Do you remember the best radio company you ever worked for? Perhaps it is where you are now?
Chances are, the reason for your choice is one simple ingredient that could be missing in radio today.
It's something that corporate America is rediscovering the hard way.
As the story goes, there’s a word that a potential candidate must use to describe their future job at Dell Computers before the are even considered for the position.
That word is: Fun.
Apparently, the culture at Dell is built around a principle that more and more companies are subscribing to: A happy employee is a productive employee.
This comes at a time when the contentment level of the American worker is at an all-time low. A whopping 76% of those surveyed said they dislike their job.
While it’s easy to say, “If you don’t like something, don’t do it,” most feel they don’t really have choice.
They do.
The choice comes in making the best of the hand you’re holding while making plans for a new game all together. That choice comes from a change in attitude and a sense of hope.
Veteran Texas singer Augie Meyers said something in an interview that I will never forget. He said, “I do what I have to do, so I can do what I want to do.” In his case, he was talking about the gigs he would sometimes, rather not do. They help to pay the bills and fund the fun.
Perhaps, that what that choice is all about: funding our fun with money and thoughts. Positive thinking is attitude well-earned. It keeps you focused on how you want to and can feel.
While we all can’t work at Dell, Southwest Airlines, Disney, or Google, we can live in a world we build for ourselves. It is a world of the hope of a better tomorrow and a productive today. More importantly, it ‘s a world where work and fun are one in the same.
Ok, long time worker, first time blogger...I have to say, having worked in the industry for the last two decades, the best experience is the one I'm having right freakin' now! Hat's off to Astral Media...I know it's gonna sound like I'm guzzling cool-aid here, but good God! Positive, progressive, supportive...they all apply to this organization in spades....and a company in the communications industry that actually know's how to communicate with it's employees!!! I don't want to knock anyone else, but these guys are really raising the bar! Cheers!
In almost two decades, never, EVER worked for a 'company' that I would say deserves the "Best Radio Company" tag. However, I have worked for and with some of the BEST PEOPLE in the industry.
Each and every company will crap you out when the idiots are in charge, but when someone of excellent abilities leads the team, then the 'company' is a pleasure to work for.
Apparently, the culture at Dell is built around a principle that more and more companies are subscribing to: A happy employee is a productive employee.
I've worked for Dell for three years. It's true. I've never had more fun at work, and the employees are treated very well - and do a great job. (Good enough to win a J.D.Power award, which we did first year out of the box.)
As of the end of this month I won't be with Dell anymore though - if you're in Edmonton you know why. Perhaps I should be getting back into radio... hmmm...
I'm trying to come up with one. A lot of great individuals, to be sure, with many in management, but corporate entities.... nawwww. The bigger they were, the dumber they got.
Adding to the ego of the ever-popular Angelo Iacobucci - I'd say Radio NL Kamloops was the best company I've worked for. Good people, great management.
Canadian Press (Toronto) and RKO--(CKLW AM/TV, Windsor/Detroit) Although different as day & night both provided outstanding learning and growth opportunities, the most professional staff and working environments with administrators who openly showed their appreciation for the effort I put into doing what I was hired to do, which made putting extra effort into every shift and assignment both a pleasure and a rewarding experience. Even ABC Radio, CBC, Standard (CFRB) and CKNW, as classy as they were, could not hold a candle to the experiences and management personnel employed at CP and RKO. Those were the best of times.
But still #1 in a huge way was working for the Cooper's out of Kelowna at the Lizard. It was not only fun but everyone from the top down made everyone feel like they counted. Everything from the building to the equipment to the open door policy made the place an amazing place to work. Dean Cooper created a place that I really wanted to get to and tried hard to improve my game at.
Plus I never felt that I had to look over my shoulder to see if I was about to be re-placed. They trusted you and made you feel like you were trusted.
Good times....
Thanks Dean, Rob Bye, Bill Barnes...for everything!!!!
Having worked fror Standard for 15ish years I had some great times there. The Christmas parties alone makes Corus look like the block of cheddar that it is. Moffat was also alot of fun.
So 1) Standard 2) Moffat 3) WIC 4) Southam 5) Rawlco 6) Corus
Standard , Moffat , WIC, Southam, Rawlco, Corus? Hands down the best and, sadly, gone, were the Mom and Pops. The AM days, where you were treated and NURTURED like family. Trained, trusted, respected, and, yes, actually well paid. The only problem was it was TOO comfortable, really inhibited your desire to move up and out to a larger market. My memories of the Murphy's and the Dallins who owned CFQC will always be sweet.
I'm trying to come up with one. A lot of great individuals, to be sure, with many in management, but corporate entities.... nawwww. The bigger they were, the dumber they got.
I'd have to agree with Pave. I too worked for several great managers/PD/ND over the years, but I'd have a tough time embracing any one company as "the best". Wholeheartedly agree the corporate entities ruined radio. The moment the mother corp thought the "music focussed" format was superior and starting cut-cut-cutting back on minutes of news and community focus stuff to fit in the next "10 in a row" ....
Standard , Moffat , WIC, Southam, Rawlco, Corus? Hands down the best and, sadly, gone, were the Mom and Pops. The AM days, where you were treated and NURTURED like family.
Mailman, while I'm happy for your positive experiences with the "Mom and Pops" I can't say that they were all good. I worked for 2 of them, dating back to the early 80's. In the first instance I was the evening jock. I dutifully showed up for my shift one holiday Monday, rang the buzzer to get in (before the days of key cards) - the owner opened the door, looked at me and asked "Who the hell are you?". In the second instance the owner's wife and daughter were on the payroll, even though the former showed up only once every couple of weeks, and the latter but once a year, in a "Summer Job" capacity. I understand the tax benefits to the owner, but it was still somewhat demoralizing to the staff. In both instances the pay was lousy and the "nurturing" non-existent. Only by moving into corporate environments was I able to access the resources, human and otherwise, to be able to learn and hone my chosen "craft".
