An exercise in empathy mapping: Undercover Boss

Rianna Berretta Module 3 Background NESTLE Toll House Café

Nestlé Toll House Café is a franchise in the United States and Canada founded by Ziad Dalal and his partner Doyle Liesenfelt. The two started "Nestlé Toll House Café by Chip" in 2001 in Dallas, Texas. The menu consists of items such as cookies, cookie cakes, brownies, ice cream, milk shakes, smoothies, and a full line of hot and frozen coffee beverages. The Nestlé Toll House Cafés are commonly found in shopping malls or shopping centers. The company currently employs about 16,000 people located in one of their 147 locations. About the episode

In season seven, episode two, of Undercover Boss, the COO of NESTLE Toll House Café, Shawnon Bellah goes undercover as Christy. To ensure that she does not get identified she dyes her hair blond, wears colored contacts, and dresses like a hipster. The employees believe she is on a reality show, trying to win $2,500 and to see if she has what it takes to open up her own baking business. During her undercover operation Shawnon goes to a manufacturing plant to create frosting, works at a location with a drive-thru, attempts to decorate a cookie cake, and struggles to keep up pace at their worst performing location. Shawnon wants to go undercover to ensure that the company is setting themselves up to continue to grow. This project’s empathy maps focus on Shawnon Bellah and the general manager of a corporate branch, Adriana. Shawnon Bellah – Chief Operating Officer

Shawnon joined NESTLE Toll House Café in 2008 and was only promoted 6 months before filming the episode. Due to her lack of college education, she knew she had to work harder and faster than those around her. She developed all the manuals, recipe books, and training practices for the entire company. Her hard work method allowed her to take the company out of the negatives and into positive in only 70 days. Her responsibilities continue at home as a single parent to two children. Shawnon has been divorced for 2 years. She believes in pushing and challenging her children to teach them what it takes to win. Her goal is to help turn NESTLE Toll House into a 500 million dollar company. She want everyone across the world to be able to say they tasted a toll house cookie and it is the best cookie they have ever tasted. Empathy Map: Shawnon Bellah

Think and Feel: See:

● Feels like she sets high standards for her and her ● How her high expectations have lead for less customer interaction employees and stress on her employees ● To be on the team there must be a passion for the brand ● She sees how hardworking and dedicated her employees are ● Believes she deserved the promotion for her hard work ● The desire her employees have to do well, but they lack support ● Teaches her children how to win

Hear: Say and Do: ● She hears that employees are afraid of her ● Lacks the ability to keep up with her employees ● The employees think she is overbearing ● Head strong leader who believes controlling all aspects of ● She hears Adriana admitting that she doesn’t think the the company will help the company company trusts her ● She asks for a break, but Adriana does not let her ● That Adriana made sacrifices to work there ● Installed cameras to watch her employees

Pain: Gain: ● That her employees don’t feel comfortable enough to talk ● That she must put more trust in her employees to her ● She needs to show the people around her that she cares ● Her employees lack training and supplies to help their ● Needs to become an emotional leader company run ● She needs to ensure that her employees are getting the ● Her employees sacrifice their dreams to work there support they need Adriana – General Manager

Adriana is a young adult who was transferred from their Philadelphia location to Westland, Michigan forcing her to leave her boyfriend behind. Despite her sacrifices for the company she still remains in her general manager position. Due to her leadership skills, Adriana tries to instill the 45 second rule in Shawnon and even though she does not meet the time limit, she continues to tell her that she is improving every time. She points out that there are cameras constantly watching them and reprimand them if they make a mistake. Adriana wants the company to trust her doing her job. She believe it is her job to make sure everything is running smoothly, so corporate does not have to check up on them. Empathy Map: Adriana

Think and Feel: See: ● Adriana wants to be able to build a future with her ● She sees Shawnon struggling to keep up with the 45 second rule boyfriend ● She sees the cameras watching her at all times ● She feels like the company doesn’t trust her ● She sees a line of customers anxiously waiting ● She feels like she is punished for any mistake she makes ● She sees a lack of training to help their employees better ● She feels like the company blames her for things out of her themselves control

Hear: Say and Do: ● She hears Shawnon complain she is tired and wants to ● Smiles at Shawnon as she struggles to keep up to show she take a break understands how hard it is ● She hears the company pick out all her mistakes ● Tells Shawnon that she cannot take a break and has to help ● She listens to her customers in order to give exceptional all the customers in line customer experience ● Points to the cameras to show her that they are everywhere

Pain: Gain: ● That the company does not trust her to do her job ● Adriana wants to establish a life with her boyfriend ● That she is constantly being watched ● She wants the company to trust her to do the right thing ● Expected to provide answers for things beyond her control as the manager ● Not being able to see her boyfriend ● To eliminate the amount of surveillance User Experience Summary

Shawnon Bellah Adriana

Chief Operating Officer General Manager

● Wants the company to grow ● Wants the company to trust her ● Is hard on herself and her employees ● Made a sacrifice to work for the company ● Wants her children to be successful ● Wants to build a future with her current ● Made sacrifices to land the position she is in boyfriend ● Wants to change and become an emotional ● Cares about keeping up with the company’s leader standards Conclusion At the end of the Undercover Boss episode, Shawnon Bellah shows empathy by understanding and feeling what another person is experiencing due to her observations undercover. She ends up reevaluating herself and her business methods in order to improve NESTLE Toll House for not just her company’s growth, but also for her employees. She concludes that since she is hard on herself she projects that on to other people and has failed to show those around her that she cares. This episode goes beyond the business she works for, she ends up applying her findings to her home life. She ends up calling her children and confessing that she has high expectations for her children and needs to be able to stop and relax sometimes. She doesn't want her kids to look back on their childhood and think that she was tough on them all the time. Although she is trying to teach them leadership and the importance of hard work, she also wants to make sure they are having fun. She sits down with Adriana and reveals that she is the COO of the company and that she is on Undercover Boss. Adriana quickly apologizes for calling her terrifying, but Shawnon says there is no need and that she wants her to help her by being honest with her. Shawnon admits that the 45 second rule is unrealistic and wants Adriana to work with her on finding the proper speed of service. She says she wants Adriana to be more than just a general manager and would like to put her through management training. Lastly Shawnon gives her $20,000 to travel back and forth to see her boyfriend.