Undercover Boss - General Discussion

[WescottF1]

I don't remember what else Anthony got, but yes the young girl was given a large sum of money ($170K I think) to open her own franchise as soon as she finishes her business degree.

[Fostersmom]

That $170,000 for a franchise is a crock. First, it barely covers the fees, I looked it up. They cost anywhere from like $150-$350,000 and she would also need like $200,000 credit and $25,000 cash available. Sure, that's obtainable for that poor girl when she graduates. 

 

And maybe I'm not understanding the concept, but is this not the same recipe that's on the back of every fucking bag of chocolate chips? Yeah, they are tasty, but other than laziness or an aversion to baking, I could whip these up when I go home if I wanted. 

[backformore]

the one employee who was transferred -   This is basically a fast-food type of job.   Does the job pay that much that a person would transfer to another state, leaving a boyfriend behind?  

 

I've never seen a tollhouse café stand-alone restaurant/drive-through.   To me, it's a place in the mall where you can stop for a quick pick-me-up, or for a reward for the kids if they've been good at the mall.  And yeah, it's  basically a tollhouse cookie, same as you can make at home.  I wouldn't go out of my way for it, but dammit if they don't smell enticing when I walk by the store in the mall.

[TV Diva Queen]

I don't remember what else Anthony got, but yes the young girl was given a large sum of money ($170K I think) to open her own franchise as soon as she finishes her business degree.

Thank you.  I tried to watch it On Demand last night, but FF was disengaged, and NO WAY was I going to sit through that crazy CEO hot mess again.  :)

[backformore]

I noticed that the Mrs fields cookie shops closed around the same time the nestle townhouse shops started appearing. I wonder if there was a connection.

I really disliked the CEO of this episode. She didn't have a clue about business. Even her initial statement about how she didn't do things the traditional way, of going straight from college to the boardroom. Is that how she thinks businesses run? 22 year olds right out of college become CEO?

It was a weird statement. She seems like she has an insecurity about her lack of degree, and was being very hardnosed and cold to make up for it. This show was supposed to be her redemption.

Interesting to me, every episode of this show has an employee whose dream goal is to own a franchise of the company. And every employee has a sob story about illness or other hardship. I guess they screen pretty carefully when choosing who is featured on the show.

[Fostersmom]

I always love when it's obvious the chosen company is there for no other reason than to try to sell more franchises and the bosses are obvious dumbasses who would make the potential buyers just miserable. Case in point, buying a Nestle franchise. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

The CEO of a discount retail store seeks to determine if he is properly running his grandfather's company properly.  He discovers security issues and shoplifters who take advantage.

[backformore]

Yeah, a Wal-Mart type of company that hires people to work part time instead of full time, in order to not have to provide employee benefits.

And then he acts lime he had never before considered the impact this has on employees. Made me wonder how many of the employees are getting government benefits because they are low income.

Just another attempt at PR for a store with a pattern of treating people like Crap.

[Art Vandelay]

The boss really seemed full of himself.

Did anyone notice that he said all "full time" employees at the one store are getting $5k each. Wonder how many of them are actually full time.

There seemed to be some pretty basic issues in the stores that seemingly could have been solved by more management involvement in the first place.

Edited January 5, 2016 by Art Vandelay

[Fostersmom]

Again another company that's apparently in my area that I've never heard of. I looked it up and granted, there's nothing in the plaza the Cleveland store is in to draw me to it. Nothing but budget retailers, a Save-a-lot, a couple of rent to own stores, a payday loan place, a dollar store, some fast food, and a couple of banks. Right off the freeway exit. Honestly, you go there and just hope your car isn't broken into while you are shopping. 

