URGENT MESSAGE: Boss is in market visiting stores. At ours now. Could be headed anywhere within the district. Be prepared!
It is one of the oldest tricks in the book. And, from what I can tell, happens in nearly every business.
Word gets out that the “boss” (whether it be the district manger or founder of the company) will be visiting locations.
Locally, they choreograph exactly which locations and at which time the boss will visit. If time allows, stores receive an extra scrubbing and schedules are re-written to feature the “best” employees.
Everyone puts on a good face for the boss…
Like directing the camera on the set of a movie, the boss sees only what they want to show him.
Lights! Camera! Boss Tour!
I witnessed this at 16 years old as a burger flipper at McDonald’s. And at every job since… And, this isn’t just the stuff of fast food restaurants and retail stores – it also happens in the cubicles of office buildings.
I get it… No one wants to get in trouble or reprimanded. Self-preservation is human nature.
But, there is something wrong if the only time you think to “do things by the book” “not cut corners” or “do a deep clean” is when you’ve got the boss coming. The worst of it… We’re missing the point. The show shouldn’t be for the boss during their 20-minute random store visit on a semi-annual business. But to your paying customers who are there every single day – from the moment your doors open, until close.
Two Sets Of Advice
Advice A: For The “Boss”
You can’t rely on the experience you have with your entourage touring stores for the day. Understand, even if you didn’t call ahead and your visit is ’spontaneous’ – with that first location visit the news spreads like wildfire. Phone calls and text messages zip to surrounding locations like wildfire. The area is on high alert. Behavior has been modified until you leave and someone signals the “all clear” signal.
So, enjoy. Shake hands. Ask good questions. Re-energize the company culture. See how you can provide support. But don’t rely that “what you see is what you get.”
If the only motivation for change of behavior is you (the boss) spotting it and calling it out – you’ve got problems. You need secret shoppers. Friends, family, colleagues who can share the truthful highs and lows of your locations.
Advice B: For The Local Managers
From what I’ve experienced – the reason you have to “put on a show” for the big boss – and stress everyone out with the fire drill is you are either…
- Doing the job the best you can – despite that are not wholly successful – and need some more help. Or,
- Barely good at your job and get by with the “smoke and mirror” routine.
If you are (1) Doing the best you can…
What is wrong with letting the boss see reality? What the customer experiences when the boss isn’t present.
It will demonstrate that there are problems that need fixing. That you need more help – maybe more staff, or less responsibility, or more learning.
Maybe you can be the one to show, “Hey, we’re doing it by the book – but it just isn’t working. We need to re-write the book.”
If you are (2) Squeaking by through deception.
If rigging your location is what is keeping you from being fired – maybe you should be fired. The company isn’t doing you… and you aren’t doing the company any favors.
Maybe you got away with it this time. Maybe you’ve bought yourself another 6-months or a year before another pop-in visit. Maybe you think you’ve got the system beat… Maybe you’ll even quit
However, as I stated at the top, I’ve seen this behavior in every job I’ve worked. And, in every job I’ve worked I’ve seen these people eventually ejected from the company.
In Closing…
Listen, I don’t expect to change the world with my articles… And I know this was a quasi- if not full-on rant.
But with this post, I hope I can reach a few people – both at the “big boss” level and at the unit/store level – and simply point out how prevalent, yet short sided, and ridiculous this behavior is.
If this is happening in any form, it is ultimately affecting your customers. No matter how solid the con is played – eventually customers will let you know the “truth.” They will complain. Or worse – stop using your business. They’ll vote with their wallet.
Does your company allow “mistakes” and “failure” to be learning lessons? Or is the con on at your business too? What have you experienced? Does your company have a way around this?
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Tags: business, customer experience, Leadership
Paul, you nailed the store tour con–and brought back so many memories! Your point on letting the boss see the reality is a good one, especially for the cubicle culture. Years ago, even though our department sat a few feet from the office of “the big boss,” we still put on these fire drills. It was hard to see, especially when the team was short-staffed and needed help. I still consult and work with retail companies and one caution I will make is letting the one experience of a friend or family member spur you (the boss) into action without listening to and trusting your team. I’ve seen entire policies re-written because of one bad customer experience with an under-trained employee. Thanks for such a thought-provoking and truthful post.
