Week 4 of Undercover Boss featured Dave Rife, co-owner and Executive Board Member of America’s oldest hamburger chain: White Castle. White Castle, headquartered in Columbus, OH, this family owned and known for small square burgers – sometimes referred to, and today trademarked as “Slyders” – the company has a number of firsts: the first restaurant to sell a million hamburgers, the first to sell a billion hamburgers, and the first to sell frozen fast food.

Core values: integrity, honesty, job security.

Lesson 1: You may think that providing a lot of managerial oversight for your employee’s is a good for them and the company; it isn’t always so. With the lack of a clear (and communicated) chain of command, your employee’s don’t know who to listen to and leadership doesn’t know who to hold accountable. To bring order to chaos, make the leadership structure, clear and simple. Adding additional layers of management doesn’t always equal clarity or rigor, it can create confusion and lack of accountability.

Fast Fact: White Castle opens 10 to 12 new restaurants per year.

Lesson 2: Just because a job looks easy doesn’t necessarily make it so. In most cases it looks easy because the people doing the job either has a lot of experience and/or loves what he/she does. Regardless, these are the people you want to listen to, learn from and retain. They are the hardest to replace and the individuals who help make your organzation what it is today. Looks can be deceiving.

Lesson 3: It’s ok to make mistakes. Having high quality standards is an essential quality of all successful organizations. Having high quality standards without the understanding of and appreciation for the power of mistakes is an opporunity lost. Strive for and encourage perfection, but appreciate and celebrate mistakes. There is a lot of value in getting it wrong.

Fast Fact: White Castle goes through 50,000 lbs of flour per day making the buns for their burgers.

Lesson 4: People don’t always choose their jobs out of passion, sometimes it’s out of necessity. Acknowledge that fact and create an environment that enables them and allows them to succeed. Provide employees with opportunities for advancement. Look for talent in the younger members of your team. Inspiration is everywhere, especially in the younger members of your team

Fast Fact: Their production facility makes 17k burgers per shift.

Lesson 5: Don’t forget where you came from. Just because you are management doesn’t make you exempt from working. Even if you are only in it for yourself it would benefit you to do right by/for your team. They are your biggest asset and your most experience sherpa in guiding you to the top of our career. Always listen to your employee’s for ways to improve the company. Those who have been with the company a while know what works, what is broken and how to make it better.

Lesson 6: It’s really easy to sit behind a desk and make decisions on numbers…another totally to consider the people behind the numbers. Get out from the environment that you are comfortable with and experience something different, from a different perspective. You – and your organization, department, team – will be the better for it.

Lesson 7: While not an overt part of the show I did notice that the bonuses / awards were low in comparison to the past 3 shows. I think that it’s especially worth noting that the size of the award, scholarship, bonus, etc. isn’t nearly as important as the recognition that it supports. Just shining a spotlight on somebody who never had the attention provides them with a nice boost. Be sincere, be honest and do what you can. The amount really doesn’t matter.

It’s been another good week for Undercover Boss. Dave Rife was a smart, genuine and compassionate leader and the company is an American icon. I have no doubt that the company will prosper under his leadership. I continue to learn, grown and gain plenty of insights from the show. Hopefully through my synthesis, you have to. Share your questions, comments and feedback in the comments.

Posted via web from Dave Sabol