Undercover Boss (2010) s02e14 Episode Script
BELFOR
Male announcer: America is struggling to shake off the recession.
Public distrust of wealthy CEOs remains high.
But more and more bosses are looking for radical ways to reconnect with their workforce in order to find out what's really going on in their companies.
Each week, we follow the boss of a major corporation as they go undercover in their own company.
This week, the CEO of Belfor, the world's largest disaster restoration company, poses as an unemployed insurance salesman looking for a new line of work.
- Tom Kelly, how are ya? - Hey, Tom.
We got a newbie.
The boss will trade in his Italian suits and country club lifestyle for a crowbar and crawl space.
This is unbelievable.
Unh--oh, my God.
By working on the front line, he'll discover what needs improving in the business.
You should be getting a raise with a promotion.
I'm still waiting for that raise.
I hate that part.
And he'll discover the unsung heroes that make his business run.
There you go.
You got it.
Whoo! I don't have money, but I can sure make you smile at the end of the day.
That don't cost anything.
How will his co-workers react when they find out he's really the boss? And how will it change their lives? This experience will change me forever going forward.
Find out next on Undercover Boss.
Operating in Belfor is the largest property restoration company in the world, providing post-disaster relief and reconstruction services after fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.
Working around the clock, overseeing the 6,000 employees at this $1.
5 billion business is one man.
I am Sheldon Yellen, and I am the Chief Executive Officer of Belfor.
Belfor is the largest property restoration company in the world.
In the event of a fire, a hurricane, a tornado we come in and repair your property to the pre-damage condition it was in.
We get involved with small losses, from $200, all the way on up to major, major losses, like hurricane Katrina.
The damage caused by Katrina is indescribable.
The company started out in '46 as an awning company.
And then my father-in-law got into the insurance restoration business back in 1979 or 1980.
And I joined the company in 1984.
As I was growing up, my dad was not around as we were kids.
Every once in a while, he'd show up for a day or two or three, or a week, and then he'd be gone again.
My mom raised four boys alone on welfare benefits.
It was pretty difficult times.
I've been working since I'm 11 years old.
My brothers and I all worked hard to help contribute to the family.
We would just work, and whatever money we made along the way would go for one for all, and all for one.
What's going on in Chile? Everything's wrapping up.
We should be out of there-- two people are gonna stay till the end of the year, on the Iron Mountain job When the economic crisis hit a couple years ago, we immediately at Belfor put out a wage freeze and a hiring freeze to make sure that our people can feel they have a secure job and that they don't have to worry about will they have a job in two weeks from now or four weeks from now.
We were on a short rope for a little while, there.
But we got over it and we continued on.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
I enjoy the fact that I have a little financial security today.
I am in the process right now of purchasing a private country club.
And I definitely have a few additional liberties that the average person doesn't have.
Well, what do you guys think? This is Tom Kelly.
Look how cute you look! It does not look like Sheldon.
You look a lot younger.
I think by him going undercover that he will get along with everybody, and they'll love him.
I don't know how good a job he'll do, because when he went into the construction business, I don't even know if he knew what a hammer was.
How could you have a gray beard when your mother doesn't have any gray hair? I think mine's a lot like yours.
So I think All right, you can't take any of your, like, Gucci stuff, or stuff like that, Sheldon.
You need, like, work boots, right? Yeah, I guess.
Sheldon's a big spender, all right, yes.
He likes clothes.
He likes shoes.
And if you go up in his closet, you'll see how many shoes he actually has.
That's rugged, okay.
- Is that good? - I'll take that, yeah.
I want to go undercover to make sure.
Are there issues that I need to be aware of that do affect the bottom line? Is some equipment not returning back to our shops? Are some of our employees doing side jobs or not? All right, I will see you guys in a week.
As I go undercover, I will be Tom Kelly from Phoenix, Arizona.
My employees will be told that this is a show where a man and a woman compete against each other to get a job at Belfor.
Well, my first day on the job here.
Oh, great, how do you do this? It's been a long time since I've done anything that involved manual labor.
I just hope I can keep up with the guys.
Don't want to embarrass myself if I can help it.
This should be an interesting day.
I'm here today in Norfolk, Virginia, and I'm looking forward to going undercover and doing some demolition work.
Hi, I'm here to see Joe.
- Come on in.
- Okay.
Thank you.
I'm not sure what I'm gonna find here.
Hopefully the damage isn't too severe.
Hi.
Joe? Hey.
- Hi.
Tom Kelly.
How are ya? - Hey, Tom.
All right, okay, look, here's the uniform.
If you change into it, I'll get you to work.
Okay, great.
Thank you.
We got a newbie.
- Okay.
- Hey, you're back.
- I'm back.
What happened? - Oh, man.
A terrible thing happened here.
The upstairs leaked on the roof.
The drywall got wet up in here.
The wall is all wet behind that.
So what we're gonna do is we're gonna take down the rest of the drywall, strip the entire walls all the way off.
Let's start with loading out all of these.
Fit as many in there as you can.
Okay, great.
And, uh, hop to it, because we gotta get this job goin'.
You think you got a handle on that? - Yes, sir.
- All right.
That's what I want to hear.
Aha, that's called You did it.
Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa.
What are you doing? You're killing me.
- What's that? - No, no, no, no, no.
Holy moly.
Look, this box is gonna bust down in here.
Yeah, just don't-- just don't Chuck it in there.
I thought, going into this, that packing a box would be relatively easy, and I'd have a hard time messing it up.
But I managed to do it somehow.
They're gonna wonder what kind of people we are.
Is the homeowner here? Yeah.
She let you in.
- Oh, that's the homeowner.
- Yeah.
Oh, okay.
- Yeah, Mrs.
Howell.
- Good.
And Mr.
Howell, they've been here for quite a few years.
That's enough, buddy.
I've only been with these guys four months.
- Really? - Yeah.
Yeah.
I've done quite a few things.
What'd you do before this? - Before this? - Yeah.
I am a general contractor in the state of Virginia.
I worked for a fella for three years.
And then I said, "well, you know what, I think I can do it on my own.
" And that was 14 years ago.
But with the economy, the profit margins are down.
It's like beating your head against the wall.
See, look, I'm 50, right? How many more years do you think my body's gonna hold out doing this kind of heavy labor? Let's get these boxes out of here.
We gotta get this going, guys, come on.
Okay, time.
I got something for you to do.
But it's the new guy's job.
What's that? There's a critter.
You know what happens, they fall down in the ceiling, and they can't get back up the crawl space.
- Wow.
- Yep, put it in there.
And we're gonna give him a good burial out there in the dumpster.
Well, I was a little shocked when Joe decided to tell me to go behind the wall there and scoop up a dead animal that's been there for years.
But I guess the new guy on the job gets that job.
It was different.
I didn't expect that.
By the end of the day, we've gotta have this whole place down.
And there's insulation up in there, so we gotta suit up, okay.
We've gotta have jackets, eye protection, hats.
All right, now, you ready for the fun stuff? Let's do it.
I'm out of breath as I'm wearing this mask and the goggles.
And your goggles fog up while you're on a ladder trying to pull down a ceiling.
Let's get this out to the truck, and then we can take a little breather.
There you go.
You got it.
Whoo! All right, good job.
All right.
Now, let's eat.
I'm hungry.
One week, I worked 74 hours-- the military housing base.
We had a flood come through here, and all the roof collars leaked.
What motivates you for all that? Here, these are my two kids.
That's Natasha.
14.
And that's Hunter.
He's nine.
My daughter Natasha, I said, "make me lunch every day.
I'll give you a dollar a lunch pail.
