The Advantages of Bottom-Up Management

The TV show “Undercover Boss” follows high-level individuals within major businesses as they spend time undercover in entry-level positions within the organizations they run. The show gained a strong following because people like to see the lessons that executives take away from their incognito stints within their own organizations. Typically, the realization is that the in-the-trenches work is harder than executives realized and there are systemic issues within their companies that need to be addressed.A growing number of CEOs and top executives are taking a page from the “Undercover Boss” playbook, just without the undercover part. To help leaders gain an in-depth, hands-on understanding of the organizations they run and enhance their leadership skills, many companies have begun having top executives spend time performing different entry-level jobs within their organizations — particularly, customer-facing tasks and roles. The Benefits of Getting in the TrenchesCEOs and executives have long looked at their businesses from the top down, but doing so doesn’t always provide the most accurate picture of where problems, challenges, or opportunities may lie. In fact, it is not uncommon for CEOs and executives to be fairly distant from the nitty-gritty operations of their organizations and the people they employ. A study by Harvard Business School professors Nitin Nohria and Michael E. Porter found that the interactions CEOs have with their employees are typically limited to senior leadership. According to the report, of the time spent with colleagues, CEOs typically spent about half their time with direct reports, 32% of their time with their top 100 managers, and only 6% of their time with lower-level employees. This approach can create a disconnect between leadership’s perception of a business and the realities that employees and customers actually experience. Getting leaders to work alongside employees in positions at all levels can have many benefits, including: 

Not-So-Undercover ExperiencesThe approach is one that has been taken by CEOs and leaders in multiple industries. Prior to starting his role as Starbucks’ new CEO, Laxman Narasimhan spent several months working as a barista at multiple locations around the world. Narasimhan found the insight he gained from doing so to be so valuable that he’s committed to spending at least half a day each month working within a Starbucks retail store and plans to have senior executives throughout the organization do the same. Similarly, Uber’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, recently did a stint as a driver for the company, driving people around and delivering food. For Khosrowshahi, time as a driver gave him a better understanding of the complaints and challenges Uber had been receiving from its drivers for years, spurring him and the company’s leadership to undertake a major change initiative within the organization. Following SuitGiven the valuable perspectives that hands-on experience within all parts of an organization can provide, including direct customer feedback, community financial institutions may want to consider implementing this approach themselves. Having CEOs and senior leaders spend time each year working in various roles within their institutions is extremely valuable and demonstrates leadership’s commitment to all employees. For institutions interested in taking this approach, the following are a few suggestions from CEOs of other organizations that have already gone down this road:

Given the enormous responsibilities of executives, it is natural for CEOs and senior leaders to have some distance from the day-to-day workings of their organizations. However, taking time to work side by side with staff in roles throughout your organization is a great way to gain a new perspective and can help identify problems and opportunities to improve your business that might otherwise be missed by leadership.