For people who are unfamiliar with the concept, Undercover Boss is one of the most popular reality TV shows, which is why it has been aired for such a long time in so many countries. In brief, it sees one of the top leaders at a business disguising themselves as a new hire for a bottom-rung position, where they have the chance to interact with other low-rank employees. At the end of each episode, the boss reveals their true identity before handing out some kind of reward to deserving employees, though it is interesting to note that there have been exceptions to this rule. However, it is important to note that Undercover Boss has had its fair share of skeptics, which has made for some rather interesting discussion to go along with the great TV drama.
Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Undercover Boss:
1. Undercover Boss Is a Multi-National Franchise
Undercover Boss is not a single TV show but rather a full-fledged franchise consisting of numerous TV shows set in numerous countries. In brief, it started out in the United Kingdom, where it became so successful that it soon spread to other countries including but not limited to Australia, Canada, and the United States. Each TV show has its own peculiarities, but for the most part, remain the same as its counterparts.
2. Created By Successful TV Executive
The TV show is not the first time that the creator of Undercover Boss, Stephen Lambert, has come up with something successful. For example, he has launched other TV shows such as Faking It, The Secret Millionaire, and Wife Swap, which saw similar success on the international stage. This commercial success has been matched with critical success, as shown by Lambert’s winning of numerous awards and other forms of recognition for his accomplishments.
3. Some Episodes Have Resulted in Termination
Most episodes of Undercover Boss end on an uplifting note as people receive training, promotions, and even financial rewards. However, it is interesting to note that there has been more than one episode that ended in termination because of bad behavior. For example, one recent episode saw a supervisor at a restaurant chain being terminated because of his choice to bad-mouth his customers, which stood out all the more because he persisted in his chosen course of action when his boss revealed her true position.
4. Some People Question Whether the TV Show Is Real or Not
Some people are skeptical that Undercover Boss is as real as it claims to be. In part, this is because reality TV shows are well-known to be flexible when it comes to whether the material shown on TV is what happened in real life. However, it should also be noted that a lot of people think that the life stories of the people put in the spotlight on the TV show are too convenient for the needs of the show-makers.
5. Some People Question Whether the TV Show Produces Good Results or Not
On a related note, some people are skeptical that the decisions made on the TV show are sound from the perspective of the business. After all, while it is possible that the bosses are bringing in fresh, unbiased perspectives into the picture, it is also probable that their understanding of the situation is not as good as that of the local tiers of management. As a result, it is not impossible for their decisions made on the TV show to cause serious disruptions to the local operations as well as create ill feeling.
6. Some People Question Whether the Employees Are Acting True to Life Or Not
The employees who show up in Undercover Boss are well-aware that they are being filmed for the TV show. As a result, it is questionable whether they are really behaving how they would behave under normal circumstances, particularly since being observed is known to cause changes in the performance of employees. Then again, considering the number of employees who have made extremely unwise decisions in open view of the cameras, it seems that there is a limit to how much that influence can sway all of the individuals out there.
7. There Is a Limit On How Much the Experience Influences the Bosses
In the end, while the bosses might feel sympathetic towards the people filling out the bottom rungs of their hierarchies, there is a limit to how much their experience will influence their future decision-making. For example, Dan DiZio, CEO of the Philly Pretzel Company, has acknowledged that the pay disparity between the top and the bottom is unfair but that since market conditions are what they are, he can’t pay his bottom-rung employees more even if he would like to do so. Whether this is true or not, it is clear that his sentiments are not restricted to him alone.
8. Undercover Boss Is Expanding
The popularity of the concept of the TV show can be seen in how it is still expanding. For example, Belgium, Turkey, and the Netherlands are but some of the countries that are planning to show their localized versions of Undercover Boss. Furthermore, American TV stations have been known to air the episodes of series produced in other English-speaking countries under the title of Undercover Boss Abroad. With that said, it is also important to note that execution is important as well, seeing as how not all of the Undercover Boss TV shows have been as successful as the ones best-known to English-speaking viewers.
9. Inspired By British Airways CEO
Curiously, Stephen Lambert got the idea for Undercover Boss after listening to a British Airways CEO. To be precise, he was inspired to come up something along its current lines when he heard a British Airways CEO lament that he would never be able to get a clear picture of what was happening in his operations in person because he would be recognized, thus causing deviation from standard behavior on the part of his employees. Whether this is true or not is an interesting question, though the answer is likely to depend on the structure of the company in question, with particular influence being assigned to the number of tiers between the top and the bottom.
10. Some People Think It Is Biased in Favor of the Bosses
On a final note, it is interesting to note that some people dislike Undercover Boss because they think that the TV show paints the bosses in too favorable a light. In part, they point to how the bosses on the TV show behave in an unrealistic manner for normal operations when they hand out their gifts at the end of the episode. However, they also point out that the entire concept is a modernized version of an old belief, which is that everything going wrong is the fault of the lower-rank leadership and that if the top-rank leadership knew about the problems, they would put a stop to them, which is rather questionable to say the least.
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