This week's Undercover Boss is Herschend Family Entertainment
CEO Joel Manby.
Herschend Family Entertainment headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia
. Joel Manby is featured on CBS, ‘Undercover Boss,’ on the latest episode of the reality TV series broadcast on Sunday March 28, 2010 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. The
critically acclaimed series documents the experiences of CEOs and other top executives go incognito and work as entry-level employees in their own companies.
Joel Manby, President and CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment home based in Georgia was the latest CEO to be an "Undercover Boss." For anyone not yet aware of Undercover Boss, it is a reality television show that places real life CEO’s in undercover positions working for their own company in working regular wage jobs. In the process of doing so the idea is that they - along with the viewing audience - will see the good and bad and that in some cosmic way the experience will make them a better boss and those they meet better employees - or in some cases fired if they are a real dirt bag. As President and CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment, Joel Manby oversees some 28 family oriented theme parks including Dollywood, Silver Dollar City, and Stone Mountain park. Before Manby took this job he was with General Motors where he played in integral role in helping get the Saturn line off the ground before taking over the Saab division. All of that hardly prepared Manby for what he was about to do.
The drama behind Undercover Boss is you never know what is going to happen. You van see a CEO run into miserable employees that bad mouth the company, abusive managers, or in some cases a well oiled machine where people generally like their job and do it well. The challenge for Manby was going to be facing employees - even though they did not know who he was - that he directly affected by freezing wages and cutting 401(k) contributions for.
Manby was no stranger to tough times as he was raised in what could best be described as extreme poverty. He worked himself so hard he had what he described as a “meltdown” and was far too prone to bending an elbow. He credited the Herschend family for basically saving him and he in turn wants to help save them from suffering through a nationwide economic turn down - not an easy thing to do in an industry that is based on disposable income.
Manby made a limited tour of some of the Herschend holdings starting at Stone Mountain Park where he spent some time on the “duck boat” with Howard. He jetted off to Missouri where he met a 20 year old man named Albert who had already worked the front gate at Silver Dollar City for 6 years and had aspirations to one day be the CEO. He also stopped by hardstand’s aquarium in Camden, N.J., where he met single mom whose job their ended her stint of being homeless. Manby took time to help her furnish her home.
Manby said that while it was tough to see the faces his business decisions touched, he stated “If you have a heart, and you care, you tend to withdraw. You almost Don’t want to face the pain that some of your decisions are going to cause. You have to keep the company profitable or everyone loses their job.” He also said he would do this again, put on a uniform and go back out amongst the regular employees that put in the hours day in and day out that make Herschend Family Entertainment work.
While most episodes of Undercover Boss are about drama and suspense, and reality television is prone to create those things where none exist sometimes, the producers deserve credit for letting this be what it truly was - a sweet story. Start to finish the show had a different vibe than other episodes and while it didn’t have the jerk to focus on like the Hooters episode had, or disgruntled employees it was nice to see none the less. It just proves not everything has to be over the top.
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