Undercover Boss

Comments

1. I saw this series thru Discovery Channel, This is amazing and down to earth approach. I saw until the plane ( Singapore airline ) was landed and the series was not yet finished and have to continue by searching from web.

   Posted by on 04/11/2009 08:55:21

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2. Great programme, down to earth and at last something from the real world. What I would like to know now 4 months on - has Stephen Martin secured enough contracts to keep his workforce employed ? or are they still under the threat of losing their jobs ? most of the guys featured in the programme had given their working life to Clugstons and now deserve the same loyalty from its management. Look forward to hearing more from Mr Martin.

   Posted by Dexter on 01/11/2009 21:50:08

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3. This was an excellent genuine attempt by a boss to find out the real problems in a company. I was highly highly impressed with the way Stephen approached this - with an open mind and an open sense of really wanting to learn about his company. Well Done Stephen for getting it right!!! and it just goes to show where the right attitude can get you!! Having previosly worked in change management it is true in Stephen's closing statements - bosses/ceo's/management don't actually want to know the truth about what's going on in a company with thier people - without people there is no business - therefore the people are the business. full stop, well said!!

   Posted by dee on 26/06/2009 13:24:29

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4. I am a retired academic sociologist who taught management and international business subjects for over 30 years, who left school at 16 to live and work away from home, staying in a Sheffield boarding house initially with men of different ages and occupations and races, and who from then on always held construction workers in high regard while mistrusting bankers! I had full and part-time jobs in construction, manufacturing, catering and pubs, the civil service, the NHS, Post Office Telephones, education and various other services. After I graduated as a mature student and while doing doctoral and other research (some with the steel industry in Scunthorpe in the 1970s) I advised the Dept. of Industry about British and foreign management and I have published books and articles on industry, industrial and other management and management and professional work in the UK and abroad, professions (esp engineering), the NHS and ageism in work and employment. Anyway I considered myself quite tough-minded and hard-headed about the issues covered by the programme, but I was in (joyful) tears at the end of it. All of the four main characters were gentlemen in all the best senses of the word and the kind of people who will help put Britain and its economy back together again after the decades of stupidity, vanity and greed that followed the last world war. Construction - always a major, bedrock, sector - will play a major role in creating a healthier and greener world, whatever its short-term difficulties. Much rubbish is written about globalisation, post-industrial economies and society, and knowledge management. In fact globalisation is always matched (yin and yang-like) with localisation, and globalisations have come and gone (and gone and come!) with empires throughout recorded history. The real master change of our epoch is INDUSTRIALIZATION, an 800 or so year process that began around 500 years ago, its main phases, each one feeding into the next, being mechanization, electrochemicalisation, (boring old) infotechnologization, and biotechnologization (nowadays starting to accelerate into its glory days). We are still industrializing, not yet fully industrialized, and the idea of post-industrial society is premature - and such a society we would mainly consist of serfs engaged in herding a few animals, and weeding. Knowledge management is a con, jobs for the academic boys. It has always existed as a pretentious way of describing thinking about getting things done. In recent decades we have been producing business and management graduates (I have been heard to call them 'children talking rubbish' who have been taught (usually rather badly) how to run things, but nothing about 'why' questions concerned with values and meaning. This has contributed to the present state of political and public life in the UK, in which shallow trendy juveniles who hate anything old or 'traditional' and believe in the Myth of Accelerating Change are wasting and wrecking the planet and reinventing murderous merdieval chaos to feed their egos (they call it 'making a difference')! In retirement I am continuing to write and publish, and plan after next year to work with a Cambridge University friend and colleague,on a celebration and analysis of engineers, engineering and industry in the UK (a country which, by the way, has the 6th largest economy AND the 6th largest level of industrial output in the world). We do still have a problem in the UK of attracting bright young people to engineering and science (although those who do make their ways there are usually bright to exceptionally so). Any ideas about that and the other points made above would be very welcome.

   Posted by Ian Glover on 26/06/2009 04:12:39

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5. Nice programe Mr Martin.Missed the start of youre programe unfortunately. You care about youre employee's,in which care is returned, I dont know where youre company is based ,in Britian, except to say very far North from me. GOOD LUCK FOR THE FUTURE. PATRICK.

   Posted by PATRICK on 26/06/2009 00:32:55

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6. Very enjoyable programme tonight focusing on the building trade but really mirroring the situation in lots of industries today.I worked for Tarmac as a student in 1973 and recognised many of the characters in the programme-however we are over 30 years down the line,the world has changed and firms seem to concentrate on the "now"-lose a contract-sack some staff-win a new contract unexpectedly-employ casual staff on short-term contracts-apprenticeships-someone elses problem-staff feel undervalued-tough,go somewhere else then.Cluxtons seem to realise that the key to long-term success is investing in their staff, and I wish them every success in this.

   Posted by Anthony Shelton on 25/06/2009 23:22:41

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7. absolutely fantastic...i thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the programme...in these difficult times it shows that there are humble people out there,ranging from the grafters on the ground too the chief executive in a large company...its people like these who deserve to do well in this world...if there is any way you can contact stephen martin please express my gratitude on how he conducted himself with these men who work hard for the company he runs...he is a gentleman and will have a suuccessful company.

   Posted by raymond mcallister on 25/06/2009 23:03:09

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8. I thought it was great for the moral of workforce to give them something back keep them in the light. Well done to you! we might see some change happening now.

   Posted by lazron matia on 25/06/2009 22:14:34

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9. I think it was a really interesting and inspiring programme. Stephen definately understands that the company needs their people to survive and understanding the potential the people/workers can bring to the company to be successful! Might be interesting to start a graduate programme for the company if its not already in place, that way they can bring in young people in with potential views to improve the workplace process etc. I personally would genuinely want to work for Clugston now after watching this programme as the Exec team would appreciate what people can bring to the company! Stephen - wishing you and Clugston every success.

   Posted by Courtney Pang on 25/06/2009 22:14:09

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