The Boss Goes Undercover

Waste Management is a well-respected company that provides garbage handling, recycling, landfill management, and related services to customers and municipalities in 47 states. It employs about 45,000 people, with reported revenues of $13.3 billion in 2008.

Its president and chief operating officer, Lawrence O’Donnell, III, or “Larry,” as he prefers, is about to become the next TV reality show star. Brace yourself for “Undercover Boss,” to premiere the night of Feb. 7 on CBS after the Super Bowl, featuring Larry’s experiences on the front lines of Waste Management.

As the title suggests, the company’s leader assumed a fake identity to join his employees in their daily grind so he can see what life is really like in the trenches.

Larry goes without shaving for a couple days and works undercover as “Randy,” tackling a range of tasks alongside his own employees, who, of course, are not in on the deception. In one instance, the unknowing employee is his temporary boss, who actually fires "Randy."

Larry/Randy gets to clean portable toilets, chase and pick up loose litter at a windy landfill, sort recyclables, and ride on the back of a garbage truck on its daily route.

If you guessed that this is like most reality shows, you’re right. The unknowing employees were surprised when they learned Randy’s true identity. He (especially) and they have something akin to an epiphany because of the experience. Larry got a new view of the world from the business end of a garbage truck, apparently a cathartic experience for him. “I didn’t think I’d be having these kinds of emotional issues riding on the back of a garbage truck,” he weeps in a typical reality TV tight shot.

“I’ve got to change the way I go about my own job,” he said, as he shed his green jumpsuit and returned to suit and tie. Larry went back to revisit the people he had previously worked with. It’s a series of Candid Camera moments – complete with gasps and shrieks. Naturally, he solved their problems and even promotes one of them.

One woman had griped about an absurd rule that forced employees to punch-in exactly on the half-hour. Rule changed. Another woman he worked with was putting in long hours and doing several jobs, yet struggling to pay her mortgage. Larry promoted her to salaried manager with a big pay increase and bonus eligibility. “All my hard work has been noticed,” she says tearfully. Problem solved. Mortgage paid.

“I now have a whole new appreciation of the impact some of my decisions can have on you folks,” the newly chastened president tells his employees.

If you venture onto the Waste Management web site, you might see it promoting the show. I’m not sure how long they’ll want to do that. They may come to realize the downside.

I can see how Larry (and the other senior executives) would be excited by all this attention, but I wonder how employees not involved in the show feel. Surely they, too, have a raft of issues that could be quickly addressed if Larry spent time with them. So will this be a win-win for the company in the long run? Only if Larry and other senior executives make it their regular routine to visit the front lines.

Believe me, I'm not knocking the idea of senior level people getting out in the field among employees and experiencing first-hand what their people do every day. (See an earlier entry here, Communicate with your Employees - Doctor's Orders.) I’d like to think that this show will encourage other bosses to do the same. It's always going to be a great learning experience – for both sides of the equation.

The benefits that senior executives derive from getting out on the front lines with their employees are immeasurable. Unfortunately, it is a rarity today. The higher a person gets in the organization, it seems, the less likely it is that she/he has the time to indulge in such luxuries – at least, that’s what most of them say.

I say it most certainly is not a luxury. It's part of the job. But I nearly always get pushback. They’re too busy, I am told. Their calendars are filled months in advance with important meetings and numerous other obligations. It’s difficult to argue such a point with a guy who sits atop a Fortune 500 company with all the attendant constituencies. But I do some pushing back myself. Make the time, I tell them. It’s your job.

Too many senior executives are more attuned to the interests of Wall Street, nursing their company’s image (and stock price), and so spend far more time with analysts than with their own employees. They also spend a lot of time in meetings with one another in the executive suite. Big mistake.

Becoming better attuned to what’s going on in your own organization will do far more for your company’s image (and revenues and stock price) than all the coddling of analysts you could possible muster.