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Undercover Boss Job Analysis

I watched episode thirteen of season six of Undercover Boss. The program focused on
the working of Vivint, a top provider of smart home security services in both the US and
Canada (Undercover Boss, 2020). Its CEO, Todd Pedersen, went undercover with the goal of
determining areas in the company that needed improvement. The first two employees that he
met were a wireless installation technician and a monitoring center representative (Undercover
Boss, 2020).
Job Analysis of Wireless Installation Technician and Monitoring Center Representative
The Wireless Installation Technician installs the company’s systems in homes of
customers. It is both a technical and physical job that requires climbing, kneeling, standing,
crouching, and bending for many hours. It involves climbing to the rooftops of the homes of
clients, attaching satellites to them, and then connecting wires (Undercover Boss, 2020).
As for the monitoring center representative, the job involves answering customer calls
any time they have security breaches and need help. When the monitoring center
representative receives calls from customers, they identify the customer and then briefly
question them in order to determine the kind of help that they need. This process is done in a
manner that ensures that the conversations do not in any way endanger the safety of customers
(Undercover Boss, 2020).

Description of Method of Collecting Information for Job Analysis
Vivint’s CEO, Todd Pedersen, went undercover to assess how the company’s
employees performed their jobs and the challenges, if any, that they faced in performance of
their work. To gather the information that he wanted, he disguised himself and pretended to be

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a newly-hired co-worker. The method of collecting information for the two job analyses is,
therefore, one-on-one using critical incident technique.
Critical incident technique is a tool that is used to collect vital information about
behaviors of employees and what contributes or impedes their success at the workplace. The
technique involves observing on-job behavior and sharing the observations with decision
makers (Serat, 2017). Using the gathered data, the decision-makers can then identify various
issues that need to be addressed and how best to address them. Indeed, that is what the CEO
did. After observing various employees perform their work, he noted the challenges that they
were facing and their workplace performance. He then determined what needed changing or
improvement.

Job Description From the Two Job Analyses

In coming up with the job descriptions for the two job analyses that I have done, I used
O*NET website which provides job descriptions for a large number of jobs. I was particularly
interested in the knowledge requirements of the jobs and the tasks that those with those jobs
will be performing.
Wireless Installation Technician
The job goes by various other titles that include security and fire alarm systems
installers, security installation technician, and home security alarm installer. Duties of the job
include installation, maintenance, and repair of security systems and other related equipment
using building plans and electrical layouts blueprints. They also mount and fasten control
panels, window and door contacts, video cameras, and sensors. Additionally, they test and
repair sensors and circuits following system specifications and wiring. They also feed cables
through cavity walls, roof spaces, and access holes in order to reach fixture outlets. Lastly,

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they demonstrate to customers the systems and explain how they work to them (Security and
Fire Alarm Systems Installers).
Knowledge required to perform these tasks include public safety and security,
telecommunications, and computer and electronics. One also needs to have knowledge of
building and construction, and customer and personnel service.
Monitoring Center Representative
The job is also called customer service specialist and customer service representative.
Duties of this job include conferring with customers either in person or via telephone to give
them information about the company’s products or services. Another duty is taking orders
from customers and receiving any complains that they may have. The job also requires
recording all customer transactions, interactions, as well as complains. Lastly, holders of this
position make follow ups to ensure that customer problems were resolved in an appropriate
manner (Customer Service Representative).
To effectively perform the tasks of this job, one needs to be very fluent in both written
and spoken English. They also need to have knowledge of customer and personal service.
Equally important, they need to be well-versed with clerical work, such as transcription,
stenography, and file management. Lastly, they need to have working knowledge of
computers and electronics.
Why the Job Analysis and Description are in Compliance with State and Federal

Regulations

The US has federal laws that guide employers when making job descriptions. The goal
of these laws is to ensure that there is no discrimination against any person for whatever
reason in employment. These laws include the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Titles I and V of

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Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These
and other employment laws are explained in detail in the website of Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (Morgeson et al., 2019). In addition to these federal laws, there are
also state employment laws. The common goal of both federal and state laws is prevention of
any type of discrimination in employment. The job descriptions and analyses provided are not
in any way in violation either federal and state employment laws because they do not use
discriminatory language or requirements that would make anyone feel discriminated because
of their race, age, sexuality, sex, nation of origin, or disability. They, therefore, comply with
state and federal employment laws.

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References

Morgeson, F. P., Brannick, M. T., & Levine, E. L. (2019). Job and work analysis: Methods,
research, and applications for human resource management. Sage Publications.
Serrat, O. (2017). The critical incident technique. In Knowledge Solutions (pp. 1077-1083).
Springer, Singapore.
Summary Report for: 49-2098.00 – Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers. ONET OnLine. Retrieved on 4 th May, 2020 from https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/49-2098.00 Summary Report for: 43-4051.00 – Customer Service Representative. ONET OnLine.
Retrieved on 4 th May, 2020 from https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/43-4051.00
Undercover Boss. (2020, April 21). Undercover Boss S06E13 – Vivint. Retrieved on 4 th May,
2020 from https://youtu.be/6TtVZ3vj_Y4