 

Holy crap, this is a mis-managed company. Yeah, Mr. CEO knows all the retail buzz words, I'll give him that. He said so many of them it was like a retail management drinking game, but he has ZERO idea of what they really mean, how to implement them, and how they realistically work. I loved the thousands of school uniform pieces. Where the hell was the district manager or market manager since I doubt the chain has enough stores to make it possible to be close to any in more than maybe in the states with the original few stores? It would take a year for that merchandise to sell and that's a long shot at best and they will be overloaded with the same stuff again for the next school year before it's even gone. What a HUGE waste of floor space. There's a reason stores pack-away that kind of merchandise until the next year or mark it down to pennies on the dollar until they clearance it out to zero. You can leave half the store dedicated to stuff no one wants or will buy for another 10 months, or cut your losses and put items on the sales floor customers will actually buy from you today. And too bad his expansion plans are what bankruptcy is made of. You can't make that kind of expansion in a short amount of time unless you have a fresh and exciting idea… which he doesn't. 

 

 

Did anyone notice that he said all "full time" employees at the one store are getting $5k each. Wonder how many of them are actually full time.
 

 

Realistically? I'd say less than 5, most likely 2 or 3. Store manager and assistant managers is about it. I've worked small discount chains and it's always been those key positions. All the cashiers and stockers have been part-time. The last 2 chains I worked at before I got out of retail were discount chains and I was salary as the store manager and I had 2 assistants at each. I had busier stores and got 2 assistants, but some stores got 1 full and 2 parts. I did have 1 full-time cashier at one chain, but I inherited her from the original store manager and having another one was out of the question and there was only a few full time cashiers in the entire district, I'd say less than 5 in 8 stores. If the full timers quit or got fired, that full time job went away. The other chain had 0 full time employes who weren't GMs or assistants in the 11 stores in my district. in the 20 years I worked retail, starting as a cashier in 1994 and ending as a GM in 2014, the amount of full time employees who weren't managers were marginal at best. The big box retailers I worked for had some key positions that were full time; cash office, HR, receiving clerk, freight crew leader, department heads, service desk, but you're talking maybe 10 out of 100 non managers. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I liked this one.  I think this guy really was as clueless to the operational messes as he was represented to be.  I totally agree with y'all who have well documented the BS about compensation ignorance.  He knew to a dime what the labor cost structures would be at each store.  Didja see how he was with his buying team?  He was a tyrannical fool, talking out of all sides of his mouth and demanding the literally impossible.

 

We never did get to see or hear any of the "immediate changes" he vowed after his talk with his lousy DM.  I really hope he just fired that jerk.  Didja hear any fixes implemented for his ridiculous shoe departments?  I call shenanigans on his security commitment.  Renting a mall cop to stand at the door makes his folks safer?  Huh?  Are his insurance companies completely ignorant to the policies every big store has around employees so much as lifting a finger when someone walks out the door with merch?  Those companies fire employees who do anything other than call the cops in those situations.   Hmmm.  Does this guy carry insurance?????

 

Unlike most of these eps, this guy grew up managing inventory.  He knew perfectly well how to handle hangars and shoe boxes and keeping displays in order.  He had to intentionally dumb that down, which flips the entire concept of the series.  Not a good look.  I did like that for once, the CEO could run a register with minimal training.  This guy was obviously no effete klutz.  

 

I have the distinct feeling they cut out a "prodigal son" moment of this guy going back to his father and apologizing for having wrongly gone against him.  They really should have kept that and cut the sob stories.  

[Fostersmom]

We never did get to see or hear any of the "immediate changes" he vowed after his talk with his lousy DM.  I really hope he just fired that jerk.  Didja hear any fixes implemented for his ridiculous shoe departments?  I call shenanigans on his security commitment.  Renting a mall cop to stand at the door makes his folks safer?  Huh?  Are his insurance companies completely ignorant to the policies every big store has around employees so much as lifting a finger when someone walks out the door with merch?  Those companies fire employees who do anything other than call the cops in those situations.   Hmmm.  Does this guy carry insurance?????

