Undercover Boss
on CBS
By catherine Nailog
Having a job during today’s tough economy is a blessing. And for an employer to
show concern not only for customers but employees as well is an even greater
blessing. The Sunday, January 22nd broadcast of CBS’ Undercover Boss
(8:00 p.m. ET) has been given the honor of Best TV Show of the Week
for its portrayal of a businesswoman who truly cares for the well-being of her
employees.
Dina Dwyer-Owens is the CEO of The Dwyer Group, the parent company to seven
franchises that specialize in the home and small business industries.
Headquartered in Waco, Texas, the company was founded by her father, Don, in
1981, and started with 36 franchise locations. Currently there are 1,560
franchise locations, 10,000 employees, and $800 million in revenue. Dina had
been instilled with the value of hard work by her father, and was very grateful
for the opportunity to now lead the company since her father’s death years
earlier. She wanted to make sure the code of values that her father created was
being followed, and also wanted to find areas to make the company grow during a
recession.
In an effort to familiarize herself with the frontline employees, Dina Dina was
transformed into “Faith Brown,” which included long brown hair, heavy eye makeup
and manicured artificial fingernails. In her disguise as “Faith,” Dina pretended
to be an administrative assistant who had won an opportunity to appear on the
bogus game show “Keep Your Day Job,” where she had the chance to change careers
and try her dream job. Dina was sent off with love and support from her
husband, Mike, and her two kids, Dani and Mike. Devout in her religious faith,
Dina also received a special blessing from the priest of her parish prior to her
journey.
In her guise as “Faith,” Dina’s first assignment was in Roswell, Georgia where
she worked with Wayne, a plumber for the company’s largest brand, Mr. Rooter.
Initially Wayne was surprised that he would be training a woman, but was later
impressed with Dina’s effort. Dina was glad to see that Wayne followed the 14
frontline steps, which included laying down a doormat and covering shoes with
booties prior to entering a customer’s home. The steps were created by her
father to instill customer satisfaction. It was his dream that the customer
would be left with consistent, positive experience using their service,
regardless of where the customer was located. Wayne was very comfortable with
Dina and confided in her about his autistic child, as well as the dream of one
day owning a home. He had also mentioned to her the frustrations of receiving
incorrect paychecks. Upon hearing this, Dina excused herself from Wayne and
immediately called Mary, the president of Mr. Rooter, to help get things
straight in their finance department.
Dina’s second assignment was to work with Jake in Germantown, Tennessee, as a
groundskeeper for their newest brand, The Grounds Guys. Dina was impressed that
Jake, though so young, was a supervisor in training new workers. Jake had
learned groundskeeping from his father since the age of eight. They had their
own family business, but his father had committed suicide a year earlier, and
their business had to shut down. Jake was responsible for helping with the care
of his younger brothers, a task made more difficult when his car broke down.
Jake enjoyed doing the work that his father taught him and felt that memory of
his father continued to live on. Dina was touched by Jake’s situation since it
reminded her of her relationship with her own father.
On Dina’s third assignment, she met with Brock, a franchise owner in Deer Park,
Texas. She wanted to ensure that he was following the 14 frontline steps that
her father created. Dina feared that Brock might recognize her despite her
disguise, since she taught the first basic trainee class, but he didn’t. Dina
was surprised that they traveled to their first appointment in his truck, which
had no branding of his Mr. Electric business. Dina was also disappointed that
Brock didn’t follow the steps regarding customer care. Brock claimed that
customers just wanted the job done quickly. She was shocked that Brock wanted
to leave a worksite without cleaning up the mess that was made after installing
an electrical outlet.
Dina’s fourth assignment involved working with Tanna, a female Mr. Appliance
technician, in Conroe, Texas. Dina was glad to work with a female technician.
Tanna was a stay-at-home mom to four children. She felt that working would not
only keep her sane, but also help pay toward college for her children in the
future. Tanna considered taking on a second job to help pay for current debt as
well as add toward college funds. Dina was impressed that female customers were
comfortable with Tanna. Tanna noted difficulty in working for male customers of
the older generation who thought women only cooked and cared for children.
Being that they were in between jobs and nearby her home, Tanna brought Dina to
her house to meet her family. Her husband, a firefighter, was feeding the
kids. They spoke about how difficult it was to raise a large family on a tight
budget, but they got by. Dina recalled that her own father was rarely home when
she and her siblings were still awake.
Finally, Dina was ready to reveal her true identity. She invited the employees
to her family’s ranch in the guise of voting whether or not “Faith” should keep
her day job for the game show. Dina urged Brock to really give the 14 frontline
steps a try. She believed it would make a difference in his business. She also
gave Brock a gift certificate for a customized sunshade to brand his truck,
something that Brock wanted to do, but never had the opportunity. Dina told
Wayne that she was working with Mary of Mr. Rooter to fix the compensation
problems that were happening. She also gave Wayne $20,000 to use toward a
purchase of a home. Wayne was speechless. Dina was very impressed with Jake,
to whom she gave the management of a new Grounds Guys franchise. She also gave
him a brand-new truck so he wouldn’t have to worry about transportation and
could help in the care for his siblings. Tanna was worried that she was getting
fired, but actually Dina wanted to give her $5,000 for her help in setting up a
program for women in the frontlines. Dina also gave her $10,000 to set up a
college scholarship fund for each of her children and also $25,000 in cash so
that she would stay with Mr. Appliance and be with her kids and not have to take
a second job. Tanna felt blessed. She was speechless and in tears. Dina was
grateful for her father who valued his family, his employees and his customers.
She was especially thankful for people’s faith in her leadership of The Dwyer
Group.
This episode was
an inspirational story of a businesswoman and her employees. Dina discovered
that her company consisted of very hard-working employees who took pride in
their work. She learned that her employees had personal struggles that ranged
from problems with compensation to the burden of saving for children’s college
funds. Dina was determined to help them in any way she could. Like her father,
Dina believed in not only respecting customers, but appreciating employees as
well. It was wonderful to see that a boss genuinely cherished the efforts of
good workers, and that their efforts were amply rewarded. For these reasons,
CBS’ Undercover Boss is the Best TV Show of the Week.
Best TV Show
of the Week
The Parents
Television Council -
www.parentstv.org
