Undercover Boss: A Good Idea in Theory

"Undercover Boss" gives viewers an insight into the everyday operations of the way a company runs. It gives the bosses a chance to check out the behind the scene areas to see what actually goes on day by day beyond the realm of the reports they read. This is all good in theory but one must wonder how real is "Undercover Boss"? How much of the coverage lays on the editing room, so to speak, that the bosses don't want you to see?

"Undercover Boss" has had CEO's from many companies go undercover into their business and check out how things are working, if the employees are happy, etc. It truly is a good idea for a television show in theory. At the end of every show we see a handful of employees at the corporate headquarters being offered vacations, college funds for their children, and large donation to their favorite charities. At the end of the day however, one must wonder how much is really changed within in the company and how many employees are really impacted by these changes.

So far since premiering after the Super Bowl in January 2010 "Undercover Boss" has visited a number of businesses. Waste Management, Lucky Strike Lanes, Subway, NASCAR, Chiquita, Chicago Cubs, Frontier Airlines, DirecTV, Great Wolf Resorts, Choice Hotels, Hooters, 7 Eleven, White Castle, Churchill Downs, GSI Commerce, Herschand Family Entertainment, Roto-Rooter and 1-800-Flowers have been put to the undercover test.

As a follow up to "Undercover Boss" the show should return to the company and talk to employees that have not been in direct contact with "Undercover Boss" to see if any of the promised changes have truly been implemented into the company. They should also check to see if there have been any real changes made since the bosses have been there such as company moral, better working conditions, etc.

In my opinion the worst "Undercover Boss" to date would be NASCAR. Not only did they barely skim the surface of the NASCAR community, the never spoke to a driver, a crew chief, or car owner to see how they would like NASCAR to be changed, to see what their opinion was, or ask how the current rules and regulation are working for them. To me this could mean two things. Either they already know how the key members of the NASCAR community feel and don't want the world to know or that they truly don't care and are only worried about the money.