 

 

It's been a long time since I worked a store with security, let alone full time security. They were basically there to catch employees and it was a fun bonus for them if they caught a customer. With customers, you have to see them take the merchandise, not lose sight of them the whole time, let them get out of the door with the stuff, and then get them to come back in and then believe you have real power over them to do something. The one store I worked at had an amazing loss prevention person and she caught customers all the time. But really, she was just lucky. She would get them to confess, give her all their info, and they would receive a civil demand for restitution. The police wouldn't even show up in that city unless the person stole more than $500 of merchandise and the company lawyer and store kinda hated when the police were involved. That would mean something like $10,000 had to be put aside just to cover possible damages if the person tried to sue. Now employees on the other hand, they were fair game. They can rob a store blind in a second and tend to have long cons they run on the store. They are so much easier to get rid of and prosecute for real reasons without fear of being sued and often will admit to actual felonies. My favorite was at a big box store I was a assistant manager at when I was like 23. We had a TINY store, but it was the 5th largest sales volume in the chain, so we rented a warehouse next door to store stuff. One of our employees came in one day and said her neighbor had seen 2 of the stock boys selling merchandise in the parking lot of the warehouse. They were both like 19 and the one dated a girl who did all sorts of things at the store, she worked in the cash office, ran the service desk, and worked in layaway too. The moment I met her, I didn't trust her, and couldn't figure out why they had ever put her in any of those positions, but couldn't really pin point why I didn't trust her. So, when the boyfriend and the other kid were seen selling stuff, the LP guy came in and knew she would spill her guts on them in a second. He was a GIANT man, looked scary, but was one of the nicest guys I've ever met in my life to this day. He came in and sat in the office with her and a witness and said, so Melanie, do you have anything to tell me, trying to get her to spill on the boys. Girlfriend instantly cracked and spilled on herself. She had been stealing cash from the cash office, claiming the cashiers tills had been short, had stuffed her layaways with all sorts of merchandise after another employee had rung them up and packed them, and had been doing fake returns and giving herself all sorts of refunds for stuff she never bought. We had no idea and he just kept writing and asking anything else? She admitted to over $1000, a felony. When he got to $1000, he finally looked at her and said, okay, what do you know about boyfriend and the other one selling stuff from the warehouse? She lost her shit and knew she was so screwed. She got taken out in cuffs and was actually charged and the boys got fired when they never showed back up to work. She is why LP is in stores, not the shop lifter who might get out with $100 worth of stuff once. Sure, there are shoplifters who make a career out of it, but it's the employees who can do some real damage on a long term basis. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

 

The new chairman goes undercover while the founder observes via a LIVE video feed.  The founder communicates in real time with the undercover chairman as we see flirting employees and other situations. 

 

[captain1]

The old CEO and the new CEO reminded me of The Donald and Jeb!

Edited January 9, 2016 by captain1

[Guatemama3641]

There's a couple Shoppers Worlds in my hometown. They are both total dumps. I tweeted during the show that he needs to come check these out. They do not look a thing like the ones on the show. The ones in Toledo have stuff just thrown everywhere and the stores themselves are filthy.

I did enjoy the episode though. I like when it's places where I've been before.

[Guatemama3641]

The old CEO and the new CEO reminded me of The Donald and Jeb!

I said the same thing. He definitely had a Jeb look to him.

The episode itself was ok. That flirting girl was on my last nerve. I'm fairly new to the show, but this one seemed kind of scattered. Maybe it's because the founder's voice was grating.

[captain1]

I think you mean Jeb! don't you - LOL!

[Fostersmom]

Old owner is a meat head who actually had a decent idea, but was too busy being a dude bro to really make it a huge success. New CEO actually has a clue and business knowledge…. how'd he get on this show? He instantly saw the issues and didn't have a huge emotional attachment to be blinded by the flaws. I can't figure out why they wasted a whole segment on the boobtastic girl who was literally quitting that day anyway, other than to show off her boobs. I actually liked the rest of the employees, even the one making his own rules. God knows plenty of franchisees or store managers have to do so to make things work right when owners are clueless or sure one size fits all when it comes to a business. The woman with the food truck lasted longer than she should have and was obviously dedicated given they had 0 marketing for her truck. The delivery driver guy had the best idea, put these on or near college campuses. Quick, easy, and relatively healthy food, students will literally eat it up. Better yet, put a food truck on a few to see how it goes. 

 

Out of all the potential franchise opportunities we've seen or businesses featured, this is one of the few where I can actually see them getting some success from being on this show. 

[Diana Berry]

For some reason the name of the business turns me off and doesn't make me want to run out and eat there.

