wrote Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird. The show gives leaders the opportunity to see what the job is like on the ground – and while they often struggle with walking in their people’s shoes, it always gives them the emotional jolt they need to make a change. If there is one consistent feature of Undercover Boss, it’s that most CEOs are so far removed from their people that when the see how difficult life is for their employees, they almost always end up crying. Thanks to the return of ‘Undercover Boss’ to British TV this year, we can see how important empathetic leadership is to a successful business and it starts with getting to know our people better. What happens when those same leaders apply that empathy to the way they design employee experiences? What happens we become obsessed with our employees and what they need? Steve Jobs’ design thinking was driven by putting customers’ needs over that of the organisation, and Jeff Bezos’ four principles begin with ‘customer obsession’. Some of the world’s most successful organisations like Apple and Amazon empathize with their customers to deliver great experiences. To deliver a great customer experience, product designers must ‘walk a mile’ in the shoes of their customers. It starts with showing us the need to be more empathetic at work.įor decades, experts have claimed that for any product to be successful, it had to follow empathy as a design principle. I think that this popular TV show teaches you almost everything you need to know about running a successful business and being a great employer. More than ten years later, the US version of the show is just about to start its eleventh season and regional editions can be found in more than 30 countries.įrom NASCAR and TGI Fridays to Yankee Candle and 7-Eleven, the show has featured some big global brands and well-known CEOs.
#UNDERCOVER BOSS SERIES#
Winner of two Emmy-Awards in the US, the TV series ‘Undercover Boss’ first aired on British TV in 2009.
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