" But you know what, if I had to go out and pay lunch every day, that's eight, nine bucks.
You were in your own business, you said.
- Yeah.
- 14 years.
Yeah.
I was doing over $500,000 a year in sales.
I went in the hole 20 grand on one job.
And then in the fall, I got hit again with a $10,000 shortfall.
Well, that's 30 grand.
But you gotta maintain the debt.
Then I kept buying into the home equity line to keep going.
So how much work is there here, though? What if there's not a leak tomorrow? Then I'll--I'll hustle.
You know? So you run more than one job at a time? Oh, yeah.
Well, when I heard Joe was doing side jobs, I had a pit in my stomach for a moment there because it's really not something that we like to have happen.
It would affect potentially the response time that they would have in the even of an emergency.
We gotta get back--we gotta get back to what we're doing.
We're sitting here-- I could chitchat all day.
Don't let it get the best of you.
Ooh, doggies! Coming up The boss gets familiar with power tools.
And later I don't think I'm supposed to do this, but I've got something to tell you.
Sheldon Yellen, the CEO of Belfor property restoration, is a boss undercover within his own company.
His employees think he's part of a reality show where men and women compete to see who does the better job.
Charlotte, let's get started on this over here, okay? His journey continues in Colorado.
I'm here today in Denver, Colorado.
Today I'll be working as a carpenter.
Is Drew here? Yeah, that's me.
- Hey, Drew.
- How you doing? - Tom.
How are you? - Tom, nice to meet you.
Basically, what we got going on here is final stages.
We had a fire in this apartment.
We're gonna start in this room here.
We've got some sheet rock to put in.
I'm looking forward to see just how we put things back to their original condition.
Okay, we're gonna go straight up.
Up over the head.
Okay, hold the screw.
Hold it a little bit.
Let it get it going.
Let it bite.
Okay, you need to push straight up.
Let's do it.
Jeez.
Here you go.
Don't give up on it, though, my man.
His screwing performance was definitely subpar.
Straight up.
You gotta go to your left.
Drew, there's gotta be a better way.
This is stupid already.
- You're all right.
- I'm not all right.
Yeah, you are.
Don't let it get to you.
I'm getting frustrated.
Hanging drywall is much harder than I ever imagined.
Ah! All right, why don't you come over here and get this up, because this is stupid.
- You're in good shape, man.
- I'm in good shape, eh? Don't let the sheet rock beat you up.
That's all you're doing.
You're letting it get in your head.
Tom's biting at me, saying, "this isn't working.
You finish it.
" I mean, on a job site, that just--I mean, it wouldn't fly.
We'll get back to this piece, and then we can finish out the rest after we chow.
All right.
We're gonna go up to the fourth floor where the--there was another fire up there.
Grab a bucket.
All right.
You got me pissed off down there.
- I did? Why? - Yeah.
Don't seem like I'm making much progress.
You shouldn't sweat it, man.
Why do you do this? You're a young guy.
You could do anything.
You go to school? I got my bachelor's degree and my master's degree.
- In? - Business.
Got my MBA.
- You got an MBA? - Yeah.
Master's in Business Administration.
- So why you doing this? - Student loans.
I owe a lot.
I pay over $500 a month.
I mean, I can't take off of work to find other work.
Ideally, I would like to get into some kind of marketing.
People, when they have a tragedy, they don't know about restoration companies.
Unless they have a close friend or somebody in the business, and kind of know about it, they don't.
So you said you were into marketing.
You should be selling it, right? One day, maybe.
We'll see what happens.
Until then, I don't want the boss coming in seeing us sitting down.
Pull it out, stop.
Pull it out.
This is stupid already.
You're gonna have to put one in the cabinet.
Okay, you're gonna have to hold it.
Push on the back of the gun.
You gotta keep it real-- see how you chewed that? Okay.
That's what we don't want to do.
Okay, you're not even in.
Put yourself in a place that you can see it.
You're not even-- you're not even in, dude.
All right, I got a great idea.
Finish this up.
That ain't gonna help you at all, man.
No, it ain't, but you know what-- - Well-- - This is nuts.
We are kind of on a downward spiral.
We're not really connecting or meshing as a team would.
Did it bite? I hope it did 'cause it stripped the hell out of the screw.
It's in.
- That was fun, wasn't it? - Yeah, a lot of fun.
You know what, Tom, I think we're at a good stopping point.
- All right, that's it? - Appreciate the help.
- Have a good rest of the day.
- I will.
You do the same.
Thanks.
I was close to worthless.
In fact, I might have been less than worthless.
I'm not used to failing, and I really didn't like this experience today at all.
It was a terrible, terrible day for me.
I couldn't perform any of the tasks he was asking me to do.
And the longer it went on, the more angry I got at Drew.
It wasn't Drew's shortcomings.
They were my own shortcomings.
And I'm not used to falling short.
I've had a wall or a bubble placed around me at times, and I've realized that I'm probably just not as good as I've been told by everybody else in my business life.
Today I'm in Indianapolis, Indiana with one of our most efficient and most profitable operations in the country.
And I'm looking forward to going undercover today with one of our cleaning technicians.
I'm here to work with Brenda today.
Our clients' first impressions of Belfor are formed by the relationship that they develop with our cleaning technicians.
I want to see just how spot-on we are with our customer service.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- I'm looking for Brenda.
- How you doing? - Good.
How are you? - Good.
I'm fine.
I'm here to work today.
Okay.
I got your uniform.
Oh, okay.
Great.
Just start grabbing some of this stuff, and we'll load the truck.
So we're going to a house.
Yep.
Light fire, they said.
Very light smoke.
Light fire.
And the key thing is make the homeowner feel safe.
You know, like, trust you.
Yeah, and they'll be okay.
But we don't really talk to the homeowners though, anyway, do we? Yeah.
I get to know a bunch of homeowners.
Hi.
Hello.
How are you? Just fine.
- I'm Brenda, from Belfor.
- Mm-hmm.
- Hi.
How are you? - Hello.
We're gonna be here cleaning up your house.
Anything else you need cleaned while we're here? Take the opportunity.
I'll show you what kind of a mess we've got.
Oh, right here in--where-- the furnace.
How'd it start? Went--it was starting to go up the stack.
And I just come in and call 911.
And they said, "get the heck out of there.
" Yeah, you're lucky it didn't go worse that what it is.
We're gonna chem-sponge the whole ceilings.
I'll show you-- we'll put these on a pole.
We're gonna do it in every room.
Then we're gonna come back and do the walls.
He's gonna do the kitchen, but not yet, okay? We didn't want nothin' to fall in your pot pies.
No, we're done with this.
I've been watching Brenda, and her interaction with the customers--she just eases in the conversations.
Just automatically puts the customer at ease.
Do you two live here together? No, I come up-- when she's got problems, I usually am here.
That's what daughters do, huh? - Yes, that's what daughters do.
- Ah, yes.
We're very close.
I suppose I'm supposed to know which one's the mom and which one's the daughter, right? That makes her feel bad.
Uh-oh, you better watch it.
I guess that's why Brenda tells me I should just do my job and not talk.
And keep your mouth shut.
That's one thing you don't never mess with, is a woman's age.
I was just trying to be personable.
I was trying to be as nice as Brenda.
I guess sometimes you just gotta think before you talk.
See, you look like you fit right in already.
You got smoke all over your face.
That's a good sign.
Yeah.
I do? How did I do that? I don't know.
We're gonna take a water break.
Okay.
- You probably need one.
- Yeah.
You'll be needing some Ben gay when you go home.
Those are nice people, though.
She live here She's glad--she's lucky she's got a daughter that cares.
