What Kind of Boss Are You?
CBS rolled out its’ new reality television show “Undercover Boss,” right after the Super Bowl Sunday evening. In the first episode, Waste Management President and COO, Larry O’Donnell, went undercover for one week performing entry level positions in his own company. A camera crew followed him under the guise they were filming a documentary on entry level positions.
President O’Donnell was filmed working the conveyor belt and picking out cardboard from other recyclables, learning to clean out portable toilets, picking up paper at a worksite, following an overworked administrative assistant/payroll clerk/ truck weigher, and riding along with a female garbage hauler.
Overlooking the manufactured drama of reality television, O’Donnell seemed to really learn from his experience performing the entry level positions. He learned one of his recycling plants implemented his 30 minute lunch rule, by docking employees 2 minutes for each minute they were late returning from their limited lunch break. This punishment was never his intention, not to mention the possible FLSA problem it may pose to reduce an employee’s earned wages this way.
O’Donnell also learned the female garbage hauler was forced to drive a route which does not permit her to stop and use a restroom, so she carries along a can in her truck to use when she needs to urinate. He admitted maybe his company was not too female friendly and he vowed to make necessary changes. He was surprised to find the employee who cleans out the portable toilets had a cheerful attitude and worked hard at his given tasks. O’Donnell wondered how he could translate that work ethic and attitude to more of his employees.
The big lesson for O’Donnell was making the connection between his management policies and the impact they had on his front-line employees. It was an eye-opening experience and O’Donnell vowed to be a better boss based on the experience. What kind of boss are you?
Stay-tuned for next week’s expose where the CEO of Hooters goes undercover as a management trainee. He uncovers a Hooters manager requiring the waitresses to perform a reindeer dance which looks a lot like sexual harassment.
