Last week, we talked about the first line of defense when it comes to employee grievances: listening and asking questions. Especially the question, “what would you like to see happen?” Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to every issue an employee brings into your office. And, what happens when the employee responds, ‘something needs to be done about it?’ Let’s breakdown some of the more generic problems you’ll face.

But first, a disclaimer. If any complaint is about an unsafe and/or hostile work environment, especially if there is verbal, sexual or physical harassment or intimidation, immediate action must be taken. Your first call is your boss. The second call is you and your boss notifying human resources. When it is something this serious, human resources will likely handle the investigation and any disciplinary actions. If you don’t get them involved, you open yourself, your station and your corporate office to massive legal problems. You also gain a reputation you do not want, the manager who did nothing. Reputations take years to build and seconds to lose. If you’re not sure if the behavior warrants a hostile work environment, talk to your boss and human resources. HR folks are there to answer your management questions. Use them. They also usually have candy in their office.

 

Employee vs. Employee problems

Now that the scary stuff is out of the way, let’s talk about some of the more common complaints. We touched on this first complaint last week: “Employee B is doing something I hate and it’s causing me grief.”

Asking that first question, “what would you like to see happen,” will help you gauge the seriousness of the complaint. Occasionally, the employee will say, “I don’t know” or my favorite, “you’re the manager, you tell me.”

The first course of action I always recommend is, “Have you tried talking to Employee B?” Initially, the employee will look at you like you suggested they start using Oxford commas.

Most people hate face to face conflict. What they don’t realize is most people aren’t complete sociopaths and want to know they’re doing something that is upsetting other team members. I explain to them the conversation negates the ‘you ratted me out to mom’ mentality, it builds rapport and it strengthens working relationships.

If they are vehemently against that you can give them two options: I can bring you both into my office to hash it out or I can speak to them on your behalf. They often decide to handle the matter on their own or to let it go.

 

I hate this equipment. I need new equipment.

Equipment will always be a huge complaint, especially amongst the photographers and editors. They are artists and working on a shotty camera that won’t white balance or an editing suite that constantly freezes is like asking Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel with paint by number brushes.

These aren’t complaints you can brush off because there is no quick or easy solution. The first thing you need to do is empathize. You understand working with a crap camera is frustrating, especially with their level a talent.

If it’s something an engineer needs to look at and they’re dragging their feet, get involved. Light a fire. Bribe them with candy. The latter actually works. This shows the employee you actually care about their problem.

Then there’s the complaint, ‘my camera is old and awful and I need a new one.’ In this situation, be transparent and again, don’t blow it off. The best response is: “A new camera will run thousands, even tens of thousands. Newsrooms have to budget for equipment every year. It’s August and we’re one month into this year’s budget but I can look into possibly budgeting for a few new cameras next year. I can’t promise you anything because budgets have to be approved by the GM, finance and corporate and a lot of things get axed but I will at least try.”

You may not be able to solve their problem but at least you validated their concerns and you’re working towards getting them some kind of answer. So, you will need to actually update them on the outcome, even if it’s bad news.

 

I hate my job.

Before I begin digesting this one, I will point out there are people who are inherently unhappy. Even if you gave them the shift they wanted, the salary they asked for and extra vacation, they will still complain.

Still, these complaints can’t be ignored. This is where your therapist role comes into play. You have to get to the root of why they hate their job. Is it the shift? Is it the pay? Is it the workflow? Is it equipment? Are they getting burned out? Are they not right for the industry? Is there something going on at home that’s making them miserable, ergo they’re miserable at work?

These are all questions you need to ask and try to get to the root of the problem. No, you won’t be able to give them a raise on the spot or change their shift immediately but just having that open dialogue sends a message that you actually care.  Tell them you will look into things and see what you can do. Don’t make promises. Go to your boss and HR and see what’s possible. More is possible than you may realize.

For example, a group of producers was sorely pissed off so many people in the newsroom had double monitors except them. Complaints fell on deaf ears and animosity ensued. The issue finally came out in an airing of the grievances with HR after tension started to build. They all had double monitors within a month, which is a game changer if you’re a producer. A friend of mine has three monitors at his producing gig and I just assume he has dirt on the news director.

Double monitors will not solve unhappiness but it is a step in the right direction. Upping morale is a very long process that involves hundreds of baby steps.

You may still lose them and that’s okay. Sometimes people need to move on. It may be best for them and possibly your team. You can’t take it personally. Even though hiring any position that is not on-air talent is a fresh kind of hell I wish on no one but we’ll get to recruiting in a later post.  