Some people's kids-- I've been in family houses where kids talk to their parents like, oh, my God.
I've seen the rich, and I've seen the poorest of poor.
And I'd be with the poorest of poor before I would the rich.
Because the rich don't have no heart.
They don't care.
A poor person, they care about each other.
So I was homeless for a little bit.
And I lived in a boxcar from a train.
Imagine that.
What do you mean, you lived in a boxcar? Yeah, I stayed in a boxcar.
Mm-hmm.
How long you live in a boxcar? Baby, till I was, like, seven.
- Really? - Mm-hmm.
No bathroom, no tv, and no bathtub.
My grandma would boil water, and we'd take a bath in one of them big old black kettles.
Did you go to school? Grandma tried to teach us what she could down there.
Like home school.
- And you're smiling every day.
- Yeah.
You have a great attitude.
I'm glad I'm here.
I could be under a bridge again.
And you want to make them happy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
'Cause that's all I got to offer.
I've been blessed in my life, financially, to be where I'm at.
And I have had an opportunity this week to meet people that are working harder than I ever have.
And I can't help but think, what is it that I can do for people like Brenda? How long you been doing this? Six years.
Six years.
Why couldn't you pass it? Because I don't have education.
All them numbers, and And I couldn't.
I couldn't get it.
You know, if he would have said, "tell me what you do when you go on a water loss, the first thing" You do the work.
But I couldn't read it.
Yeah.
I couldn't Pass the written test.
Yeah, I couldn't get it.
How'd you feel that day? Like that big.
When you're in a room of people and everybody's raising their hand but you But you know what to do, but you can't When my grandkids ask me, "grandma, could--" psh.
"I can't help you with nothin'.
" Okay? Ready? You ready to go back in? Time to get back to work.
All right.
We got that furnace room.
With Brenda today, and listenin' to her story To have survived all of this and have that zest for life that she has, the positive feelings that she gives off to people, she's just an incredible person.
Ready for me to check it? I'm ready.
I think it's pretty good.
You did really good.
Yeah.
Not so bad.
I'd hire you.
- You'd hire me? - Yeah.
Well, I like that.
Perfect.
I sure would.
You got to be kidding me.
Wow.
This is unbelievable.
Yeah.
This is a tight crawl space.
Oh, my God.
And later, Sheldon's employees think they're coming to company headquarters to cast their vote.
I'm a little nervous, yeah, but I feel confident in who I'm picking.
But how will they react when he reveals the truth? I'm Sheldon Yellen, the CEO of Belfor.
Sheldon Yellen, the CEO of Belfor disaster restoration is a boss undercover within his own company.
His employees think he's part of a reality show where men and women compete to see who does the better job.
Get you into a outfit here.
His journey continues in Virginia.
Today I'm in Chesapeake, Virginia, and I will be entering a home that has had a water loss.
Today I hope to find out if our crews and our technicians are providing the services in a timely fashion.
Hi.
Is, uh, Jen here? Yes.
Hey.
I'm a water tech.
How you doing? Yeah, hi.
I'm Tom.
How are you? Good.
So we have a water damage.
Started in the bathroom, I believe the toilet, overflowed out into the living room.
Because this water damage just happened, we're not in a mold threat yet.
Mold will start to grow after 72 hours.
That's kind of our golden window.
If we can get things dried out in the first three days, we're good.
Are these people here in the house, living here? Yeah, they'll stay here, because there's no significant damage which would impede their living.
Now, the next step is going into the crawl space to see what insulation underneath here needs to come out.
All right? Okay.
All right, let's do it.
- All right.
- Let's get suited up.
You're upside down.
- What's that? - Your mask is upside down.
- It is? - Yeah.
All right.
- You got to be kidding me.
- Nope.
This is the most glamorous part of our job.
You're serious? I am absolutely serious.
When I see that opening, I had a little bit of a gulp in my throat, and my stomach was a little bit in knots.
It's low, so you have to stay as low as you can.
Wow.
This is unbelievable.
Yeah.
This is a tight crawl space.
Welcome to the day in a life of a water tech at Belfor.
Yeah.
It is so tight down there, you can't lift your head.
You can't lift your body.
I don't--I don't think I'm claustrophobic, but I can tell you something, that is not a comfortable feeling being down there.
All of this insulation - Yeah.
- That's all soaking wet.
The insulation that's wet underneath the house will allow for mold to grow on the beams that are basically below the subfloor.
Oh, my God.
Can't believe this is what I'm doing.
And then I had the thought of Are we the only two creatures or critters down here? You just feel that your whole world is closed in on you.
It's not a comfortable feeling at all.
So, all right.
Well, we've assessed it.
Let's go ahead and go back out.
Tom definitely was not liking being in there.
It's a very tight space, and it's gross, and he complained at every turn.
So he definitely, um, needs to buck up a little bit if he's gonna do this job.
It's unbelievable.
You get the award of, uh, big fat baby.
Of big fat baby.
For crawl spaces.
I'll take it.
Wow.
I'm not real happy right now about what I just did.
I know we ask a lot of our people.
This might be going overboard.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
You do this every day.
It's unbelievable.
This one's actually kind of easy, compared to ones that I normally do.
You must get paid okay to do this, or you wouldn't be doing this.
How do I answer that? When I came to Belfor, I was hired as a cleaner.
I got hired in at a certain salary for that job.
I got a promotion to be a water tech.
It's a promotion.
You should be getting a raise with a promotion.
I'm still waiting for that raise, and that was almost a year ago now.
If corporate says there's a raise freeze, there's a raise freeze.
Nobody gets a raise.
But we're still out doing what we do every day.
I don't have to stay at Belfor.
I stay at Belfor because I have a passion for what I'm doing.
It's not the homeowner's fault that I get paid peanuts for the amount of work that I do every day.
I can't walk in there and because I may not have been able to make a payment of some kind the night before and let them see that.
They have enough to worry about.
You said "corporate.
" I wonder.
I wonder if corporate would trip over me and know who I was.
Probably not, but, I mean, that's just the way it goes.
I put this pay freeze in place.
My intention was to protect everybody.
And to think that there are people out there that believe corporate has no care or concern for them really bothered me.
I just-- I really appreciate it, Jen.
- No problem.
- You're terrific, and And, um I don't think I'm supposed to do this, but I got something to tell you.
My name is Sheldon Yellen.
I'm the CEO of Belfor.
Oh! And I've been working undercover.
No! I don't think I'm supposed to do this, but I got something to tell you.
My name is Sheldon Yellen.
- I'm the CEO of Belfor.
- Oh! And I've been working undercover.
No! - And, Jen - No, come on.
You're getting your raise.
You're getting that raise that you want.
And thank you for representing us the way you do.
Thank you.
Oh, my God.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
I'm totally, totally blown away, but thank you.
I had to do this after being with you today.
It's been an absolute pleasure working for Belfor, and I wouldn't--I can't imagine working anywhere different.
No matter the circumstances, I can't.
And I don't want to.
So She's an incredible person, and what she does every day just affected me in such a way that I just-- I had to do what I did, and--and I don't regret it for one minute.
And this was a life-changing experience here today.
- Well - Thank you.
Jen, I just want you to know, I got to think about what all this means and what I can do, but I'll be seeing you at the end of the week.
Thank you.
And don't give up.
Well, it was a pleasure to meet youFinally.
It was a pleasure to meet you, and I promise you, from corporate, we will no longer ignore you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I'm, like, completely just blown away right now, completely blown away.
I never thought in a thousand years that would ever happen, so Yeah.
Well, this is the end of my journey, and it's been an incredible experience, to say the least.