Question. What if food truck lady decides to quit.. They gave her the truck or a free franchise( forget) would she have to pay any money back or just give the truck back? The whole thing is your not actually getting the cash so you could end up losing your own money if your store/ truck is not a success.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

If CEO dude was not already aware of the IT issues being fervently communicated by the franchisee, he has no shot.

My favorite moment was when muscle guy was losing it as the franchisee was portioning out the protein by hand. He did pay lip service to the calorie issue an unsuspecting customer may encounter, but his true colors came out as he moaned about the COST!!!!! Yup.

Parenthetically, I just came across an article on White Castle. The CEO who developed their grocery store offerings is stepping down and he mentioned that they were just now coming on with a third (?) plant devoted solely to cranking that stuff out. It now accounts for 30% of their burger sales! When they first tried this, they had the work parsed out among existing units, which was problematic. Standards were all over the place, as was quality control. There was a lot of resentment (I saw this first-hand) at some of the stores as the extra work was quite burdensome and the managers and employees got no bonuses with the increased product they were moving. WC learned there was a huge and untapped market in the grocery stores and that they simply had to develop stand-alone factories to do it right. I can just see how happy that franchisee will be when corporate usurps his burgeoning pre-prep biz. :)

I didn't see any nods to food prep health codes. I'd love to know how the truck lady, or any truck provider, deals with handling the dirty money and bacteria-laden payment cards, and then immediately returning to handling/cooking food. Hint: Illegal unless one completely changes out gloves and/or washes hands thoroughly. Neither of these things were happening. Also...how long was the chicken and salad stuff sitting out? If that chicken was maintained at less then 60 degrees, I'd be stunned.

The thing that rated most for me was this guy's constant bemoaning a lack of training. Did he invest in the expensive creation of protocols and materials for such? What about labor standards for training - why did he not establish any? It was an easy out for him to criticize the flirty girl for being a poor teacher when he really just hated her for being out for herself. He bitterly resented that she appeared to be smarter than he was because she was proficient with the POS hardware and software. Poor babay.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Lonesome Rhodes

[Evanscody]

I didn't see any nods to food prep health codes. I'd love to know how the truck lady, or any truck provider, deals with handling the dirty money and bacteria-laden payment cards, and then immediately returning to handling/cooking food. Hint: Illegal unless one completely changes out gloves and/or washes hands thoroughly. Neither of these things were happening. .

Thank you for pointing that out. Also....EW!

[JocelynCavanaugh]

For some reason the name of the business turns me off and doesn't make me want to run out and eat there.

 

Me too. The name, branding, and decor are all very masculine and industrial, and red/black/gunmetal gray is not especially appetizing. 

 

I didn't realize they were in Dallas at all before this episode, but yesterday I happened to drive by a brick-and-mortar location on Lower Greenville that I never noticed before. Could it be the food truck lady's upgraded location? It was unclear from the episode whether that truck was the ONLY Dallas location, period, or just the only food truck version of MMG.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

 

The heir to an electric sign company goes undercover and is challenged to overcome his fear of heights in downtown Chicago.

 

[missbonnie]

Wow, the guy with the pony tail was kinda rude to the boss at the end I thought. I almost always love the bosses and employees on this show. And, I end up crying half the time, just like I did when YESCO's boss said he was putting the little boy who passed away on several signs every year.

[Diane Mars]

I really liked this episode. Liked the people (but I agree with @missbonnie regarding the ponyTailGuy, whose I forgot the name), the boss... Their kindness, etc...

And I'm in LOVE with Eric, lol !

[TudorQueen]

I missed the very end and don't remember who had a pony tail anyway. Who is pony-tail guy and how was he rude?

[Ouisch]

I missed the very end and don't remember who had a pony tail anyway. Who is pony-tail guy and how was he rude?

His name was Sal - the Chicago sign repair guy. At the end when the boss told him that he'd learned a lot about what the company was doing wrong while working with him, Sal replied something like, "Well, that's all well and good but it don't mean nuthin' unless you're gonna do something about it."

