To get to the heart of what I want say today, I am going to take a very pragmatic view of the radio industry and speak quite openly about a few management principles which might pull at a few heart strings. If it does, I do apologise in advance, but at the same time if these words resonate with you, then you’ll agree with me when I say something is rotten in the state of Denmark! You see I believe it’s time Radio had a heart-to-heart chat with itself as an industry and started to look at how it treats its staff and more specifically it’s on-air staff better known and referred to as Freelancers or Independent Contractors. So that there is no confusion. Just before you broke for your annual leave in December, I am sure your boss like many other CEO’s addressed the workforce and one of the main themes mentioned was the classic business adage “our people are our most important assets” - with you this radio station, this business would not be the success it is today!  At which stage the house erupts with a heartily round of applause. Radio is no different from any other business, so the question begs, how many radio stations actually practice this most essential organisational value and where would one find the evidence of this? The answer to former is sadly not many, to the latter you’ll find values packaged with the mission and vision at the bottom of staff’s email signatures, company profiles, website, sales presentations, and definitely in the employee handbook which is attached to all Freelance / Independent Contractors Agreements. A common trait by well-run radio corporates or any wining business for that matter. If you somehow missed that, management goes to great lengths to ensure that this holy trinity of organisational prowess mission-vision and brand /organizational values appear in bright brand CI colours across walls of offices, in various locations – reception, green rooms, conference rooms, break rooms, hallways, etc. The CEO might just have a plaque for good measure handing just above his or her head. Why is that? Well, the values statement differs from the mission and vision of the radio station or company simply because, it is also called the code of ethics. The vision and mission state where the organisation is going (vision) and what it will do to get there (mission). They direct the efforts of people in the radio station or organisation toward common goals. The values statement defines what the radio station or organisation believes in and how people in the organization are expected to behave—with each other, with customers and suppliers.

Most stations I know have a clear set of values more often than not workshopped and crafted by the entire staff compliment at a radio station - both permanent, fixed term and independent contractors /or freelancers. That is why I battle to understand the logic and business thinking of certain radio managers when I observe their treatment of talent at their station especially when it comes to the termination of IC or freelancers. I am not referring to obvious cases which may involve IC’s being dismissed on the spot for theft, sexual misconduct, bigotry, racism, GBV, bullying in the workplace, insubordination basically conduct that fails outside your station policies and employment rule book.

There are about three types of employment contracts that are used to hire and staff most creative businesses or in this instance radio stations a) Permanent Employment, b) Fixed Term Contract c) Freelance / Independent Contractor Agreements. This is not a Labour Law, HR or OB article, so just for context I am going to give the greatest hits and proceed to the heart of the matter quite swiftly. My focus here is IC/ Freelance Contracts - While Independent Contractors (IC) or Freelancers do not enjoy protection against unfair discrimination under the Employment Equity Act, as this Act only applies to employees, they enjoy similar protection under the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act – (which usually members of unionized labour are more familiar with – unionization in broadcast media, another hot topic for another article).

In my broadcasting career spanning 29 years of which 19 years I have spent holding various management positions across some of the finest radio brands South Africa has to offer cutting across campus, commercial, regional, national, public (PBS) and private. When I calculate the number of Freelance / Independent Contractors Agreements (On Air Talent: Presenters / Producers/ Drama Actors / Technical) that I have signed in my career thus far, it would roughly equate to a conservative 350 people. I have never fired anyone whilst they were on their way to work or literally an hour before their show. The reason I raise this, is not to show off my leadership skills, on the contrary - why I mention this is to demonstrate how possible it is that whilst we all are managing talent by the same clauses in more or less the same contract, some radio stations choose to be heartless or lack the necessary empathy that emotionally intelligent leaders consist of. At this junction I by no means have any desire to throw any of my fellow radio managers under the bus, but a long time ago at the very start of my career I had a male sexist and chauvinist radio station manager send me a dear John letter, an hour before my show, it was a time before email, social media platforms and instant communication platforms. I soon learned from veteran broadcaster, late friend and legend Bob Mabena that if you’ve never been fired from a radio gig, you’ve never really worked in radio, advise that I heard a decade ago and still rings true today.