After just finishing up a hard day at work, I can't help but think, here's a woman who spends her days working so hard, and an hour after leaving her, I'm sitting here on a private plane heading home.
I have lived my life in a bit of a bubble and/or have had a wall put up around me.
I thought that I was very in tune and in touch with so much more than I actually was.
And the more I reflect on the people I have just recently met, the more I question what I do with money, whether the five-star hotel stays are necessary for me anymore at this point and how I conduct and operate my own life going forward.
Well, uh, we got a lot to go over.
We here at corporate have a disconnect.
If we want to stay at the top of our game, we got to be more in touch with our people-- have to be.
Side jobs are an issue.
Some of our people may not be making enough money.
And if our employees aren't getting the opportunity for overtime or to make commissions, they're gonna go find it on their own.
This guy Joe, who's doing all the side work-- in my heart, I believe he doesn't want to be doing it.
He wants to give 110% of his time and effort and energy to Belfor, and we're not smart enough to have recognized it.
That's something we got to deal with.
When we put the wage freeze in place, we did it with the intent of protecting but maybe it's time to get away from a solid wage freeze.
I think it's something the three of you should collectively look at and get back to me and let's talk about that, 'cause it's a huge issue.
There's no doubt that there are some issues out there in the field.
And we do need to get closer to our people, and we do need to understand our people's challenges, and we have to be aware of it, that's for sure.
- Let's do it.
- Okay.
Thank you, guys.
All the employees think they've been called to headquarters to cast their vote for myself or the woman I competed against.
- Hello.
- Hi.
I'm Joe.
I'm here to cast my vote.
Sure.
Go ahead and have a seat.
They have no idea what they're really here for.
To vote for one person over the other, I guess it would be safe to say that, with Tom, we didn't click very well.
- You can go in now.
- Thank you.
Hi.
What are you doing here? Do you know who I am? You look like the guy that I worked with, but you don't have a beard anymore.
I think last week you knew me as Tom Kelly.
I did indeed.
- I'm Sheldon Yellen - Sheldon? The CEO of Belfor.
Are you--really? Oh, my God.
You look like you lost a little weight.
- Good to see you again.
- Good to see you.
Drew, you aggravated me so much.
I was so mad.
In fact, I don't think we clicked at all.
- I was mad.
- I could tell.
I hope you're not gonna fire me.
Drew, I know I'm not the easiest person to work with, and I do owe you an apology.
It's not often that I go about my business and fail, and leaving there, I was blaming you for my failure.
It wasn't you.
It was me.
Drew, I heard you loud and clear that you wanted a marketing opportunity.
I'm gonna put you in touch with one of our top marketing people in the company and see what you got.
I'm blown away.
I'm completely blown away.
Well, I know how hard you worked to get through school.
I know it took a huge commitment to work, go to school at the same time.
And I'd like to give you a check for $15,000 toward your student loans.
Get out of town.
No way.
Are you kidding me? - Yes, sir.
- Oh, my lord.
I got the chills right now.
I'm just I got the chills, man.
I can't even I can't even thank you enough.
It just helps me in every way possible.
I mean, if I could give him a big kiss, I would do it, but it would just look awkward, you know? Joe, I know you've been with us a short while, but I see the talent in you.
Uh, however, I know that you're doing side jobs, and I'd really like you to spend your time and energy securing work for Belfor in the future.
And so I would like to promote you to project manager.
Uh I'm in.
I've watched you.
I've listened to you.
I've observed you, and as a result of that, I want to advance you $10,000 on your commissions that I know you'll be making as a project manager.
That's amazing.
In addition, I would also like to help you jump-start the process of paying down some previous debts, and I would like to give you an additional bonus of $10,000 for yourself as well.
Thank you.
I don't know what else to say.
This opportunity that Sheldon has presented to me will definitely change my life.
Did that just happen? Brenda, being with you was an honor.
Let me share with you why.
You made me feel comfortable the minute I met you.
I was so impressed with your spirit and your passion.
I heard you tell me how you were robbed of an education.
Yeah.
Well, we're giving you $10,000 toward the education of your grandchildren.
Thank you.
Brenda, I'm not done.
I know how important it is for you to get your water-damage certification.
And I am putting you directly in touch with our head of training and development Mm-hmm.
Who is going to walk you through the training class, and there won't be no written test.
Oh.
There will be a verbal test and a test of skills on the job site.
I'm certain of it, with your skills, that you will pass, and you will stand among your peers with your head tall.
And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me get to know you and for allowing me It was my pleasure.
To now tell you that I'd like to give you an additional $15,000 bonus check for you Get out of here.
To do with whatever you'd like.
And you didn't even know I was about ready probably lose my house or nothing.
I never told you anything.
I don't even know what to say.
For somebody like you to even notice, 'cause no one ever does.
They always say, "why don't you go back to school and learn how to talk right?" Or Don't you change a thing.
Somebody says you're pretty smart.
And you're 50, and you never heard that in your life, it makes me feel proud.
That's pretty crazy.
That's--it's amazing.
That's what it is.
It's amazing.
It's good to see you again.
Great to see you.
Thanks for coming in.
Oh, it's a pleasure.
Thank you.
You look Better.
Jen, watching and observing the passion that you have, the integrity, the character that you have, I had no choice but to take off my hat and let you know who I was, and when you said to me that if somebody from corporate were to have tripped over you, they wouldn't even notice you, I had to reveal myself to you right then and there.
I wouldn't let you go home that night thinking that anymore.
And as a result of that, I want you to know I am making a personal commitment from this day forward to have six town hall meetings a year with hundreds of our people at a time, and letting them know that I want to get to know them.
I do care.
I think that that will go such a long way with the people that we work with every day.
I would like you to take a week's paid vacation.
And from the date of your promotion, I am gonna give you that back pay retroactive for all of the hours that you've worked since February to this day to get your current.
Wow.
I heard you so clearly tell me that the night before you were with me, you couldn't pay your bills.
I would like to additionally give you a $15,000 bonus check And hope that that will help.
But never in a million years did I ever think that anybody would take the time to sit down with me, and just to even just tell me that you see it.
I'm not used to that.
And it makes me love this company more.
And it makes me want to do more for this company and be here for as long as I possibly can be here.
We are a better company because of you.
I don't think it's hit home yet.
I don't think it's gonna hit home until I'm laying down to try to fall asleep tonight, and I realize I'm not falling asleep tonight, because it's all still going about a thousand miles an hour in my head, so, yeah.
Yeah.
Thank you.
I'm feeling just a little bit nervous right now.
I'm very excited to share my journey with our company.
Hello, everybody.
I'm Sheldon Yellen.
I'm the CEO of Belfor.
I've spent the last week going undercover throughout the company for Undercover Boss.
Our people just knock it out of the park every single day for everybody all over the world.
Their stories are unbelievable, and I can't wait to share my experiences.
Whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
What are you doing? You're killing me.
You got smoke all over your face.
Did it bite? I hope it did, 'cause it stripped the hell out of the screw.
This experience will change me forever going forward.
It woke me up and made me realize, that as I started out on my journey, just how wrong I was.
I really believed that sitting in Birmingham, Michigan, at a desk, I had the right to stand up and say, "we take care of our people.
" And I've learned firsthand that the people take care of this company.
I may not have lived up to your expectations But I promise you I'll do better going forward.
I've got to thank my mom For holding it all together With no money, raising four boys alone.
Thank you.
I wound up getting very emotional, and I don't regret any of it.
In fact, I hope that my boys today were able to see their dad standing up there, showing his emotions, and I hope they know that's life, not the material things.
Take down the walls.
Don't live in a cocoon.
And just be out there and enjoy it.