[Fostersmom]

This one kinda bored me. This just isn't the kind of company that lends it's self well to such a show. I liked Sal, aka Ponytail guy, and his attitude towards the boss. You can say you want to hear such things all you want, but unless you actually are going to listen and make changes, it means nothing. I'd bet he's not well liked by his coworkers anymore though. Yeah, that was a hell of a lot of overtime, but most of them most likely really count on the money to make up for the weeks there's little work. The guy who used to be homeless was just creepy and a little shady. I worry about what will happen to his son if he (the dad) loses his job. I'm fairly certain son had a developmental disability too, besides his heart issue. If dad gets fired, the son will most likely lose his job too. I was abut 90% sure the guy who lost his son knew exactly who the boss was. The disguise wasn't all that good and his comment about the handshake kinda gave it away. 

[TV Diva Queen]

His name was Sal - the Chicago sign repair guy. At the end when the boss told him that he'd learned a lot about what the company was doing wrong while working with him, Sal replied something like, "Well, that's all well and good but it don't mean nuthin' unless you're gonna do something about it."

I liked when he said this.  Maybe it's an "Italian from Chicago" kind of thing, but I think I would have done the same.  I also would have said (right then and there) "don't you dare take away our overtime".  

[TV Diva Queen]

Today is 1 18.  The son's billboards should be up.  :'(

[ChicagoCita]

Interesting transition between the two CEOs. I see the first guy with the voice like he gargles with razor blades as someone wayyy too emotionally invested to be open to any changes. This place may have a chance with a new guy with not as great an emotional attachment and some business background.

 

Damn, when the delivery driver started crying, then the CEO, I had to cry too. It's Pavlovian.

 

No one in this I disliked, although I do wish Original CEO would run far, far away from the business and let it succeed without him.

 

I looked up the locations for this place and there are two in the far Chicago 'burbs, none in Chicago proper, or even close. That's pretty unusual.

[TV Diva Queen]

Interesting transition between the two CEOs. I see the first guy with the voice like he gargles with razor blades as someone wayyy too emotionally invested to be open to any changes. This place may have a chance with a new guy with not as great an emotional attachment and some business background.

 

Damn, when the delivery driver started crying, then the CEO, I had to cry too. It's Pavlovian.

 

No one in this I disliked, although I do wish Original CEO would run far, far away from the business and let it succeed without him.

 

I looked up the locations for this place and there are two in the far Chicago 'burbs, none in Chicago proper, or even close. That's pretty unusual.

It's really not that unusual.  Franchises and chains start out in the far suburbs, if they succeed then they'll move into the city. People don't come into the City to eat at chains.  Not saying there aren't a ton here but I'd rather hit a ma and pa place before I go to a chain.  All day long.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

 

A CEO in the hospital industry learns his employees need hands-on leadership as his father once provided.  His brother is sent out on a mission and discovers a hardworking employee.

 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

The contrast with the prayerful gratitude of the Young family in their SLC home, contrasted with the years-long indifference to the work rules of their people was startling and powerful.  One of the best things I've seen on this show in 7 seasons.  

 

The decision to franchise guaranteed things would not be like dear old dad ran things.  I was angry anytime this dude brought that up.  It was entirely telling that his solution to one of the workers was to make sure the franchisee was "aware."  Whoop-de-do!  At least he didn't lie to the employee.

 

It was nice to see the "slow" son was taken on by the company his dad worked for.  They aren't completely heartless.  

 

I really liked Sal from Chicaguh.  All he wanted was to make things more efficient, and therefore profitable.  Why would he trust this latest impulse by management when nothing had been done for years and years?   Good on him for sticking it to the man in the reveal!

[ChicagoCita]

I was a little shocked by Sal not being overcome with awe at learning about the whole UB thing, but I thought it was pretty typical of a Chicago guy. People here are really helpful, but if you're being stupid, they'll tell you (and then they'll help you). It's a lot of honesty, sometimes too much. I liked it, he had a really upfront, no-BS attitude. I think no one ever has to wonder where they stand with Sal.

 

Had to laugh when UB asked him how to spell his name. How many ways are there to spell Sal?

