By Tony
Deblauwe
In this episode, CEO Michael Rubin of GSI Commerce,
goes undercover in several fulfillment and packaging centers to observe what
happens in the daily operations of the e-commerce giant.
The usual
process failures occurred with manual labor activities as in other episodes.
Rubin tried to load a truck full of boxes but could not do it. He tried to get
packages ready and was actually fired from the position in only four hours. He
couldn’t keep up with the night shift sorting/fulfillment center, and he had
difficulties taking customer escalations.
And the
typical personal stories gripped his heart and he rewarded these folks with
“gifts” including $5K to sponsor youth football, $10K for a call center
manager’s wedding he could not have earlier, and 1K gift cards to the
fulfillment center worker so his daughter could have something special for the
holidays.
I do
admire Rubin for deciding to go undercover as a seasonal worker during their
peak time at the end of the year (which represents 70% of their revenue). I
totally agree that leaders need to get involved and see what’s happening at the
busiest times when crisis or inefficiencies are likely to occur.
Rubin did
notice that in one case, the 3-week seasonal, Rochelle, had already improved
her productivity by 25% through simply taping her arm with scan codes while
going box to box for shipping. While the show did not capitalize on this in the
reveal, it seemed like Rubin understood he needed to explore this technique
further.
The night shift piece was interesting because it showed how these laborious
tasks could be made fun. Rubin had a time/sprint contest with Cameron to fill
up his orders tray and prepare for shipping. Cameron had a great attitude and
showed how he paced himself to get the work done quickly. Rubin enrolled him in
a leadership training program so he could become a supervisor.
The best
part of the show occurred at the customer call center. Here they dealt with
customer service issues including escalations. Adam was the escalation lead and
he had the best attitude ever. It almost seemed fake but he really shined in my
opinion as the kind of employee where you can see the company nailed
personality fit with job fit. When Rubin visited Danielle, the story was quiet
different.
Rubin observed
Danielle on an escalated call, and due to some policy about after credit returns,
she completely shut down the customer who eventually hung up. To Rubin’s credit
he said if they weren’t filming and there was no risk of blowing his cover, he
would have walked Danielle out that day. At the end of the show it was revealed
Danielle was no longer with the company.
I think
this was the most important lesson – you have to take care of your poor
performers quickly because your business could suffer. I’m surprised when the
same reaction did not occur from the Hooters CEO when he witnessed a restaurant
manager demean his staff.
In terms
of insight, Rubin stated that he wants to be more focused on human results not
just business results. He has always been a driver, owned multiple businesses
since he was young, and is very competitive (which means he had little time for
anything else). We’ll see if his DNA changes as a result of his one week
experience in terms of improving operational efficiencies.
On a
personal note, I do hope the show gets back to the strong kick-off they had
with Waste Management. If each episode is going to be about a handful of lucky
people getting token gifts but no real dive into what changed in terms of
workplace environment, policies, and processes as a goal to going undercover in
the first place, then I think the show is missing something rather significant
in showing America how leaders show true connection and authenticity to their
people by making meaningful changes to their business.
