In this current economic down-turn there have been two distinctly different, diametrically opposed leadership trends that have surfaced in American companies; leadership that has gone underground and leadership that has surfaced in full-force and full-engagement with its workforce. There is nothing like a hit reality show to inspire water cooler exchanges and surface both trends and that is exactly the effect of the hit CBS series Undercover Boss. The Sunday evening program follows high-level chief executives who go undercover to explore the inner-workings of their companies. This televised fieldwork is exposing the great divide that often exists between leadership and employees — a gap that can be bridged by a simple yet effective strategy, yet it is a strategy that is rarely employed.
The show does, as I’m sure it must, hype the drama and deep personal stories of its “co-stars”; employees who are outted for good deeds gone unnoticed. Each sub-plot in this series does, without a doubt, grab at the heart-strings of the viewers through these touching vignettes of single, working mothers doing double shifts, employees working with life-threatening illness yet they triumph and excel or, others who simply work so hard for the company yet go virtually unnoticed. In each case the CEO is so rattled by what he witnesses first-hand to the point of personally committing company funds to give aid to these people, engineer promotions – all much-deserved – or commit company funds to scholarships or other perks to acknowledge employee greatness.
Although it’s impossible for a CEO or any senior executive to understand everyone’s situation or story or know the intricate inner-workings of their operations, good leaders can be extremely effective if they ‘manage by walking around,’ meaning they observe their people working in the field at every level, interact with employees — with or without their bosses present — and hold weekly ‘town hall’ style meetings to monitor the business’ pulse and employee satisfaction.
Whenever employee satisfaction surveys are conducted, “more money” rarely tops the wish list. Rather, employees rank job security, a healthy, safe work environment, and being treated respectfully above money. That delivers a powerful message, and is one of a few, but important, ongoing themes playing out in Undercover Boss.
For anyone who has watched Undercover Boss, there are several simple yet critical takeaways regarding America’s CEOs. The Undercover CEOs and other corporate leaders have strayed too far away and become too out-of-touch with who their people are and what makes their companies function effectively. The good news; even before the show’s stellar success several CEOs were already getting the message that they were out of touch with their organization, its workforce and the impact that their decisions were having on the company-at-large. Notably, as reported in a recent Wall Street Journal article, “CEOs Welcome Recovery to Look After Staff”. In this article they identify the leaders of the other trend; CEOs who are in touch.
Bill Emerson of Quicken Loans has made it his habit now to schedule regular, weekly lunch meetings with small groups of employees to listen to their concerns and feedback. In many cases feedback from employees has lead to technology or systems changes within the organization making an otherwise jittery mortgage climate more palatable and efficient. US Airways CEO Douglas Parker now also makes the rounds at all Pilot Training programs, a venue he took off his to-do list awhile ago. Such meetings boost morale and he has now increased employee face-time to 50% of his overall time commitments. He has also gotten away from Washington DC visits where lobbying lives and instead, now focuses his time and effort in the airline’s hub cities where most employees are based.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers Chairman now encourages company leaders to “roam the halls” and Olympus Corporation of America, a Japanese owned company, also has its CEO spending considerably more time on the floor and out of his office. Clearly this trend is catching on and long overdue for both the executives and the employees they lead. Until America’s CEOs get out of the Ivory Towers they too often live in and get back in touch with the heart and soul of their organizations, they will be unable to make strong, clear and well-informed decisions that effect more than just their company’s bottom line.
For these leaders to not re-engage to create a culture that fosters deeper, more meaningful engagement in the workforce is a mistake that in time will catch up to them. A disengaged leader creates a disengaged workforce. In fact, The Gallup Organization regularly tracks employee engagement, measuring the percentage of employees who are engaged, not engaged or actively disengaged in companies throughout the world. Recent data collected has measured various impacts to companies, including financial consequences — now a staggering loss of $300+ billion annually.
This monetary hit is staggering, especially considering these economically challenged times and that there’s a proven and simple strategy that helps prevent such loss. While I certainly don’t expect any CEO to walk the shop floor day in and day out, a significant amount of visibility on the part of the CEO has real value, and this show demonstrates exactly that.