[ChicagoCita]

I started out really prepared to hate this guy, with his "I'm too busy running the company to say thank you" crap and his saying his brother is a celebrity. No, your brother is or was married to a celebrity. Big difference.

 

But he turned out to be okay. Not someone I loved a lot, but it really is touching to see how much he wanted his dad's approval, even after his dad's passing.

 

I'm like a damn Pavlovian dog on this show. They cry, and I cry. It's embarrassing.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I don't even want to know the ego this guy and his brothers developed with a father like they had.  Holy cow.  How did none of them take on his "personal touch" corporate ethos?  He certainly modeled it for them.  Quite telling.

 

I am growing more and more tired with UB's presentation of the natural growing pains of immature franchises.  Necessarily, any real hands-on touches by a CEO will be drastically curtailed.  Then these guys cry and cry on camera, insisting they aren't jerks.  Well, this one consciously never deigned to get down to the employee level.  He is a jerk.

 

I simply will never identify with the "cool" image over substance approach by brands like "W" and "Whiskey Blue."   It's great that folks can market the upscale experience and get fools to part with twice the cash.  More power to them.  Give me comfort and perfectly executed food and drink, with great service.  I'll pay for location if I must, eg the Hancock Tower in Chicago, or some awesome oceanfront property.  It is truly mystifying to me that "luxury" has been reduced to a name, and not actual services or products.  Give me superior quality ingredients and extra labor to take care of my every need.  All the uncomfortable furniture which photographs beautifully and is uncomfortable to use?  Go away.

 

Now.  In what universe was it acceptable for Kia to respond in re all those personal issues in front of a customer?!!!!  That is just about the ultimate in déclassé.  So much for professionalism, I guess.  Anyway...why was she given the least amount of cash?  She was the longest-tenured and most-valued of all of them.  She was legit on the way out due to bad management - she was done wrong.  And she got the least?  An overdue promotion does not cut it, either.

 

A Sous-Chef who works crazy hours in an NYC restaurant?  No way.  You're kidding me, right?!!!!!  Wow.  Call the NY Times for this world exclusive!!!!!   Great guy and I wish him all the best.  That he was presented as somehow exceptional in the industry?  Puh-leeeeeze.

 

I am excited to see the next ep:  Marco's Pizza.  When they get it right, their stuff is reeeeeeally good.  The problem is that in my experience, they far more often don't.  They most certainly do not merit the premium in pricing against their major competitors - Dominos, Pizza Hut, and Papa John's.  This is gonna be fun.

Edited January 24, 2016 by Lonesome Rhodes

[Brian Cronin]

What I liked about this episode was that it was a nice break from the recent Undercover Boss trend of featuring relatively new franchising companies. This is also a new company, but at least it is a new company where they legitimately own the various bars involved, so he actually is the "boss" of everyone involved. It's been a while since we actually got see an actual boss on this show. 

 

Beyond that, one thing that made me laugh a bit was when the sous-chef was told he would be the chef at the new restaurant and at the end of the episode, it mentions that he's a "co-executive chef," so either they hired another guy to share the job with him after the fact, or else they had already hired a guy and had to tell him, "Uhmm...sorry, we just hired a guy to share your job from a reality show."  Either one amuses me greatly.

[Diana Berry]

The late dad really did sound like a great guy. I'm still not sure if son has it in him to mingle with the little people.

I did like the sous chef guy just because he seems willing to work. I'm also interested in the co executive chef scenerio.

[Fostersmom]

I started out really prepared to hate this guy, with his "I'm too busy running the company to say thank you" crap and his saying his brother is a celebrity. No, your brother is or was married to a celebrity. Big difference.

 

 

Randy Gerber is pretty much a celebrity at this point, but hasn't been involved with running this company in a while so this guy using it as an excuse to explain why he's not thanking his employees is pretty damn lame. 

 

Why must every disguise this show does involve the person looking like a crazed ammo hoarding loon living in a cave to avoid being on the grid? A mullet? A MULLET? Are you kidding me? Even worse was him saying he wanted to look like he was from North Dakota or Montana or whatever and that's the look they came up with. I'm offended on behalf of the state he said. And let's just pretend for a minute they would ever hire anyone looking like him at any of the Gerber Group's restaurants to do anything. Ok, are we all done laughing now? Hell, I can guarantee if someone looking like him walked into one of their bars they would get shit service and ignored until they got the hint and walked out. 