Some of us weren't smart enough to learn that earlier on.
Public distrust of wealthy CEOs remains high.
But more and more bosses are looking for radical ways to reconnect with their workforce in order to find out what's really going on in their companies.
Each week, we follow the boss of a major corporation as they go undercover in their own company.
This week, the CEO of Belfor, the world's largest disaster restoration company, poses as an unemployed insurance salesman looking for a new line of work.
- Tom Kelly, how are ya? - Hey, Tom.
We got a newbie.
The boss will trade in his Italian suits and country club lifestyle for a crowbar and crawl space.
This is unbelievable.
Unh--oh, my God.
By working on the front line, he'll discover what needs improving in the business.
You should be getting a raise with a promotion.
I'm still waiting for that raise.
I hate that part.
And he'll discover the unsung heroes that make his business run.
There you go.
You got it.
Whoo! I don't have money, but I can sure make you smile at the end of the day.
That don't cost anything.
How will his co-workers react when they find out he's really the boss? And how will it change their lives? This experience will change me forever going forward.
Find out next on Undercover Boss.
Operating in Belfor is the largest property restoration company in the world, providing post-disaster relief and reconstruction services after fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.
Working around the clock, overseeing the 6,000 employees at this $1.
5 billion business is one man.
I am Sheldon Yellen, and I am the Chief Executive Officer of Belfor.
Belfor is the largest property restoration company in the world.
In the event of a fire, a hurricane, a tornado we come in and repair your property to the pre-damage condition it was in.
We get involved with small losses, from $200, all the way on up to major, major losses, like hurricane Katrina.
The damage caused by Katrina is indescribable.
The company started out in '46 as an awning company.
And then my father-in-law got into the insurance restoration business back in 1979 or 1980.
And I joined the company in 1984.
As I was growing up, my dad was not around as we were kids.
Every once in a while, he'd show up for a day or two or three, or a week, and then he'd be gone again.
My mom raised four boys alone on welfare benefits.
It was pretty difficult times.
I've been working since I'm 11 years old.
My brothers and I all worked hard to help contribute to the family.
We would just work, and whatever money we made along the way would go for one for all, and all for one.
What's going on in Chile? Everything's wrapping up.
We should be out of there-- two people are gonna stay till the end of the year, on the Iron Mountain job When the economic crisis hit a couple years ago, we immediately at Belfor put out a wage freeze and a hiring freeze to make sure that our people can feel they have a secure job and that they don't have to worry about will they have a job in two weeks from now or four weeks from now.
We were on a short rope for a little while, there.
But we got over it and we continued on.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
I enjoy the fact that I have a little financial security today.
I am in the process right now of purchasing a private country club.
And I definitely have a few additional liberties that the average person doesn't have.
Well, what do you guys think? This is Tom Kelly.
Look how cute you look! It does not look like Sheldon.
You look a lot younger.
I think by him going undercover that he will get along with everybody, and they'll love him.
I don't know how good a job he'll do, because when he went into the construction business, I don't even know if he knew what a hammer was.
How could you have a gray beard when your mother doesn't have any gray hair? I think mine's a lot like yours.
So I think All right, you can't take any of your, like, Gucci stuff, or stuff like that, Sheldon.
You need, like, work boots, right? Yeah, I guess.
Sheldon's a big spender, all right, yes.
He likes clothes.
He likes shoes.
And if you go up in his closet, you'll see how many shoes he actually has.
That's rugged, okay.
- Is that good? - I'll take that, yeah.
I want to go undercover to make sure.
Are there issues that I need to be aware of that do affect the bottom line? Is some equipment not returning back to our shops? Are some of our employees doing side jobs or not? All right, I will see you guys in a week.
As I go undercover, I will be Tom Kelly from Phoenix, Arizona.
My employees will be told that this is a show where a man and a woman compete against each other to get a job at Belfor.
Well, my first day on the job here.
Oh, great, how do you do this? It's been a long time since I've done anything that involved manual labor.
I just hope I can keep up with the guys.
Don't want to embarrass myself if I can help it.
This should be an interesting day.
I'm here today in Norfolk, Virginia, and I'm looking forward to going undercover and doing some demolition work.
Hi, I'm here to see Joe.
- Come on in.
- Okay.
Thank you.
I'm not sure what I'm gonna find here.
Hopefully the damage isn't too severe.
Hi.
Joe? Hey.
- Hi.
Tom Kelly.
How are ya? - Hey, Tom.
All right, okay, look, here's the uniform.
If you change into it, I'll get you to work.
Okay, great.
Thank you.
We got a newbie.
- Okay.
- Hey, you're back.
- I'm back.
What happened? - Oh, man.
A terrible thing happened here.
The upstairs leaked on the roof.
The drywall got wet up in here.
The wall is all wet behind that.
So what we're gonna do is we're gonna take down the rest of the drywall, strip the entire walls all the way off.
Let's start with loading out all of these.
Fit as many in there as you can.
Okay, great.
And, uh, hop to it, because we gotta get this job goin'.
You think you got a handle on that? - Yes, sir.
- All right.
That's what I want to hear.
Aha, that's called You did it.
Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa.
What are you doing? You're killing me.
- What's that? - No, no, no, no, no.
Holy moly.
Look, this box is gonna bust down in here.
Yeah, just don't-- just don't Chuck it in there.
I thought, going into this, that packing a box would be relatively easy, and I'd have a hard time messing it up.
But I managed to do it somehow.
They're gonna wonder what kind of people we are.
Is the homeowner here? Yeah.
She let you in.
- Oh, that's the homeowner.
- Yeah.
Oh, okay.
- Yeah, Mrs.
Howell.
- Good.
And Mr.
Howell, they've been here for quite a few years.
That's enough, buddy.
I've only been with these guys four months.
- Really? - Yeah.
Yeah.
I've done quite a few things.
What'd you do before this? - Before this? - Yeah.
I am a general contractor in the state of Virginia.
I worked for a fella for three years.
And then I said, "well, you know what, I think I can do it on my own.
" And that was 14 years ago.
But with the economy, the profit margins are down.
It's like beating your head against the wall.
See, look, I'm 50, right? How many more years do you think my body's gonna hold out doing this kind of heavy labor? Let's get these boxes out of here.
We gotta get this going, guys, come on.
Okay, time.
I got something for you to do.
But it's the new guy's job.
What's that? There's a critter.
You know what happens, they fall down in the ceiling, and they can't get back up the crawl space.
- Wow.
- Yep, put it in there.
And we're gonna give him a good burial out there in the dumpster.
Well, I was a little shocked when Joe decided to tell me to go behind the wall there and scoop up a dead animal that's been there for years.
But I guess the new guy on the job gets that job.
It was different.
I didn't expect that.
By the end of the day, we've gotta have this whole place down.
And there's insulation up in there, so we gotta suit up, okay.
We've gotta have jackets, eye protection, hats.
All right, now, you ready for the fun stuff? Let's do it.
I'm out of breath as I'm wearing this mask and the goggles.
And your goggles fog up while you're on a ladder trying to pull down a ceiling.
Let's get this out to the truck, and then we can take a little breather.
There you go.
You got it.
Whoo! All right, good job.
All right.
Now, let's eat.
I'm hungry.
One week, I worked 74 hours-- the military housing base.
We had a flood come through here, and all the roof collars leaked.
What motivates you for all that? Here, these are my two kids.
That's Natasha.
14.
And that's Hunter.
He's nine.
My daughter Natasha, I said, "make me lunch every day.
I'll give you a dollar a lunch pail.
" But you know what, if I had to go out and pay lunch every day, that's eight, nine bucks.