What happens when management of the station contradict the organizational values and its own culture?

There is the Law and then there is the spirit of the Law and when it comes down to brass tax and making the hard calls, that leaders have to make, why is that some many in the industry respond almost the same way? Ruthless and devoid of all empathy - It seems radio is filled with Machiavellianism styled type of Leadership. Allow me to explain: Machiavellianism is a personality trait that denotes cunningness, the ability to be manipulative and a drive to use whatever means necessary to gain power. Machiavellians are unable to show the full range of emotions and can appear detached from situations. In fact, when distressing events occur whereby most individuals would display negative affect, Machiavellians gain pleasure from watching negative events unfold. Machiavellians perform well in work environments where the rules are ambiguous – for example and this is where it cuts closer to home - places where there is an emphasis on creativity there can be ambiguous because of the nature of the innovation and creativity is chaotic leading to ambiguity on what is required. There is also evidence that suggests that Machiavellians do less well in companies that are rules based and they frequently ignore the set procedures of the institution.

What I have come to witness in the radio industry both personally as a radio leader repeatedly in recent years is a serious lack of empathy in the way talent and radio is managed. I have observed how comfortable the industry is with hypocrisy, on the one hand, managers drill into on air talent how our sole purpose as a radio station is about making an authentic human connection with our listeners, we create air check rules that say, never be insincere, always tell the truth, etc. Then we smash these principles every 12 months when it’s time to re-fresh the lineup. There is something cardinally wrong with this type of modus operandi and leadership thinking and it therefore must be called out! Time for change, as we head in 2022, I am hoping that the industry can self-correct and seriously have a re-think on the way we treat our talent.

I have these questions for my esteemed radio leadership colleagues:

1. Most IC Contacts allow for a 24-hour termination notice period, at most a 30-day notice period - then why do most industry PMs (Program Managers) or SMs (Station Managers) insist on springing a termination notice on talent minutes or hours before that talent is about to appear on air? Why the hypocrisy?

2. Why prevent the talent from saying goodbye to his / her listeners? What are you as station management so afraid of?

If I must wager what some responses might be, you’re afraid the talent will bad mouth management on air, bring the station into disrepute, afraid the talent will promote the next station he/she is going too and steal your listenership? Basically, you’re afraid that months and months of poor management, favoritism, nepotism, pay disputes, bullying and mediocrity will eventually surface? There is nothing like that at my station, I hear you saying, if that is the truth and I have no reason to doubt you, other than by what your actions tell me; then why gag your presenter? What harm can they possibly do, by paying their last respects to the audience they spent decades helping you build? If you’re afraid your talent is going to spill the beans or air dirty laundry on air, then most likely you are a problem manager – as the old management adage goes – ‘people don’t leave organizations they leave bad managers’ who most often use their position and intimidation tactics to manage as opposed to leading with authenticity and credibility.

I did say at the beginning, I was going to be pragmatic, honest and pull at a few heart strings, with the hope that today’s radio leaders attempt to lead more using their EQ. This notion will soon be tested as the radio industry approaches the infamous presenter contract renewal period for all ICs on any station’s line up. The next three months most stations will be planning which talent they’re going to keep and which they’re going to fire, this anticipation is nerve wracking for IC’s, it’s the worst time of the year for 90% of the freelance workforce in radio across the country. All I am saying is, would it be so bad to be a bit more self-aware of how we make our talent feel and would it be such a bad thing to perhaps take some time to self-reflect on how you can become a more conscientious manager/leader at an individual level, deep rooted change begins with individuals first, then you can influence an entire industry? Whilst your give that a good think, when was the last time you heard Michael Jackson’s “Man in the mirror?’’ – if this hits the right nerve I am hoping, just perhaps, Radio will have a heart again!  

#Radiobroadcasting #Radioleadership #Programmingmatters #EQ