I’m sure most readers out there are familiar with a reality show called Wife Swap, where the wives, mothers of the household get to switch lives for a week to see what its like living another complete opposite life. 

 Well, now they have come up with Boss Swap, which I think is actually a brilliant idea.  It really demonstrates the bosses weaknesses and strengths once they have crossed over to unfamiliar territory.  I feel that a good manager/ boss is very fundamental to having a succesful business with hard working and motivated staff.

Take popular franchises for example, i.e. MacDonalds, Nandos, there are some that offer the best service and then the others that u would rather run a mile from.  I dont blame the staff behind the counters or the cooks, but rather the manager running the show.

Often, I have found that when I have not been satisfied with the level of service, I then lay my complaints with the manager, only to be received by someone who is just plain lazy and stupid.  And that’s what got me thinking, well no wonder the service is where it’s at.

Then you have a Corporate environment with managers who also have no clue in managing or motivating their staff.  Most of the time, they are attending lavish lunches, sitting in boardroom meetings pretending to look interested and offering a few inputs here and there.  The irony of it all, is that there are so many tests a candidate has to pass before getting their foot in the door, but how many managers actually do proper psychometric tests on being a good manager who knows how to motivate etc.  I think it is more based along the lines of how many diplomas and other achievements he/she has.

I think that they should bring a ‘Boss Swap’ to South Africa, so we could all have a good laugh to really see how things are run here.