You were in your own business, you said.
- Yeah.
- 14 years.
Yeah.
I was doing over $500,000 a year in sales.
I went in the hole 20 grand on one job.
And then in the fall, I got hit again with a $10,000 shortfall.
Well, that's 30 grand.
But you gotta maintain the debt.
Then I kept buying into the home equity line to keep going.
So how much work is there here, though? What if there's not a leak tomorrow? Then I'll--I'll hustle.
You know? So you run more than one job at a time? Oh, yeah.
Well, when I heard Joe was doing side jobs, I had a pit in my stomach for a moment there because it's really not something that we like to have happen.
It would affect potentially the response time that they would have in the even of an emergency.
We gotta get back--we gotta get back to what we're doing.
We're sitting here-- I could chitchat all day.
Don't let it get the best of you.
Ooh, doggies! Coming up The boss gets familiar with power tools.
And later I don't think I'm supposed to do this, but I've got something to tell you.
Sheldon Yellen, the CEO of Belfor property restoration, is a boss undercover within his own company.
His employees think he's part of a reality show where men and women compete to see who does the better job.
Charlotte, let's get started on this over here, okay? His journey continues in Colorado.
I'm here today in Denver, Colorado.
Today I'll be working as a carpenter.
Is Drew here? Yeah, that's me.
- Hey, Drew.
- How you doing? - Tom.
How are you? - Tom, nice to meet you.
Basically, what we got going on here is final stages.
We had a fire in this apartment.
We're gonna start in this room here.
We've got some sheet rock to put in.
I'm looking forward to see just how we put things back to their original condition.
Okay, we're gonna go straight up.
Up over the head.
Okay, hold the screw.
Hold it a little bit.
Let it get it going.
Let it bite.
Okay, you need to push straight up.
Let's do it.
Jeez.
Here you go.
Don't give up on it, though, my man.
His screwing performance was definitely subpar.
Straight up.
You gotta go to your left.
Drew, there's gotta be a better way.
This is stupid already.
- You're all right.
- I'm not all right.
Yeah, you are.
Don't let it get to you.
I'm getting frustrated.
Hanging drywall is much harder than I ever imagined.
Ah! All right, why don't you come over here and get this up, because this is stupid.
- You're in good shape, man.
- I'm in good shape, eh? Don't let the sheet rock beat you up.
That's all you're doing.
You're letting it get in your head.
Tom's biting at me, saying, "this isn't working.
You finish it.
" I mean, on a job site, that just--I mean, it wouldn't fly.
We'll get back to this piece, and then we can finish out the rest after we chow.
All right.
We're gonna go up to the fourth floor where the--there was another fire up there.
Grab a bucket.
All right.
You got me pissed off down there.
- I did? Why? - Yeah.
Don't seem like I'm making much progress.
You shouldn't sweat it, man.
Why do you do this? You're a young guy.
You could do anything.
You go to school? I got my bachelor's degree and my master's degree.
- In? - Business.
Got my MBA.
- You got an MBA? - Yeah.
Master's in Business Administration.
- So why you doing this? - Student loans.
I owe a lot.
I pay over $500 a month.
I mean, I can't take off of work to find other work.
Ideally, I would like to get into some kind of marketing.
People, when they have a tragedy, they don't know about restoration companies.
Unless they have a close friend or somebody in the business, and kind of know about it, they don't.
So you said you were into marketing.
You should be selling it, right? One day, maybe.
We'll see what happens.
Until then, I don't want the boss coming in seeing us sitting down.
Pull it out, stop.
Pull it out.
This is stupid already.
You're gonna have to put one in the cabinet.
Okay, you're gonna have to hold it.
Push on the back of the gun.
You gotta keep it real-- see how you chewed that? Okay.
That's what we don't want to do.
Okay, you're not even in.
Put yourself in a place that you can see it.
You're not even-- you're not even in, dude.
All right, I got a great idea.
Finish this up.
That ain't gonna help you at all, man.
No, it ain't, but you know what-- - Well-- - This is nuts.
We are kind of on a downward spiral.
We're not really connecting or meshing as a team would.
Did it bite? I hope it did 'cause it stripped the hell out of the screw.
It's in.
- That was fun, wasn't it? - Yeah, a lot of fun.
You know what, Tom, I think we're at a good stopping point.
- All right, that's it? - Appreciate the help.
- Have a good rest of the day.
- I will.
You do the same.
Thanks.
I was close to worthless.
In fact, I might have been less than worthless.
I'm not used to failing, and I really didn't like this experience today at all.
It was a terrible, terrible day for me.
I couldn't perform any of the tasks he was asking me to do.
And the longer it went on, the more angry I got at Drew.
It wasn't Drew's shortcomings.
They were my own shortcomings.
And I'm not used to falling short.
I've had a wall or a bubble placed around me at times, and I've realized that I'm probably just not as good as I've been told by everybody else in my business life.
Today I'm in Indianapolis, Indiana with one of our most efficient and most profitable operations in the country.
And I'm looking forward to going undercover today with one of our cleaning technicians.
I'm here to work with Brenda today.
Our clients' first impressions of Belfor are formed by the relationship that they develop with our cleaning technicians.
I want to see just how spot-on we are with our customer service.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- I'm looking for Brenda.
- How you doing? - Good.
How are you? - Good.
I'm fine.
I'm here to work today.
Okay.
I got your uniform.
Oh, okay.
Great.
Just start grabbing some of this stuff, and we'll load the truck.
So we're going to a house.
Yep.
Light fire, they said.
Very light smoke.
Light fire.
And the key thing is make the homeowner feel safe.
You know, like, trust you.
Yeah, and they'll be okay.
But we don't really talk to the homeowners though, anyway, do we? Yeah.
I get to know a bunch of homeowners.
Hi.
Hello.
How are you? Just fine.
- I'm Brenda, from Belfor.
- Mm-hmm.
- Hi.
How are you? - Hello.
We're gonna be here cleaning up your house.
Anything else you need cleaned while we're here? Take the opportunity.
I'll show you what kind of a mess we've got.
Oh, right here in--where-- the furnace.
How'd it start? Went--it was starting to go up the stack.
And I just come in and call 911.
And they said, "get the heck out of there.
" Yeah, you're lucky it didn't go worse that what it is.
We're gonna chem-sponge the whole ceilings.
I'll show you-- we'll put these on a pole.
We're gonna do it in every room.
Then we're gonna come back and do the walls.
He's gonna do the kitchen, but not yet, okay? We didn't want nothin' to fall in your pot pies.
No, we're done with this.
I've been watching Brenda, and her interaction with the customers--she just eases in the conversations.
Just automatically puts the customer at ease.
Do you two live here together? No, I come up-- when she's got problems, I usually am here.
That's what daughters do, huh? - Yes, that's what daughters do.
- Ah, yes.
We're very close.
I suppose I'm supposed to know which one's the mom and which one's the daughter, right? That makes her feel bad.
Uh-oh, you better watch it.
I guess that's why Brenda tells me I should just do my job and not talk.
And keep your mouth shut.
That's one thing you don't never mess with, is a woman's age.
I was just trying to be personable.
I was trying to be as nice as Brenda.
I guess sometimes you just gotta think before you talk.
See, you look like you fit right in already.
You got smoke all over your face.
That's a good sign.
Yeah.
I do? How did I do that? I don't know.
We're gonna take a water break.
Okay.
- You probably need one.
- Yeah.
You'll be needing some Ben gay when you go home.
Those are nice people, though.
She live here She's glad--she's lucky she's got a daughter that cares.
Some people's kids-- I've been in family houses where kids talk to their parents like, oh, my God.
