Undercover Boss Episode Analysis

This essay analyzes two episodes of the TV show "Undercover Boss." The author focuses on the "Pizza Pizza 73" episode, praising the CEO's approach to rewarding employees based on their individual dreams and aspirations. The author, viewing the episode through the lens of human resource management (HRM), highlights the CEO's ability to connect with employees on a personal level and understand their needs beyond monetary compensation. In contrast, the author critiques another episode ("Bikinis Sports Bar and Grills"), identifying flaws in the CEO's approach, such as a lack of realism and fairness in rewarding employees. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding employee needs and motivations for effective HRM practices, advocating for a holistic approach that considers employees' personal lives and aspirations.

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Contents
Abstract...................................................................................................................................................3
The most interesting part of Episode.......................................................................................................3
Part One:..................................................................................................................................................3
Part 2:......................................................................................................................................................4
Part 3:......................................................................................................................................................4
Part 4:......................................................................................................................................................4
And the pay-off for the best moment of Episode.....................................................................................4
The most interesting part of the Episode and my take as an HRM..........................................................4
Best and the worst from three episodes of undercover boss.....................................................................6

URL of the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy6e08lngvQ
Abstract
The boss is on the prowl and this time he is more dangerous because he is undercover. The title
and the theme promise a lot of action and other spicy twists and turn to entertain people. The
CBS show “Undercover Boss” is delivering it from last so many seasons. When I got this
opportunity to write a narrative for the show then I personally opted for “Pizza Pizza 73” episode
in particular because it was my personal interest to see the behind the scene story of the making
of a Pizza.
During the course of this particular show CEO of the company Paul Goddard stepped into the
shoes of four employees working in different facilities of an assembly line setup. While
watching the episode I also stepped into the shoes of Paul Goddard and tried to anticipate his
next move and actions. Towards the end of the episode, I felt a great connect with the CEO’s
move when he dispensed a poetic justice. The feel good factor that prompted me to choose this
particular episode as my subject of the narrative.
The most interesting part of the Episode
In the terms of screenplay, this episode has four “plant points” that “pays off” towards the end.
No screenplay writer can define the most interesting part of this episode without explaining those
four parts first.
Part One:
When Paul met with Susan in the dough-making factory, here he felt a backache and
immediately thought of Susan. She confirmed this problem and later on during a personal
conversation, she told him about his love to become a holistic healer.

Part 2:
When Paul felt connected with young Sara, he admired the fact that Sara is treating her job as her
legacy. Paul also received the business of “Pizza Pizza 73” as a legacy. During the lunch break,
he figured out Sara’s love for football and snowboarding.
Part 3:
When Edan shares his tragic story with Paul and tells that how much he misses his roots. What
amazes most Paul is the fact that in spite of this tragic story Edan has all the patience on the earth
to deliver pizza with a smile. He also feels sorry for him because of the uncertainty of his job
hours and regular income.
Part 4:
When Paul discovers that Don did not take a holiday from last 20 years and he is doing a night
shift job because he is required to attend his daughter with special needs during the course of the
day.
And the pay-off for the best moment of the Episode
All the overwhelming faces, first smiling on the discovery that they have worked with their CEO
and second that CEO is gifting them something, which they were always longing for, it is a
“name it and get it” kind of experience and since it is coming in as a reward for hard work. It
attracts overwhelming reactions, which is good for adding dramatic elements in the episode and
attaches a feel good factor in the narrative.
The most interesting part of the Episode and my take as an HRM
As a human resource manager, I can say that all the four employees are well groomed,
motivated, dedicated and passionate about their work. They are delivering goods with utmost

efficiency and leaving no stone unturned at any given level. First thing is first, all kudos to Paul
for breaking the ice in such a short period. Every HR manager should have this quality to
understand the inner psychology, which deals with the desired part of an employee. We can
remunerate for the career ambitions of an employee, as a good HR manager things should go
beyond that sometimes.
(Vanita, 2003)
Employees’ joins various companies because they want to fulfill their career-related ambitions,
they want to feed their families. However, there is a life beyond that. As a Human Resource
Manager this episode taught me a big lesson, the lesson says that compensate and reward your
employees with their dreams that belong to the outside world. HR managers often try to bring in
some fun element and relaxation in the life of various employees, however, if we attach the
element of the choice in the same game then it becomes an altogether different prospect of
happiness for them.
(Mone, 1998)
It was very much possible for Paul to deliver a sum $ 10000 or $ 20000 to all the four subjects.
Instead of that, he opted for the reward that was connected to the dreams of the employees. Now
it gave them a purpose. It gave them a reason to recharge themselves. It added to their EQ
towards the management and finally it can increase the belongingness of an employee towards
the work many folds.
The process of human resource management is far beyond process management or efficiency
chain development. Human Resource managers can practice a different kind of check and
balance where they can step into the personal life of an individual and motivate or support him in

achieving finer things of life. If an organization is providing any such opportunity then it will be
counted as a “Human resource development” effort. In this particular case, all the four
employees were stuck in their respective cobwebs and a different kind of reward was a great way
to break the monotony of their life. It can reenergize them at work and bring a new
trustworthiness in their acts.
(Guire, 2014)
Best and the worst from three episodes of undercover boss
The best episode of “Undercover Boss” I have already mentioned, now it comes to worst
episode, the worst episode is the “ US Undercover Boss”, Season 6, Episode 3. I personally did
not like this episode because of two merits; first, it fails in establishing the presence of an HRM
in undercover Avatar. The communication of undercover agent was predictable; he was looking
like an intern writing some notes on a shorthand diary. The story line was convoluted; many
things were missing in between. I never figured out the real conflict of the characters. As an HR
manager, it is very important to understand the role conflict which is brewing up in an employee
otherwise best of the rewards may lose track and suppress the yields of the real HR exercise.
During the course of the show, neither the undercover boss nor the employees came across as
real persons and this fared badly to the feel of realism, which was attached to the episode.
How it can be corrected in the second case
As I mentioned it earlier, during the course of the show I always tried to step into the shoes of
the undercover boss, in this particular case, where I found many things phony and unrealistic in
the setup. It is true that CEO of “Bikinis Sports Bar and Grills” Mr. Dough Galler did go for a
makeover, however, his makeover was very funny, secondly when he was dealing with the

employees under various conditions then again he was not looking for a customer, he was
behaving like a boss. If I need to play a role like this then in the first step, I will shed down all
my bossing attitude and confidence related traits of my personality. It is very important because
otherwise, I might end up intimidating my staffers. The second biggest mistake that he did was
with the principle of parity.
He picked up one waiter it is a group job. No, a single person can be facilitated especially when
rest of the people are working in the same capacity. It was not a fair trial because CEO listened
to only one person at a given time. This is why the reward should be distributed to the entire staff
in this particular case. This is my humble opinion about the worst thing of the show.
(N.Singh, 2000)
URL for the worst Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex8iJunJTyI
Bibliography
Guire, D. M. (2014). Human Resource Development .
Mone, E. M. (1998). HR to the Rescue: Case Studies of HR Solutions to Business Challenges.
N.Singh. (2000). Principles and Techniques of Personnel Management/HRM (2 Ed.).
Vanita. (2003). Effective Communication in Human Resource Development.