Test your decisions
It’s not like Roto-Rooter makes absurd decisions that don’t account for how it will affect customers and employees. In truth, many decisions are tested on a smaller scale before nationwide implementation. But Arquilla says that’s not enough.
It’s not enough to run a trial and take the answer of the person in charge at face value. You need to trust that management is telling you the truth, but you need to reinforce the information with feedback from people doing the job.
“We all tend to love what we invent or what we work on, so I don’t think you can be entirely objective about something that you want so badly to work well,” Arquilla says. “You have to get past the person who created the concept and get some totally unbiased feedback.”
How do you gather that feedback? You talk to the front-line employees.
The first thing you need to determine is to what questions are you trying to find answers. To use your time wisely, you must have a focused reason for asking for feedback, whether it’s about a new system or a key issue that holds your company’s attention.
“When I go out in the field, we know what we’re looking for because we know what the priorities are,” Arquilla says. “You have to have discipline to look past the little, ankle-biter problems that get in your way. You have to stay focused on the stuff that really matters because there’s always going to be, pick a number, 50, 70, 100 things you could be working on.”
Once you’ve determined your reason for being in the field, you’ll have a better understanding of what employees you need to talk with and what you should be asking. Then, it’s time to work.
During his time disguised as Denman, Arquilla learned that the experience is completely different when you put on the uniform or, in Roto-Rooter lingo, wear the blues, and work side by side with the employees.
“I would suspect most senior-level folks pride themselves that they stay connected and they understand what’s important on the front line,” Arquilla says. “I’m not sure any of us are quite as connected as we think we are or we’re out there as much as we’d like to be. I don’t think it’s enough just to show up and shake hands and spend the day on your BlackBerry. It’s physically doing the work.”
Dressing the part, turning off your cell phone and being willing to learn, still isn’t going to be enough to buddy up to an employee and get them to openly talk with you.
“The first order of business is can you disarm this person and let them know you’re really there to learn,” Arquilla says. “You’re not there to put (on) a senior-level hat and start lecturing and pontificating about the way the world ought to be. If you want the real deal and you want to really, really know what’s going on, you have to be there to learn, not to judge.”
There isn’t a three-step process that immediately disarms employees to get them to relax. But word travels fast among staff. If you can convey that you’re there to learn in order to better the company’s processes and you hold true to that promise, you’ll build a reputation that employees can openly and honestly communicate with you.
Arquilla is so used to trying to make employees feel comfortable that during the “Undercover Boss” taping, he was lectured by the production company to go easy on the charm. After all, he was introduced as a new employee, not the president.
“If the word is out on the street, ‘Don’t tell this person anything because they’ll beat the crap out of you,’ I know there isn’t anything that person can say when they go in that is going to force anything from (their employees),” Arquilla says. “If the flipside is, ‘Hey, we’ve heard pretty good things about this person. They’re pretty willing to listen. You can tell them the truth even if it’s not good, they’ll still listen and they’ll try to take that information and do some good with it.’ Then, I think you’ll hear the truth.”
Once employees have warmed up to the idea of you working alongside them, make sure you help, observe and ask on-point questions. Staying committed to the task at hand will reinforce that you’re only there to learn.
For “Undercover Boss,” Arquilla unclogged a tub, cleared sewer drains and welded. For a company based on quickly meeting the customers’ needs and matching the right skill set with the job in the field, going in, Arquilla didn’t realize what each job involved. Doing the job gave him a new perspective. It also taught him not to assume anything while learning from front-line employees how the process you’re trying to understand works.
“Don’t be too assumptive on how long a job takes or how difficult it is,” Arquilla says.
Being on the front line also means talking with customers and understanding how the decision you’ve made affects them. If Arquilla is in the field, he sees himself as a front-line employee, not the president. When you’re in front of customers, ask about the service and the way it is delivered. They’ll tell you.
“I love it when they go, ‘It&#
x2019;s not my business, but I don’t know why you guys do fill in the blank,’” Arquilla says. “Sometimes when they tell me what fill in the blank is and they’re not happy about it, it stings a little bit. But it probably wouldn’t hit home if I was reading it in a survey form.”
Throughout the process, remind yourself why you’re in the field to begin with and what you need to know to make an informed decision on whether changes need to be made.
“At some point, the burden falls on you or any other senior-level person to take away what you’ve learned, and somebody has to be held accountable to make a decision,” Arquilla says. “But if you don’t (get) the truth while you’re out there, then your decisions are only as good as the information the front line’s willing to give you.”
