Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Mail | Dickey is 'moving too slow. The Band-Aid needs to be ripped off with one, clean jerk, rather than this slow drip-drip version of water torture'

In a comment, Anonymous@9:38 a.m. writes about buyouts, layoffs and U.S. newspaper division President Bob Dickey's strategy:

Here again are a few things to remember:
  • The FY2012 budget was set with an assumption that 80% to 85% of those eligible for the buyouts will take them
  • If we don't get enough to take the buyouts, group presidents will be directed to begin adjustments in the second quarter. If some sites or groups are lagging in revenue targets, they will be asked to trim payroll
  • Gone are the days of centralized, coordinated, company-wide days of pain. These reductions will be scattered and varied, done so in a way to avoid the big headlines (on this blog and elsewhere) and so that local site management (publishers, general managers) appear to be making a local decision
  • Furloughs remain in the budget for Q3 and, unless a miracle occurs, they will go forward
  • Some group presidents are lobbying Dickey for furloughs as we know them to end. Options being pushed for FY2013: 1) Permanently reduce all salaries across the board to a level equal to what the Q1 and Q3 furloughs took away; 2) Add two unpaid weeks as a "benefit" that, in addition to vacation, could be scheduled throughout the year, rather than just being taken in a particular quarter
Remember that New Gannett must shed a third of its current employee base.

Next up: The Fort Collins experiment. If it works to expectations, groups will be asked to roll it out to many of the NT-31 sites (and some T-31 sites), where digital expertise is weak and the only way we can get the skills we need is to start anew. And, of course, fewer people in the Information Centers as a result.

None of this should be a surprise to careful readers of this blog. If you set aside the hyperbole, whining by current employees and gloating by those who have left, you can piece together from Jim's blog a fairly clear and consistent pattern of management by Bob and the U.S. Community Publishig team. He's laid out the tenets of his vision again and again:
  • Consolidation
  • Centralization
  • Outsourcing
(I am not counting the USA Today stuff in this assessment -- they are on a path that few can read on a map, such as the Sports Media Group.)

Frankly, I think Bob's moving too slow. The Band-Aid needs to be ripped off with one, clean jerk, rather than this slow drip-drip version of water torture. Stop trying to appear like employee morale or career investment are current priorities of the company: Just say what needs to be done, in loud, blunt detail, and get it done by the end of the year. Or, even better, the end of Q2. It will push out the unwilling and motivate those willing to stay.

As always, other views are welcome. Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

28 comments:

  1. "These reductions will be scattered and varied, done so in a way to avoid the big headlines (on this blog and elsewhere)..."

    Jim, do you seriously think Gannett is the least bit concerned about what you or anyone else writes on your blog?

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  2. 4:41 You seriously doubt that?

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  3. 4:41 I'll add this one example:

    If Corporate didn't care, Craig Dubow wouldn't have asked employees to ignore this site last year.

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  4. ...And the remaining employees wouldn't have the clear perception at every single site that posting on Hopkins' blog nonanonymously would be career suicide.

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  5. Gannett managers are way too incomoetent to do things the right way or in a fast manner. plus Martore loves to rule by fear.

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  6. Oh trust me, they are paying attention. Especially with what's coming down the pike. These people are stupid, stupid, stupid.....and I find it interesting that the only bad Gannett "news" is coming from the Midwest Group. Coincidence? I doubt it.

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  7. The only thing coming down the pike is more carnage. Lots more. especially at Usa Today.

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  8. Worst.
    Company.
    Ever.


    FAIL

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  9. Care about what is posted on this blog? You bet they do! There are still people monitoring the site on the corporate payroll. AND you can be sure that this post is getting a lot of attention... clearly written by an insider with intimate knowledge of the on-going problems at Gannett.

    But let's face it... Gannett is boxed in between age discrimination and other legal issues, firing expensive talent and getting rid of people not willing to catch up with technology.

    If possible, it would be better to just start over at some sites, hire a bunch of 25-year olds with no pension costs and no healthcare expenses and low salaries, and see how that works for a while.

    Wait... is that what they decided to do as an experiment in Ft. Collins?

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  10. Furloughs truly limit management's ability to get anything done. Accountability is cloaked in absent time. Rightsizing for work that actually should get done and the useless stuff is just prolonged. Rewards for producers are muted. Key moments on initiatives or leadership changes when a department head is completely out of contact is like working in the middle ages. We need to be connected, and our customers expect us to - whether we like it or not - be accessible like other business entities. It kills morale. Ongoing furloughs communicate a true lack of vision and strategy for the future. New message: Let's get to work, not let's make do. Make the hard decisions about the local enterprises, and go get the money.

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  11. For all the blah blah blah on this blahg, has anything or anyone made any difference in change? No. Martore and her gang of skirts and a suit or two laugh at this blahg and know it has no merit. For as long as this blahg has been around, Gannet has gone from really bad to really horrible -- so tell me, the impact is WHAT?

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  12. There is no impact. The people who believe otherwise are out of journalism/communications and will never return.

    Why should we care what this lengthy analysis has to say? Is there any credibility to it?