I've seen the rich, and I've seen the poorest of poor.
And I'd be with the poorest of poor before I would the rich.
Because the rich don't have no heart.
They don't care.
A poor person, they care about each other.
So I was homeless for a little bit.
And I lived in a boxcar from a train.
Imagine that.
What do you mean, you lived in a boxcar? Yeah, I stayed in a boxcar.
Mm-hmm.
How long you live in a boxcar? Baby, till I was, like, seven.
- Really? - Mm-hmm.
No bathroom, no tv, and no bathtub.
My grandma would boil water, and we'd take a bath in one of them big old black kettles.
Did you go to school? Grandma tried to teach us what she could down there.
Like home school.
- And you're smiling every day.
- Yeah.
You have a great attitude.
I'm glad I'm here.
I could be under a bridge again.
And you want to make them happy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
'Cause that's all I got to offer.
I've been blessed in my life, financially, to be where I'm at.
And I have had an opportunity this week to meet people that are working harder than I ever have.
And I can't help but think, what is it that I can do for people like Brenda? How long you been doing this? Six years.
Six years.
Why couldn't you pass it? Because I don't have education.
All them numbers, and And I couldn't.
I couldn't get it.
You know, if he would have said, "tell me what you do when you go on a water loss, the first thing" You do the work.
But I couldn't read it.
Yeah.
I couldn't Pass the written test.
Yeah, I couldn't get it.
How'd you feel that day? Like that big.
When you're in a room of people and everybody's raising their hand but you But you know what to do, but you can't When my grandkids ask me, "grandma, could--" psh.
"I can't help you with nothin'.
" Okay? Ready? You ready to go back in? Time to get back to work.
All right.
We got that furnace room.
With Brenda today, and listenin' to her story To have survived all of this and have that zest for life that she has, the positive feelings that she gives off to people, she's just an incredible person.
Ready for me to check it? I'm ready.
I think it's pretty good.
You did really good.
Yeah.
Not so bad.
I'd hire you.
- You'd hire me? - Yeah.
Well, I like that.
Perfect.
I sure would.
You got to be kidding me.
Wow.
This is unbelievable.
Yeah.
This is a tight crawl space.
Oh, my God.
And later, Sheldon's employees think they're coming to company headquarters to cast their vote.
I'm a little nervous, yeah, but I feel confident in who I'm picking.
But how will they react when he reveals the truth? I'm Sheldon Yellen, the CEO of Belfor.
Sheldon Yellen, the CEO of Belfor disaster restoration is a boss undercover within his own company.
His employees think he's part of a reality show where men and women compete to see who does the better job.
Get you into a outfit here.
His journey continues in Virginia.
Today I'm in Chesapeake, Virginia, and I will be entering a home that has had a water loss.
Today I hope to find out if our crews and our technicians are providing the services in a timely fashion.
Hi.
Is, uh, Jen here? Yes.
Hey.
I'm a water tech.
How you doing? Yeah, hi.
I'm Tom.
How are you? Good.
So we have a water damage.
Started in the bathroom, I believe the toilet, overflowed out into the living room.
Because this water damage just happened, we're not in a mold threat yet.
Mold will start to grow after 72 hours.
That's kind of our golden window.
If we can get things dried out in the first three days, we're good.
Are these people here in the house, living here? Yeah, they'll stay here, because there's no significant damage which would impede their living.
Now, the next step is going into the crawl space to see what insulation underneath here needs to come out.
All right? Okay.
All right, let's do it.
- All right.
- Let's get suited up.
You're upside down.
- What's that? - Your mask is upside down.
- It is? - Yeah.
All right.
- You got to be kidding me.
- Nope.
This is the most glamorous part of our job.
You're serious? I am absolutely serious.
When I see that opening, I had a little bit of a gulp in my throat, and my stomach was a little bit in knots.
It's low, so you have to stay as low as you can.
Wow.
This is unbelievable.
Yeah.
This is a tight crawl space.
Welcome to the day in a life of a water tech at Belfor.
Yeah.
It is so tight down there, you can't lift your head.
You can't lift your body.
I don't--I don't think I'm claustrophobic, but I can tell you something, that is not a comfortable feeling being down there.
All of this insulation - Yeah.
- That's all soaking wet.
The insulation that's wet underneath the house will allow for mold to grow on the beams that are basically below the subfloor.
Oh, my God.
Can't believe this is what I'm doing.
And then I had the thought of Are we the only two creatures or critters down here? You just feel that your whole world is closed in on you.
It's not a comfortable feeling at all.
So, all right.
Well, we've assessed it.
Let's go ahead and go back out.
Tom definitely was not liking being in there.
It's a very tight space, and it's gross, and he complained at every turn.
So he definitely, um, needs to buck up a little bit if he's gonna do this job.
It's unbelievable.
You get the award of, uh, big fat baby.
Of big fat baby.
For crawl spaces.
I'll take it.
Wow.
I'm not real happy right now about what I just did.
I know we ask a lot of our people.
This might be going overboard.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
You do this every day.
It's unbelievable.
This one's actually kind of easy, compared to ones that I normally do.
You must get paid okay to do this, or you wouldn't be doing this.
How do I answer that? When I came to Belfor, I was hired as a cleaner.
I got hired in at a certain salary for that job.
I got a promotion to be a water tech.
It's a promotion.
You should be getting a raise with a promotion.
I'm still waiting for that raise, and that was almost a year ago now.
If corporate says there's a raise freeze, there's a raise freeze.
Nobody gets a raise.
But we're still out doing what we do every day.
I don't have to stay at Belfor.
I stay at Belfor because I have a passion for what I'm doing.
It's not the homeowner's fault that I get paid peanuts for the amount of work that I do every day.
I can't walk in there and because I may not have been able to make a payment of some kind the night before and let them see that.
They have enough to worry about.
You said "corporate.
" I wonder.
I wonder if corporate would trip over me and know who I was.
Probably not, but, I mean, that's just the way it goes.
I put this pay freeze in place.
My intention was to protect everybody.
And to think that there are people out there that believe corporate has no care or concern for them really bothered me.
I just-- I really appreciate it, Jen.
- No problem.
- You're terrific, and And, um I don't think I'm supposed to do this, but I got something to tell you.
My name is Sheldon Yellen.
I'm the CEO of Belfor.
Oh! And I've been working undercover.
No! I don't think I'm supposed to do this, but I got something to tell you.
My name is Sheldon Yellen.
- I'm the CEO of Belfor.
- Oh! And I've been working undercover.
No! - And, Jen - No, come on.
You're getting your raise.
You're getting that raise that you want.
And thank you for representing us the way you do.
Thank you.
Oh, my God.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
I'm totally, totally blown away, but thank you.
I had to do this after being with you today.
It's been an absolute pleasure working for Belfor, and I wouldn't--I can't imagine working anywhere different.
No matter the circumstances, I can't.
And I don't want to.
So She's an incredible person, and what she does every day just affected me in such a way that I just-- I had to do what I did, and--and I don't regret it for one minute.
And this was a life-changing experience here today.
- Well - Thank you.
Jen, I just want you to know, I got to think about what all this means and what I can do, but I'll be seeing you at the end of the week.
Thank you.
And don't give up.
Well, it was a pleasure to meet youFinally.
It was a pleasure to meet you, and I promise you, from corporate, we will no longer ignore you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I'm, like, completely just blown away right now, completely blown away.
I never thought in a thousand years that would ever happen, so Yeah.
Well, this is the end of my journey, and it's been an incredible experience, to say the least.
After just finishing up a hard day at work, I can't help but think, here's a woman who spends her days working so hard, and an hour after leaving her, I'm sitting here on a private plane heading home.
