On Duty
What Herschend CEO Joel Manby learned from going ‘Undercover’
by Marion Hixon
Editor’s note: This article was originally posted on IAAPA’s In the Queue blog, www.IAAPA.org/blog.
A clean-shaven executive by day, Joel Manby, president and CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment (HFE, www.hfecorp.com), recently donned a scruffy beard and hornrimmed glasses for an episode of the CBS reality show “Undercover Boss.” The program places company executives in frontline positions alongside unsuspecting employees and lets the cameras roll.
Manby, whose episode aired in late March, took on jobs at Silver Dollar City and Showboat Branson Belle in Branson, Missouri (www.silverdollarcity.com; www.showboatbranson belle.com), Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey (www.adventureaquarium.com), and Ride The Ducks at Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta (www.stonemountain park.com). He talked to FUNWORLD about what he learned from his experience.
What background did you have with the roles you portrayed on the show?
I did not have any experience because I came to work at Herschend directly from the automotive business. So I took the opportunity because I hadn’t worked the frontline jobs before and wanted to see what it was like.
Certainly the jobs were hard—you’re dressed with heavy clothing and standing in the sun as a Duck operator … and you’re getting up at 3:30 a.m. to wash the streets of Silver Dollar City. But it was the level of connection I had with the employees and their stories that surprised me the most and made it a compelling experience.
What did you learn about your employees or facilities?
While I certainly learned of things we could tweak at all the properties, what I was most unaware of going into it were the employees’ personal stories.
One of the people I met along the way was Richard, a maintenance worker at Silver Dollar City. I was washing streets with him and found out he had experienced a catastrophic event in his life and was going through financial troubles but hadn’t told anyone.
At Adventure Aquarium, I worked with a fantastic young lady named Mercedes who had been homeless with her son and previously lived in a temporary shelter. She looked for a job for nine months before the Adventure Aquarium hired her. Since then, she’s done a great job and has been promoted several times. I also met Jennifer, another single mother and a server on the Showboat. Through these women, I learned the tremendous needs of single parents in our company.
Signing on for this was potentially a risky decision—going into an uncontrolled environment and not knowing what you were going to find out.
Exactly! You’re completely unable to control the outcome. The show chooses where you’re working and who you’re working with, and they edit it in any way they want. You sign off on it from the very beginning. But I had such a belief in our folks that I was comfortable doing it.
We did not do it for PR reasons. Our brands are all regional, and I don’t think appearing on the show will grow our national audience much. As far as the quality of our employees, I knew
what I would find when I went out there, so I knew I could take the risk. One of our big missions is to create a culture of “servant leadership,” and I wanted to see if that was alive and well at the front lines like we say it is.
This experience was also about reinforcing to our hosts that they work for a great family and a good company that cares about them. The Herschend family has always run this organization well, and there’s a real balance between the guest experience and how we treat our employees.
What did you learn about being attuned to the needs of employees?
As a company, I learned there are programs HFE has available to people that they weren’t taking advantage of. There were some things we should be providing them that we were not.
I also realized that I personally withdrew a bit during the recession. We were making so many difficult decisions that no one enjoys making—like pay cuts—and I care so much about our folks. I withdrew into my office too much when making those decisions.
The show forced me back out to the front lines and totally re-energized me to be the cheerleader for our workers. During this recession, there’s so much pain out there; it’s all of our responsibilities to get involved.
As far as internal operations go, the show reaffirmed what we all know—that leadership needs to always over-communicate. Any leader who wants to do a good job needs to make sure everyone understands where the company’s headed— have a clear vision you believe in and constantly communicate it to your staff so they understand where you’re trying to take the company. Show them a realistic plan to get there; hire and surround yourself with great people who can execute that plan; and then let them go and do a great job. They’ll do anything for the company as long as they know where it’s headed and that they’ll contribute to its success.
Would you recommend the same opportunity to other park leaders?
If anyone gets a chance to work the frontline jobs without the employees knowing you’re the CEO, it’s a great gift. You can certainly still learn about the guest experience without being incognito, but going undercover gives you some anonymity. In this case, I was just another person to them—I got some of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Don’t do it if you’re just looking for the publicity. But if you want the truth and to learn about your company and yourself, and you’re willing to take some risk—do it.
What reactions did you get from employees after the big reveal?
To see the look on the hosts’ faces when they met me and realized who I was—it was so much fun. What was really meaningful was when I got to reinforce what I saw in them and how great they were. People don’t get enough encouragement in life, so the chance to do that was really fun. As far as the rest of the Herschend staff, since filming, we’ve experienced a huge morale boost.
Is there anything you want HFE to do differently or reevaluate after you stepped into someone else’s shoes?
The main changes we implemented were to programs that will help our employees. We really beefed up the marketing for our “Share It Forward” program to motivate people to apply for it. As a leader, if you see someone who has just lost their health insurance or has a family crisis, it’s your job to help them through that time.
We added a component within the Share It Forward Foundation, as well. Mercedes and Jennifer inspired us to create a new program for single parents. If you make under a certain income level as a single parent, you’ll be able to get a financial stipend to help pay for expenses like child care or health care. Seeing things firsthand helped me to see the need for this.
Another thing we did was establish a scholarship in honor of Jack and Peter Herschend. We’ll annually fund a full-time educational scholarship during the school year, and while they’re in school, we’ll pay them half of the salary they earn over the summer, so they don’t have to go part time and work. Albert, who you saw on the show, would have had to work for seven years to get his undergraduate degree. In the summer, they’ll make their full-time wage, and then when they’re in school and not working, they’ll still make half of their salary. This is a way for our company to give back—and everyone can apply.
Also, we have a sub-program of “Share It Forward” called an Emergency Needs Program for people in financial crisis. We gave Richard the catastrophic limit of $10,000 and went in there with a construction crew and redid his doors and heating system. For me, that was truly one of the highlights of being with Herschend. It was a really gratifying moment.
How do you feel about the outcome of the show and the decisions you made?
The decisions we’ve made as a result of the show are all difficult, because they all cost money. One thing I was really trying not to do was a lot of “one-offs.” I wanted to do something systemic throughout the whole company. We didn’t have much time so that was hard. We literally shot the experience, and they came to do the reveal the next day. I had to decide what we could and should do in a very short period of time … it was exciting!
Portions of the “Undercover Boss” (www.cbs.com/primetime/undercover_boss) episode are currently available for viewing at www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhSECPw3py4.
Contact Departments Editor Marion Hixon at mhixon@IAAPA.org.
Have you done anything in your facility inspired by watching “Undercover Boss”? Let us know! E-mail Marion Hixon at mhixon@IAAPA.org
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