Jesaka – thanks for your comments.
You’re right… I was a bit casual about mentioning friends and family as a “secret shopper.” Agreed, it needs to be someone who “gets” how it is supposed to be…
Furthermore, before you go blowing things up, make sure you do your fact checking… Some of the best run stores can be thrown into a swirl when a few employees don’t show up/call in sick. Or, as you mention – it just happens to be a new employee running the cash register that day.
Thanks for participating, Jesaka!
Interesting concept. Under this section, If you are (1) Doing the best you can…: You would like to show the boss a true slice of life, good and bad. However in many cultures the boss would not understand. I just looked at store a, b an c and they weren’t like this (yes because they did clean and spit polish in anticipation) and we intentionally did not.
I also agree that secret shoppers/visitors can be helpful.
But the best-est thing of all … listen to the customers day in and day out. Some cultures do, and many do not.
Thanks for your thoughts, Don.
One benefit of having the boss visit – it is kind of like having guests stay at your house – it gives you an excuse and opportunity to clean up the place.
I agree… the customer is king.
Like you said, this is even truer in the corporate world. An upper-exec tour of a field location or a plant used to be a very staged event (not sure if it is still this way). That was especially true for foreign locations; great preparations were made so that the exec didn’t have to endure any discomfort (not derogatory, just outside their comfort zone) from travel.
You hit it on the head; take the visit as a PR; employee morale/town hall tour and don’t expect to understand how things really work based on it.
If execs want a more realistic view, just drop into one of the locations on their way to/from vacation, and leave the entourage behind. Maybe the team will also benefit by seeing them in a casual view.
NWGuy… agree with the pop-in approach. (Although don’t expect to be able to pop-into a second or third location. The first probably sounded the warning signal).
Thanks again for your comments!
It’s very funny to read what I lived.
We just had a “Boss Tour” where we couldn’t place a word.. The local manager did “the job” for us.
All that boss got was smiling faces. The only facts he reported to the board are:
numbers are Ok
atmosphere is Ok
As you said this kind of behavior is ridiculous… The local manager were so stressed (and stressing) that she asked us, by the morning, to clean and make some order on our respective desks… As if the only goal of this tour was to look good!
Advice C : For the local employee:
Forward this article to your boss ?
What can be done to make the boss and/or the local manager understand that the problems we meet are part of the job. Hiding them will make them stronger…
BS – If you don’t want to forward the article… Print it and provide it anonymously.
There is another whole part of this I didn’t address, and that is the signals this sends to the workers. That “good work” is more about a game than about “quality.”
I remember getting in trouble because the burgers I was preparing were not fully cooked (in my McDonald’s example). I was warned and told to STRICTLY FOLLOW THE TIMERS WHEN THE BOSS WAS THERE.
(However, we never followed the timers because the grill wasn’t hot enough, or something wasn’t calibrated). Because someone hadn’t done their job with the equipment it made me not able to do my job properly.
Anyway, it taught me at an early age that many “responsible business adults” seem to spend more time building the illusion of doing a good job, rather than doing a good job.
Thanks for taking time to leave your thoughts!
They say the Queen thinks the world smells of fresh paint. My experience is that corporate staff are too distant from operations to have a good overview of what they see. The result is a focus on trivia, like dust on the floor or other minor, but obvious points. A CEO has his own view of the world and will only listen to feedback that fits this view. If he thinks he is visiting a failing location, imperfections are flaws and honest feedback is an excuse. I have been on both sides of the fence and I believe that corporate staff should use such visits to interact with customers and to observe how the operation works.
Mark… that’s an awesome…
The Queen Thinks The World Smells Of Fresh Paint.
I’m going to have to remember your phrase and steal it sometime…
And you’re right about the mindset of the big boss…
imperfections are flaws and honest feedback is an excuse
Smart stuff, Mark. Thanks for commenting.