Undercover Boss: What One CEO Has Learned

Stephen Martin, chief executive of Yorkshire-based property development company Clugston, took part in Undercover Boss, shown on Channel 4.

Here what he has to say about what Clugston has done since his part in the programme was completed:

Information gathering
Communicating
Rewards and Training

• Employee survey. The programme showed all our carefully thought through communications had little impact for people working on site. Few can access emails. Our glossy newsletter is nothing like what they are used to reading -- tabloid newspapers. We carried out an employee survey to ask how we should be communicating. But we did it less by questionnaires this time, we talked in groups and asked for views in lots of different ways.
• Talking to people. Our managers are explaining our decisions more - and even when there isn't much to say. It's not perfect -- some people are never going to be natural communicators, especially in the construction industry -- but I feel everyone is making a real effort. Managers meet direct with teams two levels below, skipping the normal manager in between. We're inviting groups of people to the boardroom for informal lunches with directors with no agenda. This informality really helps people to open up.
• Supply chain. Not all our supply chain had the same attitudes and values as our own team. Our sub-contractors can move from one sub-contract job to another every week or two, each with different processes. We are setting up discussion meetings every few months with key suppliers so we can all have the same common positive attitudes and cultures.

• Newsletters. We've introduced a regular single page news sheet -- with details on new contracts and confirmation when we have been shortlisted for major opportunities or frameworks -- that is emailed to everyone with access to a computer and hard copies are sent out to all sites. People on site are really interested in where new work is coming from and how we are doing. We have replaced our corporate, glossy newsletter with the Clugston Insider -- a six-week round up of internal news. We are aiming to include contributions from across the business to make sure it does not become just a one-way management vehicle. Clugston Insider is sent out in hard copy format to all site-based workers, as an attachment to their wage slips and is emailed to office based staff.
• Home-based communications. Many site-based operatives do not have access to company computers during shifts but do log on to the Clugston website outside work. So we are currently looking at introducing an Intranet system by redesigning the opening pages of the website with a bulletin board and creating an employees-only area.
• Notice-boards. I saw everyone walk past these without a glance -- they are not working. We are looking at making notices more pictorial and more interesting -- and of course, updated more regularly.

• Recognition. We've always had the Chairman's Awards but this year we created new awards for people on site. Those getting the awards came with colleagues early in June. The Chairman's office has never been so full nor felt so exciting and motivating.
• Mentoring. We are going to have a big problem in a few years. The Baby Boomer generation workforce is coming up for retirement and there haven't been enough young people coming into the business. Dick Sutton featured in the programme. He does not want to retire next year at 65. We've given him a van and he is now going out to a number of sites to start coaching the younger generation.
• Skills support. The problem of an ageing workforce is not just hitting our company or even just construction. It's a nationwide issue. We're talking to the government about this issue, what support employers need and seeing how we can help. A big issue is that people like Dick don't want to go into a classroom. We need to make the training more practical and less paper based.
• Future stars. We are determined to recruit more young people. We have always had good links with schools and colleges, but it tends to be ad hoc. We are looking at linking up with other employers to see how we make all this work more efficiently. There are plenty of initiatives around but they are difficult for businesses to use. I want to find a way to offer more opportunities to young people.