“UNCOVERING THE UNDERCOVER BOSS” – Episode 1, Waste Management

Larry O’Donnell, President and COO of Waste Management, becomes “Randy the trainee” in the new CBS television reality show, “Undercover Boss.” Larry comes across as a caring person, and a family man. He wants the Company to be more effective and recognizes that his employees can help him accomplish this. So he goes “undercover” to get unfiltered information from the real stars of the show, the hourly paid employees, Sandy, Walter, Jacquelyn, Fred and Janice.

The question is - what did we learn from Larry and his employees? The following paragraphs provide a few answers.

1. Even though most executives spend more time communicating down, Larry demonstrated that there is more value in receiving upward communication. Larry accomplished this by asking questions and listening, as a result, he learned. Too often, executives feel like their role should be the provider of answers.

2. Picking up trash by hand or thoroughly cleaning port-a-potties are jobs that the employees, Walter and Fred, know a lot about. By watching and listening to these two, it becomes clear that selecting the right person with the right attitude for each job (regardless of their duties) is one of the most important tasks of a manager. It is obvious that Larry didn’t have the skills to pick up trash. However, according to Fred, he had potential for port-a-potty cleaning.

3. Employees must be recognized as people first. Too often front-line supervisors only seem to care about what their employee does at work. A good manager shows an interest in the whole person. As a leader, Larry got to know each employee as a person. He recognized that if you care about the person, they will care about you and the Company.

4. A Company policy may be very sound, but the administration of the policy is what counts. For example, being on time at Waste Management is very important to the success of the operation. However, correcting for lateness through a supervisor-created policy of punishing employees by docking them two minutes for every minute late is unfair within their culture and in most other organizations that practice positive employer relations. Correcting behavior should be done on an individual basis in a positive way, which excludes docking employees’ pay.

5. Establishing productivity standards are goals by which performance can be measured. However, Larry learned that by using only one dimension, in this case 300 stops a day on a trash collection route, is counter-productive. It appears that this number is too high because it reduces the time for customer contact, and it created intolerable working conditions which included no time to stop at a restroom. Standards should be realistic and achievable. They should not be counter-productive, but in this case, they seemed to be since they allowed for little customer contact.

6. In today’s economy, many employees have to perform multiple jobs. Jacquelyn was seen functioning as an administrative assistant, scale operator, office manager, and mail clerk. Because a person performs many jobs, doesn’t mean they should automatically be paid more. Jobs are paid based on such factors as the required skills, responsibilities, and working conditions, not the number of different tasks. Furthermore, Jacquelyn needed more money to prevent the loss of her family’s home, but again that should not be a factor as to whether she receives more money for her job. However, jobs should be re-evaluated periodically to ensure that they are paid fairly. This is what was done by Waste Management, and in her case the operation was restructured which benefited her and the Company.

In conclusion, the employees and Waste Management gained because Larry asked questions, listened, learned, and then acted. Are you and your managers receiving a good flow of upward communication from your employees? If not, you need to explore ways of becoming an “Undercover Boss.”

“Uncovering the Undercover Boss” is written by Richard Reinhardt, Vice President of F&H Solutions Group LLC. You may contact Richard by email at rreinhardt@fhsolutionsgroup.com
or by phone at 901.291.1546.