We’ve moved from reality TV to reality journalism. UPS, Gap, Starbucks, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and the Apple Store get a surprise, undercover look at their employee training methods with the publication this month of the new book Punching In: The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front-Line Employee, by Alex Frankel.  This journalist spent two years getting himself hired on and trained by these big companies, and he offers a very frank evaluation of their employee training and who he feels is best at hiring and fostering loyal employees (UPS and the Apple Store, for instance) and which work environments he found stifling and uninspired (ahem, Gap.)

I wrote recently about the challenge of business training (on the main ACI Consulting website), and the difficulty of bringing together motivated employees and an effective training system.  It takes momentum and good technology to launch and maintain this kind of a program.

If you happen to read the book, let me know what you think.