 

I do think he realized how far he has strayed from his father's ways and was disappointed in himself. Honestly that's half the battle. I wasn't paying attention to the cash and prizes segment, did he make any "I'm going to change x,y,and z" claims besides the father's day drink special? 

[ethalfrida]

Fostersmom, I was  thinking the same thing about the disguise.  With all expertise they have available they could actually come up with someone more realistic.  

Edited January 25, 2016 by ethalfrida

[jmonkey]

I just realized that UB got renewed, so this was my first episode of the season. I think I will binge watch the first 5 today. I'm just glad to see it back on. Yes, it's essentially the same show featuring a different company every week, but I love the formula, wickedly bad disguises aside.

 

This episode resonated with me. I remember when my company transitioned from a family-owned company to a limited liability corporation. When this happened, everybody who had been around awhile got pay cuts. Corporate cited the recession and reminded us that we were all lucky to have jobs. Most people just lost 50 cents to $2.50 an hour, but some people who worked there 40 years lost over $10 an hour after breaking their backs for the company. They went from $22 to $11.50 an hour. And our company set the maximum wage at $11.50 an hour. So if you were making $11.50 an hour, you were at the ceiling and had no potential to make more unless you wanted to become management. Moreover, the new corporation threatened to cut our pays if we weren't being productive enough. This never happened once when it was a family-owned company. Obviously with our paltry pay on the line, us monkeys were as efficient as ever and took a lot of shortcuts since nobody could afford a pay decrease. Corporate reported record profits the next quarter and didn't share. They set up a "divide and conquer" system in which we were all competing against each other. While productivity went through the roof, employee morale was low. Employee's attitudes were bad, attendance was sporadic, and the customers weren't pleased with our service that emphasized speed over doing the job right. Consequently, despite our efficiency, we lost a lot of big accounts and our company is hurting now. My point of this venting rant is that CEOs should strive to be like Scott's dad. They should be able to show their faces everyday in their businesses and have it be a pleasant experience. If you treat your employees like family, you'll get better long-term results and happier employees. You don't want to upset those out in the field doing the actual work or they will ruin your business. If you just care about your bottom line and are ashamed to show your face at your business (my CEO would never show up at my job out of fear), your business will ultimately fail.

 

Scott obviously lost sight of "the family" that made the Gerber Group what it used to be and hopefully he becomes more of a presence at his bars. Once you start viewing the employees as numbers instead of people, that's when you usually run into problems. It's not like the Gerber Group sounded like that bad of a place to work for. No one was complaining about the pay. The main gripes were creative freedom when making the drinks and the lack of family feel it used to have. We've seen much worse on UB. However, Scott was so hands-off he didn't realize he was overworking one of his sous chefs. His father would've noticed that immediately. Kudos to Scott for putting the kabash on that even though that sous chef was incredibly driven. 80 hours a week is too much to work even for a young kid.

 

What bugs me about the disguises is how unnecessarily over the top they are. As an employee, if I saw a guy with the get up and mullet that Scott had, I would think UB immediately. There's no way a guy like that is going to work for the Gerber Group, and I find it offensive every time the CEO feels the need to yellow his teeth. What exactly are CEOs saying about their employees when they do this? All of his employees actually looked decent, so why not try and make his disguise a little more realistic so he can blend in with them?

 

Like every episode I don't get the disparity in the gifts. The black woman got $20,000 towards opening her own bar, the woman who left her home at 17 got $50,000, the woman whose dad died got $30,000, and the sous chef got a $25,000 advance on his salary and a promotion. Obviously the black woman and sous chef could end up making much more if they can make a career at the Gerber Group, so I'm okay with them getting lower amounts. I just wonder how they arrive at the figures. Overall, this UB was a success. Scott listened to his employees. The bartenders will have more creative control in the drinks they serve and I think Scott will be a more visible presence at his businesses.

