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Tuesday, December 11, 2012
31 comments:
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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Anyone make sense of that Callaway note? What are we supposed to be doing?
ReplyDeleteI thought it was just me.
DeleteA question for early retirees:
ReplyDeleteI took the buyout last spring and my benefits will end in April. I'm not yet 65, so will have to find my own health insurance.
I've heard that there is a Gannett retirement health insurance plan, but my HR dept. knows nothing about it. Can any of you shed any light on it? Is it cost-effective and/or competitive with private plans? (I can call Gannett Benefits, but would appreciate any info I can get before I enter that maze.)
Any other tips you'd care to pass along?
Thank you.
And thanks, Jim, for this forum.
Regarding the Health Insurance question. You are eligible for Health Insurance through Gannett as a retiree. I was told whatever plan you were last on is the one you have to take (no choices). I have the high deductible and it costs $1,276/month for my spouse and I to be covered.
ReplyDeleteYou would be better off to get insurance under your state's Health Insurance Risk Sharing Plan. It is designed for those who have some pre-existing condition and if you are over 50 you have some kind of high blood pressure, cholesteral etc. type of condition. There is no waiting period provided your Cobra has run out. I paid $274 a month until my Medicare kicked in. You have Obamacare to thank for its existence and it doesn;t get a lot of publicity.
ReplyDeleteThe Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan (HIRSP) was created in 1979 for Wisconsin residents. Sorry 10:22, a bit before obama's time although I would bet he would claim credit for it.
ReplyDelete11;46: The Affordable Care Act created the pools in those states that did not already have one in place. Similar to the exchange pools for health insurance going into place, those states that don't create their own can leave it to the feds. Even in Wisconsin there are side by side rates for the state plan and the federal plan.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the Pressto system? I've seen several comments referencing it.
ReplyDelete8:20 What was the note from USA Today Editor David Callaway?
ReplyDeletePresto is the new CMS being rolled out. It's only at USA Today right now, but it's eventually supposed to work it's way down to broadcast and USCP.
ReplyDelete12:37 So, this is customer management software to be used by advertising?
ReplyDeleteNo. Website content management system. I think advertising uses Salesforce for customer management.
ReplyDelete2:32 How will this work with CCI Newsgate? Or are these completely separate?
ReplyDeleteWell, advertising is SUPPOSED to use salesforce, but after millions and millions spent on the tool, it is treated like an after thought by management who continue to rely on weekly reports and updated spreadsheets to manage their revenue.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to raise the topic of Performance Improvement Plans. It's no secret that the company has used this device to undermine the standing of many a good worker who refuses to drink the Kool-Aid and give a big rah-rah embrace of corporate initiatives and Gannett's merry-go-round of managerial drones. This is the case here at my large Midwestern paper, but are PIPs used to beat down and drive away good workers at other papers and stations, too? Some of the PIPs I've read are farcical. You wouldn't think you were reading about the same person.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, a lot of underperformers seem never to be PIPped and just stay and stay. Any former (or current) HR folks out there who can shed some light on the practice?
I've had to launch a few PIPs for performance issues. Every one of them turned out well. The truth is, if someone is not 'getting it' I'd much rather grab their attention with intensive therapy than shoo them out the door and start over with an unknown quantity.
ReplyDeleteThere's easier ways to get rid of someone than to go through the PIP method.
Guess what though? If your paycheck says Gannett across the top, you are getting paid each day to embrace corporate initiatives, support the managers, and fulfill the expectations of the position.
If you aren't able to do that because of personal convictions, hurray for you. But don't call yourself a good worker. The underperformer who toils quietly is actually more of a benefit than the bitcher who performs while raising the stress of his team.
Most managers know this is a business for hot tempers and malcontents. i have also found them high performers and excellent under pressure. they perform. underperformers dont.
DeleteNo 4:37 it used to be. There is no room for that crappy, hate the world jerk anymore. Didnt like it 20 years ago, no longer have to tolerate it today.
DeleteI assume Newsgate will be used to send stories to Presto just as it currently does with Saxotech, but I'm not in the loop enough to know for sure.
ReplyDeleteFunny how companies like Gannett don't even hide the fact that they practice age discrimination. Look at just the header on this journalismjobs.com ad ("next generation" eh?):
ReplyDeleteCompany: Gannett Co., Inc.
Position:
Seeking a next generation news director
Location:
Portland, Maine
Job Status: Part-time
Salary: Not Specified
Ad Expires:
January 15, 2013
Job ID: 1455942
More goodies from Cherry Hill:
ReplyDeleteHeadline: McCoy, Vick cleared to play. Second graf: They can’t play in a game until they’re cleared by an independent neurologist.
This was up all day and not corrected.
Briefly, they had up a Wilmington story about holiday greeting cards of all stripes.
One of the headlines: Happy Mazel Tov.
Seriously?
When oh when will this sad excuse for a newspaper be sold or shut down?
DeleteWrong (again) 7:54. They don't hate the world. Just you because you suck at what you do and you keep your department in an underperforming stride. They know it and you know they know it. And it scares you- you little weenie.
ReplyDeleteWay to prove 7:54's point, 10:53.
ReplyDeleteBrings me to my next point:
Jim, I beg of you to implement some sort of throw-away registration system. This crap of constantly referring to people by the times they post is asinine. Fix it.
11:01 My sympathies, but I'm at the mercy of the options presented by the Blogger software system I use.
ReplyDeletePosters can choose any of four options to sign their comments:
1. Their existing Google account
2. OpenID, which uses existing accounts for other services
3. Anonymous
4. Name/URL
That last one would serve your purposes because you can choose any name -- not just your own. So you can stand out from all the Anonymouses without jeopardizing your privacy.
But I can't mandate that option; Blogger doesn't allow me.
And I've tried requiring readers to register, even with assumed names, and they won't do it. I suspect people are afraid they'll somehow be outed to management.
With everyone using Anonymous, timestamps have been the only way to differentiate.
At my Midwestern Metro the majority of the sales staff and the managers are on Pips.
ReplyDeleteThe same group of people at my NJ paper should also be on pips and then shown the door.
DeleteI will side with 10:53!and earlier pro crumudegeon posts. Too much about the Gannett model has favorited the kiss assers and "nice" people who are largely bland, uninspiring and poor leaders and reporters. They, in turn, hire timid, inexperienced,naive types who founder because their bosses know not how to teach them or lead by example.
ReplyDeleteWe have enough of these clock-watching, tweet happy ninnies.
Gimme the wizened, cut through the crap, non bullshitter type any day of the week. They dont need their hand held, they know how to report and write and they make my work much easier.
11:27 - Let me guess, you work for Hollingsworth. That's the only way she knows how to manage and make it seem like everyone is more clueless than she is.
ReplyDelete11:53 nails it with "too much about the Gannett model has favorited the kiss assers." If you want to see the quality of a manager, look at the people the manager hires.
ReplyDeleteMine was a schmoozer with no interest in the industry - it was just "a job." To him.
Over time, most of the new hires in his department consisted of self-interested "do nothings" like him.
And what became of this manager? Well, his staff - the "do nothings" AND the "do somethings" - is gone (the "do nothings" fired rarely, quit sometimes but mostly laid-off along with actual workers - the type who never watched the clock), and he was promoted. Of course.
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ReplyDelete