1 800 Flowers – Undercover Boss Draws Wrong Conclusions
The Productivity Goal
Chris McCann mentions that he wants to increase productivity in the plant from ten million pounds to 16 – 20 million pounds. Goals are set by management and the machines speed up. Contact centers are managed in much the same way by management coming up with targets for the number of calls taken in a day.
The whole idea of a prescription of how many calls a contact center should take, the allotted AHT per call, and the service level given are rooted in how contact centers can reduce costs. This prescription seems logical enough and most contact centers subscribe to this approach. The problem is that focusing on costs always increases costs.
This isn’t a matter of making workers part of setting the productivity goal as Chris McCann concludes. This is a matter of understanding targets drive dysfunctional behavior.
Incentives Will Make Things Worse
Chris McCann concludes not only that the problem is that of workers being involved in setting goals, but decides incentives will make employees happier and more productive. None of these things are true.
Working together on understanding customer purpose and demand and getting rid of systemic failure demand should be the appropriate response. New measures emerge that are associated with what customers want from service as these drive the lagging financial and productivity measures up.
Read the full story on Customer Management IQ
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‘Undercover Boss’ season finale recap: 1-800-Flowers wilts our sympathy
The season finale of Undercover Boss told us the thorny story of 1-800-Flowers. The show pumped up a rivalry between the two brothers who head up the company, Jim and Chris McCann. Jim (the CEO) asked Chris (the company president) to go undercover.
When we arrived at the show’s standard doling-out-the-rewards final segments, Undercover Boss seemed to address some of the criticisms that have aimed at the series. Instead of just giving Nciole, the employee lucky enough to come into contact with the (co-)boss, a raise, Chris announced an “incentive system” to be implemented for people throughout the company who exceed their goals.
Read the full recap on EW.
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Marist alumnus is ‘Undercover Boss’ on season finale
Chris McCann, president and CEO of 1-800-flowers.com and a 1983 graduate of Marist College, goes undercover during the season finale of the CBS television show “Undercover Boss” on Sunday.
McCann’s turn on the show features an unexpected twist when his true identity is discovered by one of his employees.
“I am so grateful for CBS providing me with this exceptional opportunity,” McCann said in a prepared statement. “The opportunity to experience our company at all levels makes me a stronger leader and enables 1-800-flowers.com to continue to be the best in the business. Also, the show reaffirmed my appreciation for all our employees and their hard work — they are invaluable to us in our mission to help deliver smiles every day.”
Read the full story on Poughkeepsie Journal
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