Super Bowl Sunday, Undercover Bosses and the Future of Recruiting
March 8th, 2010 | Posted in Employer Tips by Mario Laudi
Did you catch the season premier of Undercover Boss after the game last night? This new concept has interesting implications for how companies will recruit in the very near future.
Undercover Boss features CEOs of major corporations rolling up their sleeves to do the dirty jobs in their companies. For last night’s opener, Larry O’Donnell, the CEO of Waste Management was picking up and sorting garbage and cleaning portable toilets. None of it looked like fun. But, after experiencing a day-in-the-life of several employees, Mr. O’Donnell became a better man. The show ended with him rewarding some of his people with promotions, raises and public praise. The WM employees laughed, cried and realized that their King Kahuna really does care…
Undercover Boss is clearly contrived reality TV that represents a major step in corporate and employment branding. I’m guessing that thousands of Americans woke up this morning wanting to take out the garbage for Waste Management. The deluge of incoming resumes will keep their recruiting team busy for months, if not years.
For a long time, the sports world was the best example of recruiting driven by profit and competition. Then American Idol (and many other shows) invested massive amounts of money to find the best performers in arts and entertainment. Even Donald Trump and Richard Branson used TV to reach the best and brightest in business. On the surface, these shows are about entertainment and ratings. However, they’re really about recruiting top talent. Even if last night’s episode was not great television, it still managed to position Waste Management as an employer of choice for millions of blue-collar football fans.
I know that Undercover Boss and the trash industry are far removed from the tech sector. But, I wonder how long it will take for television to move up-market and tap intellectual capital. Can you imagine Microsoft pitching their brand and careers on national television? Thankfully, our best minds prefer social media to mass media. Let’s hope it stays that way.