The best piece of advice to keep problems from festering and turning into a fast moving cancer in your newsroom is to meet with your direct reports even if there is no reason. Sometimes people who are miserable don’t complain until they’re handing in a resignation letter. Having monthly or quarterly check-ins can help extinguish fires before they burn down your newsroom. You have to make it a priority. I also suggest having a candy bowl on your desk for these check-ins.

Next week’s blog might be delayed a few days, as I will be in Paris for the weekend drinking wine, wearing a beret and being pretentious. And, yes I am absolutely rubbing it in. But, next week’s blog will focus on one of the things I hate most about management, being the bad guy.

This is our cat, Minnie’s contribution to the blog as she persisted on walking across and sitting on the keyboard while I was trying to put it together. “lksvoiw8732h;sfiho32yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyykdi39sl sb9xj3091asj;d00000000000.” She’s from Romania if none of that makes sense.

 

This is her picture for reference.

 

Last week, I introduced the idea of a blog focused on the sexy topic of news management. Most major corporations outside of the industry will send internal management promotions to some kind of training or boot camp. There they learn their company’s best practices for managers, legal requirements for hiring and discipline, how to coach employees, etc. In college, I had a friend who was a shift leader at Applebee’s. When he was promoted to manager, he attended Applebee’s management boot camp, which I can only imagine is a lot of learning about how the 2 for $20 menu works.

Currently, most new managers find themselves in a relentless game of trial and error. I’m here in hopes of helping you avoid some of those first-time manager mistakes. We start with the very first hard lesson I learned, just a few weeks into my new management role: Everyday is festivus in a newsroom and everyone will air their grievances on the daily.

While you’re not walking around with an unadorned aluminum Festivus pole, you have to listen to all of those grievances. Most of them will be about other employees. But, what do you do when the grievances start filtering into your office.

Listening and asking questions is the key, which you should know how to do since…well…you’re a journalist.

Let’s give an example. I was on top of the world after my promotion. I was going to be a manager of the people, like a sort of socialist Executive Producer. I just came from the people. I knew what the people wanted and needed. The first few problems that trickled across my desk were pretty easy, which gave me an even bigger boost of confidence. It’s roughly the same time the train started to slip off the rails.  

This is the very generic scenario that played out, as to protect all those involved since most are still in the industry.

Employee A came into my office to complain that Employee B was doing ‘x.’ Employee A had legitimate complaints. Employee B’s actions were not discipline worthy but were no doubt causing friction. I validated Employee A’s concerns and said something along the lines of, “Thanks for letting me know.”

The next time I saw Employee B, I asked them to swing by my office. I told Employee B I had gotten some feedback they were doing ‘x’ and it would really help all involved if they stopped doing ‘x.’ Employee B admitted to doing ‘x,’ agreed it wasn’t the right thing to do and would stop doing ‘x.’ Problem solved. Mic dropped. I am a fixer. I am the Olivia Pope of newsrooms. “This management thing is not that hard,” I thought to myself. “No idea why all those other managers stress out so much.” And I rode that high for roughly 30 hours.

That is until Employee A came into my office guns blazing demanding to know why I told Employee B about ‘x.’

“Because you complained about it. And, it was a legitimate complaint,” I said.

“I didn’t say I wanted you to make him stop,” Employee A pointed out.

“I’m so confused,” I said.

“I was just venting. I didn’t need you to do anything about it. It wasn’t that big of a deal. But now Employee B knows I said something and it’s awkward.”

“But I never told Employee B you said anything,” I said desperately trying to save the situation.

“It would have been obvious,” Employee A said before storming out of my office.

I wish I could say this was the only time I made this mistake but it took a few more instances before it finally hit me. I soon realized employees complaining about other employees only want you to get involved maybe half of the time. The next time a complaining employee came into my office, I again, validated their concerns.  But then asked, “What would you like to happen in this scenario?” The employee said, “Oh nothing. I’m just venting.” Sometimes you are therapist.

That doesn’t mean your employees get to decide outcomes, even if they are just venting. Sometimes, you have to intervene. Sometimes, what an employee is doing is breaking important company policies and making an unhappy, unsafe or hostile work environment. At that point, you need to be transparent with the complaining employee that you’re going to have to get involved.    

Not every complaint that comes in your office is about other employees. Next week, we’ll talk about what to do with all those other grievances you’ll be receiving in ‘Part II: Everyday is Festivus in a newsroom and grievances need to be aired.’