Did you catch the premiere of "Undercover Boss" on CBS after the Super Bowl? It's a reality show about CEOs taking on lower-level jobs in their companies, where they get their hands dirty and see how the operation really functions. I think it would be a great idea if insurance industry CEOs did that regularly–on- or off-camera!
The second episode was about the CEO of Hooters. In one segment, the exec is giving out coupons with two Hooters girls in their trademark uniforms. People–particularly women–were not shy about telling them they should be ashamed of themselves for how the chain exploits women to sell lousy food.
Insurance CEOs would also get an earful if they dealt regularly with front-line personnel and customers. Wouldn't it be great if an insurance company CEO had to go out with adjusters to settle some difficult claims? Or if they had to man the phones for a few days and deal with confused, impatient or even enraged claimants?
What if they had to underwrite and price some hard-to-place accounts? Or go meet with independent agents (especially to deliver the bad news in person that an agency in in danger of losing its appointment if it doesn't deliver more business, or will have its commissions cut, or that the carrier is pulling out of a line or state altogether)?
On the agency side, how about principals taking on the role of a CSR for a time and dealing one-on-one with customer problems or questions? Or doing some warm-calling on prospects, asking for X-dates and trying to round out existing accounts?
I'm not saying this would make great television, but as a matter of policy, I think it would help educate those at the top by giving them firsthand knowledge of how their insurance companies or agencies work in the real world.
Perhaps they would even make some changes in standard operating procedures or working conditions as a result, as the featured players do in "Undercover Boss."
When I posted a blog on this subject, I got an earful from one reader–an executive search consultant named Jay–who observed that if viewers were to take the first "boss" on the show at face value (from the waste management business), "his overall lack of understanding of what his employees do on a daily basis makes me wonder if that executive could have possibly worked his way up through that industry…"
He went on to say that "the overwhelming majority of senior-level insurance executives did come up through the ranks, and therefore have a deep understanding of what the rank and file do to make the company go."
Jay added that "there are always exceptions to the rule, and yes, people become arrogant, forget where they came from or just get plain lucky to land an executive role. But at the end of the day most C-level insurance executives really understand what is going on in the trenches."
Fine, but it wouldn't hurt CEOs to refresh their credentials every now and then.
What do you folks think? Would you ever "go undercover" at your company or agency? What other kinds of undercover gigs would you suggest for insurance CEOs?
Are there any CEOs out there willing to accept my challenge??? Or are there any who have done something like this already?
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