Writing Boots

On communication, professional and otherwise.

Walgreens pulls an “Undercover Boss” for the employee publication

03.17.2010 by David Murray // 5 Comments

Lately I've ripped "Undercover Boss" as "a despicable show," and I've tweaked Walgreens' great old employee publication Walgreen World for putting out a less-than-satisfying employee annual report.

So Walgreens editors go and put an "Undercover Boss"-type article in Walgreen World.

And, of course, it works well.

The bosses weren't actually undercover. "Nearly all corporate directors and vice presidents worked in a store for a day between Thanksgiving and Christmas," writes Walgreens' editor Iris Iglarsh to introduce the piece, which consists of first-person testimonies from three of those execs.

"It took me three hours to do an inventory check on half the store. I
felt pretty good about that until I learned that other team members
usually do the entire store in two hours," writes Rich Lesperance, director of online marketing in E-commerce. "Working in a store requires tons of concentration, even though there
are a number of interruptions like truck deliveries or the arrival of
the Coke rep."

One of his discoveries, a thing far too un-sexy for TV but just the kind of insight that helps make organizations work better, was that Corporate's demand that store employees gather e-mail addresses from customers is no small favor.

"My store visit made me realize that … we have to make [gathering e-mails] easy for store team members who are constantly juggling tasks. But now that I know [store manager] Alpash, I suspect he'll be a big help in figuring out how we can work together. After all, his store is right in my neighborhood."

Every company ought to do a thing like this—in fact, why not make it a regular feature? One executive visits one front-line location every month, with the communicator in tow to record the event, on video and in prose.

In the process, the exec gets down with the peeps, the communicator gets down with the peeps, the communicator and the exec spend time together, and everybody in the organization benefits from the interaction.

I know: It's not realistic, Dave.

Screw it: The first communicator who pulls it off three months in a row gets a free Hard-Ass Communication Vehicle Analysis® from Writing Boots.

Categories // Uncategorized Tags // Hard-Ass Communication Vehicle Analysis, Undercover Boss, Walgreen World, Walgreens

Comments

  1. ami says

    January 24, 2012 at 9:51 am

    I really wish they worked the store in Forest Hills, NY on Thanksgiving instead of calling my husband in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner and claiming he was on the schedule when he wasn’t supposed to be, interrupting our time and making him come to work. Even MY employers were disgusted by that. The only reason I deal with Walgreen’s is because my husband is a pharmacist (with primary progressive multiple sclerosis mind you and he STILL gets scolded “for not moving fast enough”) and has been for almost ten years and I get my prescriptions from there. That’s it. Other than that their CEOs really need to open their eyes and see exactly what they put their employees through. I mean they cut employment due to “lack of funds” and then bought Duane Reade and renovated their Walgreen’s stores. They didn’t even make it accessible for those with disabilities! But, yet they cut hours and treat employees like crap and expect better morale? Seriously? I am thankful that my husband is still working, but c’mon! The only people who have helped the employees at Walgreen’s were other employees. That’s it. The CEOs don’t know diddly squat about what they have done and aren’t doing. There is supposed to be a visit at the Myrtle Avenue store in Brooklyn, NY today by one of the CEOs. I bet that person doesn’t give a crap about the employees unless if its if they are wearing a tie or not, and if they are moving fast enough for customers. I hate them and they should burn along with Mayor Bloomberg.
    I think I’ll get off my soapbox now..
    Ami

    Reply
  2. ami says

    January 24, 2012 at 9:55 am

    P.S. Do you have the date of that article from Walgreen World? I’d really love to put the above comment on it.
    Thanks!

    Reply
  3. David Murray says

    January 24, 2012 at 10:03 am

    Sorry, Ami, I don’t have the date, but I’m guessing it’s March 2010, plus or minus a month.

    Reply
  4. Appl says

    February 9, 2013 at 1:59 pm

    Appl

    Writing Boots: Walgreens pulls an “Undercover Boss” for the employee publication

    Reply
  5. sleep apnea says

    February 9, 2013 at 2:30 pm

    sleep apnea

    Writing Boots: Walgreens pulls an “Undercover Boss” for the employee publication

    Reply

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