One of the quiet trends that may be impacting American business – and radio is right there in the center of it – has to do with morale, employee satisfaction, and keeping staffers upbeat and positive during challenging times.
The events of the past few years – the loss of faith in financial institutions, company purges and cutbacks, salary freezes – have eroded the sense of loyalty that employees once felt for the companies they work for.
They’ve seen too many heinous things during this time, and the net result is that the cavalier way in which companies have treated their employees is now reverberating again and again as workers often have no qualms about taking a better deal from a company across the street.
We know that Millennials have a very different outlook about companies and loyalty than their parents or grandparents. It’s a fact of life that most of them feel like they’ll simply change jobs, companies, and locations on multiple occasions.
So when you’ve got a great group of staffers, how can you keep them happy, energized, and feeling good about the companies they work for?
Look no farther than Major League Baseball and Joe Maddon, manager of the Tampa Bay Rays. The team ranks 28th in the league when it comes to salaries – just under $58 million. None of the players makes more than $6 million. Compare this to the Detroit Tigers (nearly $150 million) or the Yankees (north of $200 million) and you have some perspective on where the Rays stand.
So how does Maddon manage his players during the course of a season that now runs about 10 months a year from Spring Training to the World Series?
He makes it fun. He keeps it light. He works with his millionaire athletes (about three-fourths of the team make seven figure salaries) to keep them rested and relaxed, physically and mentally.
Recently, my Tigers lost two of three to the Rays. And while the Tigers shuffled off to Toronto in their suits and ties, the Rays started their “Accidental Preppie” road trip to Houston, which is another zany slap in the face of MLB dress codes.
It’s not the first of these themed road trips. In the past, Maddon has pulled off an all-black theme (in honor of Johnny Cash), a pajama party, and even a parody of sports reporter Ken Rosenthal, where his players donned bow ties (Maddon pictured above in “uniform”).
Maddon talked to Fox Sports about the psychology behind these unorthodox managerial moves in a sport where millionaire players are often very regimented and subjected to a lot of rules and regulations:
“It’s team-building. It’s a camaraderie component. There’s also a certain amount of risk-taking where people dress in a manner they wouldn’t normally dress and feel slightly uncomfortable. They walk into a hotel lobby and there’s a camera in their face and they have to react to it. I like that uncomfortable moment.
Beyond that, I think it’s fun. And beyond that, I’m poking fun at the group that insists on wearing $3,000 suits on chartered airplanes. I’ve never understood how that related to winning in any way, shape or form.”
By going against the flow, Maddon is keeping his players loose, engaged, and smiling – all factors that most teams simply lose sight of during the course of a grueling season. Radio has many of these components, too. Even after a good quarterly or even a monthly, it’s right back to work on the next book, the next goal, the next year.
So are Maddon’s tactics working for his players?
Consider some of the Twitter entries the guys recently made about the newest of Maddon’s “programming moves,” designed to keep his team fresh as they enter the All-Star Break and what will be a challenging half of baseball against the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, and Blue Jays. Here’s Maddon’s take on Jose Molina’s outfit:
I remember that Mel Karmazin routinely threw costume parties during his company meetings – a great way of keeping his staff off-balance and having fun, even though the pressures to perform in both sales and programming were always omnipresent and intense.
Maddon said, “I believe this: There is a lot of discipline to be derived from freedom. When you are working with a highly professional, motivated group that is accountable, the more freedom you give that group, the more discipline you’re going to get in return.”
In the ever-changing world where business coverage is filled with CEOs announcing profits while staff cutbacks are always in the forefront, a different approach to staff relations is a refreshing thought.
It might amount to more wins, and maybe even retaining a great staff.
Play ball.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Great read to start the day. Thanks Fred. Great message.
Much appreciated, Tim.
The most underestimated and under appreciated part of running a company. Employee morale.
Wanna get people to walk through walls for you? Get em to love what they do.
Great post.
You could have written this blog, Dave. You’ve always been a practitioner of great morale, and you’ve had happy, productive staffs. It’s an area where I know I need work. It will become a bigger issue as more and more Millennials become estranged from the companies they work for. Thanks for commenting.
Companies have reaped what they’ve sown with respect to Millennials and their lack of loyalty. They wanted the flexibility to cut large numbers of people to make a quarter and to let a software program decide who stays to limit discrimination liability. There is a price to pay for that flexibility and its employee loyalty. Any company that sends an expendability message to their workforce will get one in return from that workforce. Even a fun environment won’t buy one way loyalty.
What would a boomer parent tell their Millennial child about loyalty to an employer who doesn’t return it?
Exactly.
It’s a different world, to be sure, Bob. From the one that Boomers first go into to the incredibly secure working environment our parent’s enjoyed. It is hard to imagine working for the same company for three decades and getting taken care of into retirement by the same company. I believe that’s a big part of why Millennials have been forced to adopt a far more practical view of the working world.
Having said all that, given all those expendability givens you speak of, a difference maker can still be the environment that a company nurtures and creates for its people.
Thanks for the comments and as always, for reading our blog.
Great article! There’s a lot to be said about giving someone the freedom to be disciplined. One of my favorite quotes is by Colin Powell “Strategy equals execution. All the great ideas and visions in the world are worthless if they can’t be implemented rapidly and efficiently. Good leaders delegate and empower others liberally, but they pay attention to details, every day.” I think this holds true in every business and especially radio.
Nikki, thanks for the Colin Powell quote – it’s a good one, and sums it up. Appreciate the comment and you reading our blog.