Edited January 26, 2016 by jmonkey

[jmonkey]

This CEO, Jeff, was okay, but did they really need to disguise him as a rooster? He even showed up to one of the job sites wearing purple pants. Really? I was getting kind of a Michael Scott vibe from him, but I know that's reaching.

 

I really liked all the guys who got rewards in this episode. They all deserved them. Kudos to Sal for keeping it real. I often wonder if I'd be able to tell my CEO what I really think about the company if I could talk to him. I'd like to think I would, but I'd probably chicken out. It was great to see Sal have the balls to tell Jeff that he needs to act instead of just talk. He could've jeopardized his $60 K by being blunt, but he chose to speak out for his fellow co-workers. Of course it behooves Jeff to implement a new safety training program to prevent worker's compensation claims. That seems like a pretty dangerous job.

 

Eric's excitement at the rewards was pretty awesome. That "118" sign is a nice gesture. Michael feeling fortunate to just have a job is a reminder I need to be thankful for the job that I have. Yes, my job sucks, but it keeps me from being homeless. Jeff was lying that the 100 K doesn't hurt the bottom line of the company though. I'm sure most CEOs would consider 100 K nothing to sneeze at. Hopefully Sal and Michael's son get their tickers fixed.

 

I wasn't at all interested in YESCO as a brand and much prefer the restaurant UBs.

Edited January 26, 2016 by jmonkey

[Lonesome Rhodes]

 

The President and COO of the fastest-growing pizza chain meets an overworked employee and learns massive advertising is a key to company growth. 

 

[Jaded]

I really enjoyed tonight's episode. It reminded me of the ones we'd get during the first few seasons before the show started to get into breasturants offering employees a boob job as an incentive, real estate fraudsters and etc....It feels like they might be trying to change things for the better this season. I'm probably speaking too soon I hope not though. 

[Fostersmom]

Now I want Marco's. It's been a couple years and if I didn't have dinner plans for tomorrow night, I think that's what I'd be having. The pizza is good, but I used to always get a chicken club sub. Yum! The local one closest to me closed a few years ago, I was told the owner got fed up with corporate and gave up his franchise. Someone else bought one maybe 6 minutes away from the old one and I think they lasted like 2 years, but in their defense, a bunch of small stores lost their lease so a big hunk of the plaza could be turned into a Planet Fitness. 

 

As for the show, I now am worried all their supply delivery drivers are going to be robbed. Why highlight the complete lack of security? So stupid, so dangerous. Also, does anyone old enough to rent a car, other than the truck driver, even work for them? Damn. Mr. COO was just a lazy fuck. I get he wasn't used to hauling the heavy supplies, but could he go any slower doing everything else? It's cheese, not rocket science. I don't even know what to make of his string of half abandoned children. Something about this one seemed really coached though. The girl and the pizza delivery driver especially. 

[biakbiak]

I thought Sal knew all along what was going on, more than once when talking about changes that needed to be done he said "you" not "them" or "we" or "the company

[Guatemama3641]

I'm from Northwest Ohio, so I grew up with Marcos dotting many corners of the landscape. The pizza is delicious. The COO was rather lazy with that delivery. I don't know, he didn't come off well or something. I know people who work for the company, and he's a really nice guy according to them.

Loved the lady, Devin? What a infectious personality :)

[Bobbin]

It's hard to watch these episodes without tearing up. I love the hyper manager-to-be, breaking down when he gets $15 thousand in life coaching. He obviously hasn't seen the show before. But wait! There's more! MUCH more!

Not everything works out as planned for these people. That's a life lesson. Our church was in rotation to make meals for the teen homeless shelter in San Diego. We tried to warn one of the volunteers not to go overboard as these kids tend to be hard as nails and survivors and not to expect grateful little faces. But he spent the weekend barbecuing a feast for them. He was crushed by their indifference. You do your best, hope that they'll be OK, and that when they mature, they might appreciate that someone cared.

Edited January 30, 2016 by Bobbin

[Bobbin]

Do remember that these over-sized bonuses are intended to make the boss look good, more than to benefit the worker bee.