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  13. It really doesn't have to be anyone in the know. Just take digital dimes as a revenue goal and figure out how to make expense into dimes too: outsource, downsize, and hire replacements at 25% the cost.

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  14. Yep, the naysayers are out in full force. They say this blog doesn't have an impact because they don't want employees across the country taking note at what is going on at other papers. Pay close attention to what is happening in Louisiana. You may have a similar situation going on at your site.

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  15. Of course this blog matters. It helps the employees with Gannett actually know what is happening. For a communication company this company has always lacked communication, locally and globally. No one knows what the hell anyone else is doing and no other departments can give a crap about departments at their own paper. Everyone is out for themselves and screw everyone else. There are so few people most papers can barely function. When the hell is someone at corporate going to realize this? Wake up and smell the freakin coffee! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see all sites are understaffed and over worked and most are working illegally for unpaid OT. Take that to the back Gracia. And please stop your quarterly employee meetings and on the road emails. We find them insulting and ignorant as to what is really going on in the company. Grow a pair — PLEASE!

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  16. Gannett corporate absolutely does care about this blog. They ALL read it in my opinion. Dickey is a nice man and a good speaker with an articulate and booming voice. But having worked with him, my opinion is that he is in Way over his head. He spent the majority of his pre-corporate career in a small market with a newspaper of about 50,000 circulation where he ruled supreme for a dozen or so years. His most compelling attribute was his unwavering loyalty to his mentor ad predecessor Sue Clark Jackson. He has no idea what to do, he is a newspaper guy, and ad salesman, now overseeing the decline of a once great company. Agree that the pace needs to be stepped up. Death by a thousand cuts is not the right approach here. Dickey needs to bring on some people who have greater perspective and insight from other media organizations. He's been a newsprint and ink guy all his life and his educational background is also limited. Not sure he even has a college degree.

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  17. "Take that to the back Gracia."

    Like I said, out of journalism and never to return. These are the people crying futilely, "We have an impact!"

    But you don't.

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  18. Note to Jim and some others: If you have to keep proclaiming how much impact you have, then you likely don't have the impact you claim.

    We can't blame Jim -- he's trying to get people to toss him spare change. But the others need to calm down.

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  19. 12:57 I was simply responding to the first comment in this thread.

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  20. 12:57 - If we didn't have an impact, you wouldn't be reading this blog to see what we're saying.

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  21. The blog has as much impact on Gannett asBanikarim, Heather Frank, Dave Hunke , Craig Gracia Martore, Lee Jones, Rudd Davis, Bob Dickey, Kate Marymount and all their minions have had on the organization. So if it's had none other than to expose these frauds and pathological liars for who they are, the blog has far more legitimacy than the lot of them.

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  22. @10:39 p.m.: You have inside knowledge about La.? Or are you referring to the ad dept. restructuring (5 people had to apply for 3 jobs, and managers were effectively downgraded in pay and status)? Or is something bigger in the works, such as statewide consolidation of some content management/assignments? Publisher's meeting at my site today, newsroom meeting tomorrow. Maybe it's the usual monthly blah-blah-blah, maybe not...

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  23. 1:23, don't give yourself too much credit. The humor value is far higher than the information value.

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  24. Heard the Ad Director in Cherry Hill called a meeting for his Sales Staff at 4:57PM and kept his staff after 5PM on purpose yesterday. The ad supervisors and the AD mentioned there were postings on the blog about Cherry Hill. Retaliation perhaps?

    And this is the Management Team that is going to make the Courier Post succeed in 2012?

    This is not high school or kindergarten where you punish the whole class to stay after school because of the actions of 1.

    The problem with Gannett is that they not only disrespect the advertisers, forcing them to buy products that do not meet their needs but they openly disrespect the staff that generates the revenue. No way to build a team of dedicated hard working people who will go above and beyond in a terrible economy.

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  25. Most people here make their most impact first thing in the morning when they drop a wet one into the toilet bowl. Outside of that, no impact at all.

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  26. Jim, do you yourself know the identity of the anonymous poster that you have featured here? Person seems knowledgeable, but I would feel better about the quality of the information if the source has any track record with you... Please say one way or the other.

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  27. Personally, I don't give a rats ass whether Dickey is a nice guy or a print guy. What I do care about is people and their jobs. Something corporate could give a crap about. Soon I will have two bosses for just me! No one else. How the hell that makes sense I can not even imagine.Three people in one department with two of them managers? Ok corporate, what's your answer on this question? How can you justify having two bosses for one freaking person? Please, I would love to hear your response. How can you justify giving two managers raises yet I am told I will never get another raise again because I have reached the ceiling of what I can earn yet I constantly receive over 20 emails a day to do the work of my managers — work way outside of my realm of experience yet I am expected to do their jobs just because I am. I document every day what I do and when it comes time for my review and I am told I will never get another raise I want an answer from corporate. Why do my two managers get a raise when I am doing their work? Can someone please answer my question?

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  28. I know from personal experience that having the information provided by this blog made a substantial difference during union negotiations with management in the UK. Information is invaluable in such negotiations, and Gannett tries to deny information to its staff at every turn. Hm, reckon I'm about due to send another donation Jim's way.

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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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