Is Undercover Boss Realistic?

Is Undercover Boss realistic? The new CBS show debuted after the Super Bowl this year. Millions of viewers watch Undercover Boss on CBS on a weekly basis. Probably a few million more watch Undercover Boss online.

Here's the skinny on Undercover Boss. Each week, a CEO(Chief Executive Officer) of a large corporation goes undercover as one of the employees to see how things are working. The show has been quite successful from a ratings standpoint for CBS in it's short existence despite following the exact same format each week. It's a formula reality show based on a commercial/public relations event for that particular company. The big question-is Undercover Boss realistic? Is what you are watching a blip on the radar or a sign that things will change within that respective company? I must admit I was a little emotional watching Undercover Boss the first few weeks. It leaves you with that feeling of not knowing whether to cry or not. Why? Because bosses just aren't usually like that in real life. Anyone with half a brain will tell you that bosses just don't give away money. It's just not a smart thing to do from a corporate standpoint.

The CEO for Hooter's, White Castle, Louisville Churchill Downs, 7-11 and other companies have tested the waters with this new reality show. Here's what happens. A CEO shows that he's just rich enough to tick the people off at home watching who maybe aren't rich at all. This typically happens in the early stages of Undercover Boss. There might be scenes of the CEO wearing an expensive gold watch. He'll then(and it's always been a he so far) maybe show you just how good he's got it by inviting the camera crew to his exotic or over the top expensive house. He might have outrageously expensive cars parked in his driveway that could have given the entire corporation a 1% raise last year. He's that rich. We get it.

At this moment, are we will still feeling for his plight of having to go undercover? Probably not. Still, let's stick with the plot even though this CEO has it terribly good and the producers of the show definitely want you to know it. He is, after all, a CEO and you are not. Well, maybe you are. My assumption is most Americans aren't in the position of CEO.

This formula show then has this CEO change his clothes and appearance. Maybe he'll shave and don a hat. The employees, who either don't have a clue or haven't ever met the guy before because he's too big to pay a visit, never recognize the guy. He's so disguised, and I am being a bit sarcastic here, that even his own family wouldn't recognize him. The CEO then goes into the low life. He'll live in cheap hotels to keep with the formula of the show and eat TV dinners. Why this CEO does this when he has tons of money is beyond me? The TV dinners each day is kind of goofy since the television production crew is probably heading to the Outback for Shrimp Ka-Bobs and Steak after shooting each day. Everyone knows that low income people live in cheap motels and eat Banquet TV dinners.

The CEO doesn't stop there. He'll move on to work at different facilities within the company with the average Joe.
Each week the average Joe, who I can only assume has been researched by the producers, has some ailment that makes it seem more than a coincidence that the CEO gets to work side by side with them. That worker is typically illustrated as the best worker in the history of the company. With a camera crew in tact, the CEO informs the workers that they are shooting a documentary or special on a day in the life of working that particular job. Sounds good, huh? What a boring documentary that would be. Like viewers would really want to see a day in the life of working at White Castle? I've seen enough corporate videos to know that a video of that nature would draw more zzz's than a documentary on chipping paint.

The employees, who have a camera in their face for the duration of the CEO stay, then realize they are on camera. Only an idiot would say stupid stuff while a camera was on them-knowing full well they are representing the company, right? The realism for me ends there. Hidden cameras might not look as good but would certainly provide a more representative image of what the employees are truly like in a situation like that.

With that said, the Hooter's manager who made his female employees scarf food down like pigs falls completely under that category. How this guy wasn't fired was a major flaw I just can't get over when it comes to Undercover Boss. Maybe the CEO couldn't fire him because he operates or works at an independent franchise? In either case, not every light bulb is quite as bright. That was perhaps the most compelling moment on the television show so far because someone just completely disregarded the fact he was being filmed and went over the top chauvinistic on us. That might be one of the few moments where we saw what the average work place can be like. A moment of truth on CBS Undercover Boss, however wrong it may be.

But let's rewind a bit on Undercover Boss. First the CEO informs his colleagues at a work board meeting, who all give him blank stares that unfortunately must have been edited to make them all look like idiots, that's he's going undercover. This group of head honchos doesn't seem overly impressed. They just want to get the darn board meeting over so they can go back to their cush jobs and surf the internet for auctions on EBAY. I am not sure at this point if the producers ask the participants in this board meeting to look dumbfounded or what? Whatever the case, it worked. Dumbfounded.

