Pizza’s big cheese kicks off Canadian edition of slice-of-life series
When you’re running a business, don’t ever lose touch with the front lines.
It’s a credo that Pizza Pizza CEO Paul Goddard has long championed. But when he agreed to star in an episode of Undercover Boss Canada, he got a rare opportunity to view the business from an entirely different perspective.
He went undercover and worked directly with his employees.
“(Going undercover) afforded me an opportunity to go out, and under different auspices than I would nor- mally go,” says Goddard, who took over the top job at Canada’s top pizza chain in 2010 after the death of its founder (and Goddard’s father-inlaw), Michael Overs.
“It was very liberating for me to go out as someone other than myself, so I could get a completely unvarnished view of what’s really going
on out there.”
Undercover Boss Canada is the Canadian instalment of a TV franchise that has aired in several countries. Each episode has a senior executive of a company go undercover within his or her organization, typically posing as a trainee and doing a variety of jobs, to gain some insight into different parts of the company and how things work. The Canadian version premières on Thursday and will feature executives from the Toronto Zoo, the Toronto Transit Commission, Molson-coors and Second Cup, among others.
Posing as a trainee under an assumed name and in disguise, Goddard spent a week working in a variety of front-line roles: riding along with a pizza-delivery driver; making pizzas at one of the chain’s locations; taking an overnight shift helping to transport supplies from Pizza Pizza’s Toronto-area warehouse to various locations; and making dough at the company’s dough factory.
“(The experience) was pretty mentally and physically exhausting,” Goddard says. “The jobs were very challenging. It gave me a greater respect than I had previously for the amount of mental and physical stamina you require, just to do well in any of these jobs — especially the ones where you’re right on the front line, working directly with the customers.”
The experience was all about developing a better understanding of the front-line staff at Pizza Pizza, something he had already considered particularly important, from a customer-relations standpoint. But his experience going undercover has only reinforced this belief.
“I’ve always had the view that, with my background, it’s always impor- tant to talk to people up and down your organization, whatever it is,” he says. “So I don’t think that’s necessarily new, but I think I’m probably emphasizing that even more than I already was. And I think I’m trying to ... be in greater contact with people (who) are out on the front lines and in various roles.”
Since the show, Goddard has also vowed to improve the lines of communication among the company’s departments.
“A lot of people have great ideas, but don’t feel like they’re entitled or able to talk to someone in a different area. But there’s really no rule that said that.
“I say ... anyone in the company, it doesn’t matter whether they’re in an office or a restaurant, should feel like they can pick up the phone and talk to anybody, or email anybody, with any idea, if there’s a way to do things better.”
It always comes back to that central rule: Don’t lose touch. The risk of doing so can be fatal in any business, but especially in the restaurant and food-service sector, where good customer service is everything.
“Essentially, if you do not open those lines (of communication),” he says, “then I think you’re at risk of not being as in touch (with) your customers.”