When the CEO Goes Into the Trenches

That show is "Undercover Boss" on CBS. Maybe you were also among the more than 38 million people who watched its premiere following the Super Bowl this past February. It continues to garner strong ratings and much discussion in its second season.

The premise is as brilliant as it is simple: CEOs of large companies take jobs as ordinary employees in order to discover how well their companies work from a worker's-eye view. The show's producers maintain the ruse by informing employees that they are being filmed for a show about ordinary workers competing for jobs.

Whether it's the CEO of Frontier Airlines finding out whether flyers really get a "different flying experience" on his airline by working as a flight attendant (photo) or the CEO of Hooters finding out how poor store management can demoralize servers, the bosses who have agreed to go undercover have all learned valuable lessons about their companies, about which management principles work and which don't, and about the importance of keeping employees satisfied and motivated to deliver their best service.

In one recent episode, DirecTV CEO Mike White learned an important lesson about customer service from his stint under the headset at the company's main CS center in Denver: The job is every bit as demanding as the more physical work the warehouse and installation staff do. "It's tough, but a different kind of toughness than climbing a roof in 95-degree heat," he said after muffing his first call from a customer who couldn't get her set-top receiver to work. White learned that there's a psychological element to the job that makes it more challenging than it might seem: "If the customers realize you're not confident, they can take advantage [of you]," said Chloe, the customer service representative who trained White on the job.

"Undercover Boss" makes another important point, however: Every employee in a company that does business with the general public is engaged in customer service, not just the agents in the call center or the clerks behind the sales counter. What the housekeeping and maintenance staff do matters as much to customer satisfaction as whether the waitstaff and folks on the phones have a positive attitude or just attitude. And satisfied employees satisfy customers in return.

So what keeps employees satisfied? Fair pay matters - Frontier Airlines CEO Bryan Bedford found out firsthand how companywide pay cuts had a damaging effect on morale. But respect for the hard work they do matters just as much - a point that also comes through loud and clear in every episode of the show.

If you've not had a chance to check out this show, you should. And should you happen to have the ear of some CEO somewhere, tell that person to watch as well - he or she would benefit from it even more.

Find a job that matters at http://www.customerservicejobs.com/