Okay, back to work with the CEO on Undercover Boss. The CEO is roughing it. Living at cheap hotels, eating TV dinners and perhaps even driving a car under his means. He learns what company life is through the eyes of about 4 individuals during the course of an hour long show. The CEO of Undercover Boss will face trials and tribulations during that week of doing tedious jobs. The CEO has consistently just stunk so far at doing anything menial. It kind of makes the CEO look like he's a useless figure head for the company. Each week the CEO stumbles badly. Perhaps it's part of the formula show so he gains a new respect for what the people at the bottom of the rung do. I get it. The jobs nobody wants to do are harder and sometimes more important in the scheme of things. Yet this goofy CEO, who can hardly put pieces of buns on a machine in a straight line, is getting paid the big bucks. Does anyone else see the irony here? This is the guy who is running your company?
The good commercial for the company also ends at that point for me. How would anyone allow their CEO to look like a complete idiot when it comes to doing jobs within his own company? Oh, wait. The CEO probably signed off on this. Now we know who is to blame for allowing that to happen.

Oh, but the formula of Undercover Boss isn't done there. The employees, who were maybe picked at random or maybe screened, are then told they need to go to headquarters for some odd reason. Some of the employees are scared to death their heads might be on the chopping block. Until they meet the CEO of the company who is now wearing a very expensive suit and a super nice watch-illustrating he's that guy who is now richer than you even though he didn't play that guy on TV for the past hour. The employees will usually cry because the CEO will do something extremely nice for them. You know, the type of thing that never happens in real life. 3 or 4 people will benefit from the fact they worked side by side with the CEO. The rest of the company gets a huge speech from the CEO describing his week of roughing it. Whoopy-tee-friggin-do!

The CEO then goes on to say that he learned a lot on Undercover Boss. Things like getting an hour free of ad time on network television is a lot cheaper if you dress down and mingle with the low life of your company.

The employees will then celebrate wildly as a new era begins at the company. One in which all employees are treated equally and no one will ever want to leave their great job or get fired for being 1 minute late. It's the first broadcast show I can ever remember that makes romanticizing the company you work for possible. The people at the end of the show seem in love with their company. The producers of Undercover Boss turn just about every hour long episode into their own version of "Rudy".

The employees might as well carry their boss off into the sunset on their shoulders for doing relatively nothing. The sacrifice of a week in the field should have been mandatory to begin with. All CEO's should know exactly what's going on down the line. Some corporations are so big that maybe that's not possible. Okay, I'll quit making excuses for CEO's here.

A good CEO shouldn't come across as completely ignorant to what his own company is doing. I find it very embarrassing that some jobs are portrayed as menial to begin with. I also find it obnoxious that the CEO acts as if he has to dress down like a bum to do those jobs. Undercover Boss is supposed to be that heart warming hour where somebody who has it a little better than others comes down to earth. I feel insulted by the lack of respect for workers to begin with. Sure, there is a happy ending but what about the other 396 employees in the company? What are you going to do for them? This small microcosm of employees makes me feel like several of the people from a large corporation just won, in essence, a small lottery. The others will just get to watch a silly video with their silly CEO having a good time living below his means. That, plus a token, "I've learned a lot and I'll do better" makes minimal impact from an outsider looking in.

I am absolutely sure there will be some tears when viewers watch Undercover Boss. That's because there are so many hopeless romantics out there. Perhaps people watch and assume that working at White Castle must now be a blast because the CEO is so cool. Maybe the guy is truly a good dude. The point I am making is that Undercover Boss is quite unrealistic. Just because 4 people benefit from helping a CEO make ends meet during a week long adventure, that doesn't mean the whole corporation is going to benefit. It's nice to see good things happen to good people. It is heart warming and I'm happy to see those individuals rewarded. But what about the bulk of the company? You helped out this lady that yelled at you but what about everyone else?
Is this really going to change how CEO's operate at a given company? For that, I say Undercover Boss is unrealistic. It might, though, be the best advertising a company ever gets.