Behind the scenes of Undercover Boss on Channel 4

"When I accepted an invitation from Channel 4 to take part in The Undercover Boss, I was told the majority of those approached had turned the offer down. But to me it provided an exceptional opportunity to get to the heart of the business - and without the psychological barriers to frank discussion, inevitably created by a suit, tie and the CEO title.
 
"I joined Clugston in December 2006 and had made a point of getting out, visiting our sites and meeting as many of our workforce as I could. Part of my remit was to implement a new business strategy focusing on quality work and winning premium contracts across three core operations - construction, logistics and property development.
 
"I needed to know and understand how the company worked and wanted to listen to the people who matter - the people doing the job on a daily basis through a recession. I believed we were working hard to get our messages across from head office to site teams and that communications were generally good.
 
"The construction industry has been hard hit by the recession and we, like many others in this sector, have had to take difficult decisions. I was under no illusions and was prepared to hear the worst.
 
"What I saw on site were dedicated teams and passionate, committed people but I also realised they did not know how we were making the decisions that affected their working lives.
 
"In addition to making redundancies we cut bonuses, reduced break times and kept more people on temporary contracts. As the employees didn't know the criteria for redundancy they were worrying if they were going to be next.
 
"As a result of the programme, one of the first exercises we carried out was a newly-designed internal communications survey. Employees were asked across the business what they wanted to know more about and the best way to keep them updated on company information.
 
"Results from the survey indicate employees want more information on colleague promotions, new contract wins and how the company supports the local community. The biggest single item highlighted was the perceived lack of information on the rationale behind management decisions.
 
"We are now trying a range of communication techniques to discover what really works and what does not. For example, 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 re-designing the opening pages of the website with a bulletin board and creating an employees' only area.
 
"We have also introduced a regular single page newssheet with details on new contracts and confirmation when we have been shortlisted for major opportunities or frameworks. This document is emailed to everyone with access to a computer and hard copies are sent out to all sites. 
 
"We have replaced our corporate, glossy newsletter with the Clugston Insider - a six-week round-up of internal news, covering a wide range of issues of interest to our own people. 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 distributed to office-based staff via the internal mail system.
 
"The survey highlighted the need for site workers to have more face-to- face briefings, especially from senior management. We are currently developing management training programmes to improve the skills of line managers on site to give informal and formal management briefings.
 
"For two weeks, I worked as a labourer on several of Clugston's sites because I wanted to find out the truth and the reality and was prepared to act on what I found. When I was in the guise of a fellow labourer, people opened up to me and it is their feedback that is spearheading change.

"Other CEOs need to know that their workforce may be more relaxed when talking to a TV camera with the crew behind it than they would be when talking to management. Creating more informal ways to communicate and listen has been a useful starting point. 
 
"Before I went undercover I thought our communications were pretty good. I didn't see the things that I was worried about - hearing people slag off the company or being casual about health and safety. But it was really rammed home to me that communications are one of the most critical business priorities in difficult times and that we all need to think of them from the bottom up."