Hapless anchor Ted Baxter asks: Can anyone turn this Report 2 Reality, with more details? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com].
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
R2R | To beat jobless claims, write-ups said rising
In what I believe is the second such reader comment in recent weeks, Anonymous@12:43 p.m. just wrote: "Papers are starting to look for excuses to write people up and put in their personnel file -- three bad marks and they can fire and successfully fight unemployment benefits. This is a trend with Gannett papers."
Hapless anchor Ted Baxter asks: Can anyone turn this Report 2 Reality, with more details? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com].
Hapless anchor Ted Baxter asks: Can anyone turn this Report 2 Reality, with more details? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com].
1 comment:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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Actually, this isn't new. Many managers use the old paper trail to abuse their least favorite people and to eventually get rid of them one way or another. The victims often leave on their own, forgoing unemployment claims, in order to regain their self esteem. Once in awhile someone files a lawsuit. Other times, if HR and the attorneys are on board, they fire people who are written up one too many times. One of the main problems with this is that many managers use write-ups to pick on people who happen to do a good job, but don't kiss enough ass, don't dress right, wear their hair sort of odd, speak the truth a bit too much, etc.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many insecure managers in this company that it can be a career hazard not to suck up to these massive ego maniacs. So most of us do our fair share of kissing butt to avoid this whole write-up, bad review, falling out of favor crap. Does wonders for morale!
I have been in this company for many years and it never ceases to amaze me how many insecure managers there are at Gannett, even at the largest newspapers including USA TODAY, and particularly in the newsroom. Editors with the mentality of junior high schoolers are abundant.
Maybe it's time for some sort of psychological screening before hiring or promoting these editors. One bad manager can damage careers and departments within newspapers so much that it takes years for individuals or teams to recover.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that earning your way to the flagship will protect you from this nonsense. USA TODAY is perhaps the worst of the worst in terms of favoritism and insecure leadership. If you go there, you will likely have to spend the better part of your day pretending to like your editor. You might even get pretty good at it and avoid the dreaded write-ups and nit-picky attacks in your annual review. Of course, selling your soul to these freaks also has its price.