I have lived my life in a bit of a bubble and/or have had a wall put up around me.
I thought that I was very in tune and in touch with so much more than I actually was.
And the more I reflect on the people I have just recently met, the more I question what I do with money, whether the five-star hotel stays are necessary for me anymore at this point and how I conduct and operate my own life going forward.
Well, uh, we got a lot to go over.
We here at corporate have a disconnect.
If we want to stay at the top of our game, we got to be more in touch with our people-- have to be.
Side jobs are an issue.
Some of our people may not be making enough money.
And if our employees aren't getting the opportunity for overtime or to make commissions, they're gonna go find it on their own.
This guy Joe, who's doing all the side work-- in my heart, I believe he doesn't want to be doing it.
He wants to give 110% of his time and effort and energy to Belfor, and we're not smart enough to have recognized it.
That's something we got to deal with.
When we put the wage freeze in place, we did it with the intent of protecting but maybe it's time to get away from a solid wage freeze.
I think it's something the three of you should collectively look at and get back to me and let's talk about that, 'cause it's a huge issue.
There's no doubt that there are some issues out there in the field.
And we do need to get closer to our people, and we do need to understand our people's challenges, and we have to be aware of it, that's for sure.
- Let's do it.
- Okay.
Thank you, guys.
All the employees think they've been called to headquarters to cast their vote for myself or the woman I competed against.
- Hello.
- Hi.
I'm Joe.
I'm here to cast my vote.
Sure.
Go ahead and have a seat.
They have no idea what they're really here for.
To vote for one person over the other, I guess it would be safe to say that, with Tom, we didn't click very well.
- You can go in now.
- Thank you.
Hi.
What are you doing here? Do you know who I am? You look like the guy that I worked with, but you don't have a beard anymore.
I think last week you knew me as Tom Kelly.
I did indeed.
- I'm Sheldon Yellen - Sheldon? The CEO of Belfor.
Are you--really? Oh, my God.
You look like you lost a little weight.
- Good to see you again.
- Good to see you.
Drew, you aggravated me so much.
I was so mad.
In fact, I don't think we clicked at all.
- I was mad.
- I could tell.
I hope you're not gonna fire me.
Drew, I know I'm not the easiest person to work with, and I do owe you an apology.
It's not often that I go about my business and fail, and leaving there, I was blaming you for my failure.
It wasn't you.
It was me.
Drew, I heard you loud and clear that you wanted a marketing opportunity.
I'm gonna put you in touch with one of our top marketing people in the company and see what you got.
I'm blown away.
I'm completely blown away.
Well, I know how hard you worked to get through school.
I know it took a huge commitment to work, go to school at the same time.
And I'd like to give you a check for $15,000 toward your student loans.
Get out of town.
No way.
Are you kidding me? - Yes, sir.
- Oh, my lord.
I got the chills right now.
I'm just I got the chills, man.
I can't even I can't even thank you enough.
It just helps me in every way possible.
I mean, if I could give him a big kiss, I would do it, but it would just look awkward, you know? Joe, I know you've been with us a short while, but I see the talent in you.
Uh, however, I know that you're doing side jobs, and I'd really like you to spend your time and energy securing work for Belfor in the future.
And so I would like to promote you to project manager.
Uh I'm in.
I've watched you.
I've listened to you.
I've observed you, and as a result of that, I want to advance you $10,000 on your commissions that I know you'll be making as a project manager.
That's amazing.
In addition, I would also like to help you jump-start the process of paying down some previous debts, and I would like to give you an additional bonus of $10,000 for yourself as well.
Thank you.
I don't know what else to say.
This opportunity that Sheldon has presented to me will definitely change my life.
Did that just happen? Brenda, being with you was an honor.
Let me share with you why.
You made me feel comfortable the minute I met you.
I was so impressed with your spirit and your passion.
I heard you tell me how you were robbed of an education.
Yeah.
Well, we're giving you $10,000 toward the education of your grandchildren.
Thank you.
Brenda, I'm not done.
I know how important it is for you to get your water-damage certification.
And I am putting you directly in touch with our head of training and development Mm-hmm.
Who is going to walk you through the training class, and there won't be no written test.
Oh.
There will be a verbal test and a test of skills on the job site.
I'm certain of it, with your skills, that you will pass, and you will stand among your peers with your head tall.
And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me get to know you and for allowing me It was my pleasure.
To now tell you that I'd like to give you an additional $15,000 bonus check for you Get out of here.
To do with whatever you'd like.
And you didn't even know I was about ready probably lose my house or nothing.
I never told you anything.
I don't even know what to say.
For somebody like you to even notice, 'cause no one ever does.
They always say, "why don't you go back to school and learn how to talk right?" Or Don't you change a thing.
Somebody says you're pretty smart.
And you're 50, and you never heard that in your life, it makes me feel proud.
That's pretty crazy.
That's--it's amazing.
That's what it is.
It's amazing.
It's good to see you again.
Great to see you.
Thanks for coming in.
Oh, it's a pleasure.
Thank you.
You look Better.
Jen, watching and observing the passion that you have, the integrity, the character that you have, I had no choice but to take off my hat and let you know who I was, and when you said to me that if somebody from corporate were to have tripped over you, they wouldn't even notice you, I had to reveal myself to you right then and there.
I wouldn't let you go home that night thinking that anymore.
And as a result of that, I want you to know I am making a personal commitment from this day forward to have six town hall meetings a year with hundreds of our people at a time, and letting them know that I want to get to know them.
I do care.
I think that that will go such a long way with the people that we work with every day.
I would like you to take a week's paid vacation.
And from the date of your promotion, I am gonna give you that back pay retroactive for all of the hours that you've worked since February to this day to get your current.
Wow.
I heard you so clearly tell me that the night before you were with me, you couldn't pay your bills.
I would like to additionally give you a $15,000 bonus check And hope that that will help.
But never in a million years did I ever think that anybody would take the time to sit down with me, and just to even just tell me that you see it.
I'm not used to that.
And it makes me love this company more.
And it makes me want to do more for this company and be here for as long as I possibly can be here.
We are a better company because of you.
I don't think it's hit home yet.
I don't think it's gonna hit home until I'm laying down to try to fall asleep tonight, and I realize I'm not falling asleep tonight, because it's all still going about a thousand miles an hour in my head, so, yeah.
Yeah.
Thank you.
I'm feeling just a little bit nervous right now.
I'm very excited to share my journey with our company.
Hello, everybody.
I'm Sheldon Yellen.
I'm the CEO of Belfor.
I've spent the last week going undercover throughout the company for Undercover Boss.
Our people just knock it out of the park every single day for everybody all over the world.
Their stories are unbelievable, and I can't wait to share my experiences.
Whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
What are you doing? You're killing me.
You got smoke all over your face.
Did it bite? I hope it did, 'cause it stripped the hell out of the screw.
This experience will change me forever going forward.
It woke me up and made me realize, that as I started out on my journey, just how wrong I was.
I really believed that sitting in Birmingham, Michigan, at a desk, I had the right to stand up and say, "we take care of our people.
" And I've learned firsthand that the people take care of this company.
I may not have lived up to your expectations But I promise you I'll do better going forward.
I've got to thank my mom For holding it all together With no money, raising four boys alone.
Thank you.
I wound up getting very emotional, and I don't regret any of it.
In fact, I hope that my boys today were able to see their dad standing up there, showing his emotions, and I hope they know that's life, not the material things.
Take down the walls.
Don't live in a cocoon.
And just be out there and enjoy it.
Some of us weren't smart enough to learn that earlier on.