Here, here. I worked for 2 independants. One was absolutely attrocious and the other was good on some days and horrible on other days depending on what cycle the PD was on his coke benders. The first one was run by a very religious man and owned by an even more religious man who became very upset when I refused to attend his church. My last 4 months there were a little tense, I finally quit just as he'd suggested I do. Luckily for him he's now running a religious station in Saskatchewan where he's much more comfortable I'm sure. Unfortunately an AC station with no religious ties isn't exactly the best place to force beliefs down the throats of impressionable kids. And when the kids refused, the daily rants about us going to hell were a real treat!! The cokehead was in a major market. Sometimes the place was really fun and sometimes it was absolutely terrifying. We got bought by a major, and of course, there was a lot of change but over the years I think that it's an improvement. With the big companies comes internal opportunities and more importantly, guidelines for professional conduct.
Some mom and pops I'm sure were great, but let's not romanticize it too much. Just like some companies provide great environments, and some don't...the same is true of the indies.
My time at Standard in Calgary was my highlite. Bob Harris, Pat Holiday, Norm Edwards, Gerry Forbes, Bob Steele, Richard strobant, The Reaper, Beasley and Tom Peacock. All had a great influence on my development and made my close to ten years there an outstanding expierence.
The best company you worked for has disappeared. That was the small operations in the old days of radio. I only worked for Fraser Valley Radio and Rogers and y'know we had a lot of fun. More so in the early days of the FVR family when the boss had his door open and you could walk in anytime and tell him what you thought.
You're so right, TommyD. The only word that comes to mind is one I couldn't use on air.
Probably my fave was CJNB when the Dekker's owned it... second to that was the old CJDC Dawson Creek, back when it also was family-owned... lots of fun, if you avoided the boss's wife.
In Canada that would have to be Moffat for me. Yes, some Mom and Pop stations were fun, but there were plenty of horror stories out there too. In the US, Nationwide Communications trumps them all. They were far and away the best radio company I ever worked for.
I worked part-time for a few years with Standard in Southern Ontario and they were great.
I currently work FT for NewCap in the Maritimes and it is absolutely amazing. The managment has a VERY open door policy and my co-workers are just amazing people with a drive to be the best. It may be a small market but after being here for just two years already I want to stay for as long as possible- I've learned so much and continue to learn from my bosses and the people around me. When you express ideas- hard work is put into making them work. From copy, to traffic to sales to on-air everyone appreciates each other, there is no drama or conflict like I heard there has been at other stations between departments. We work hard, we get to play hard and it's fun, it's crazy, it's awesome, it's RADIO!
My first inclination was to say Moffat. Great free stuff, excellent talent, lots of great stories. But the world has changed. I'm older now, and appreciate the human resources things that I get with Corus. While some of Moffats managers were a little nuts (in a good way), and kept you on your toes, there are definite perks to the professionalism at Corus.
And despite the rep, upper management does care. Hearing about a VP at the bedside of a dying employee - how can you say otherwise?
Also - I'd say off-air talent - and we've got great support staff - get a much better deal and more respect now than they used to get.
second to that was the old CJDC Dawson Creek, back when it also was family-owned... lots of fun, if you avoided the boss's wife.
Whenever I have radio nightmares, they usually feature Verna sitting at the front desk of that dusty, dirty, ramshackle excuse of a station. Unless you managed to come in the back, through the TV studio, you had no choice but to be greeted by that shrill, shrieking shrew. But the cheques never bounced, and aside from having to deal with Mike & Verna, the gig was, for the most part, quite fun.
I still can't believe that they never managed to get around to repairing the, ah, bullet holes in the news booth and control room glass. Never found out if the story relating to how they were allegedly made was true or not, but still, for the love'o'god, the least they could have done was gotten a couple new sheets of friggin' glass for the place...
I have to agree with you, OK Radio Group, no matter where the location. Sure do miss the old days.....
See here's the thing. You gotta love a company that constantly tries to out-do its own Christmas Parties. One year, we were bussed to a secret location. (This after 2 years of gala gala dos at swanky Victoria hotels). So we arrive at the top of the hill overlooking Prospect Lake. It was a clients house (mansion). We were greeted wtih Jello Shooters. It even snowed. (I don't think that was arranged) The rest is all a bit hazy...but I know we were bussed home again...
I still can't believe that they never managed to get around to repairing the, ah, bullet holes in the news booth and control room glass. Never found out if the story relating to how they were allegedly made was true or not, but still, for the love'o'god, the least they could have done was gotten a couple new sheets of friggin' glass for the place...
Yup. We must have worked there at the same time. I was only there a year but I had a ball. The trucks in town from 'Fraggle Rock'... hangin' out at the Mile Zero... or at that basement nightclub (even DJing there from time to time)... goin' for coffee at 2am after the switcher got done with the late movie (and sometimes before it finished)...
Drop me a line if you get a moment - my email is the same as my name here, at Hotmail.
Best company so far is NewCap. I've worked for a few over the years, Nornet, OSG, Telemedia. NewCap was the only one that invested cash into the markets with new equipment, studio renovations, FM Flips and added staff instead of the slashing that I seen with OKS and Telemedia. If Telemedia was still around I'd probably put my head in a vice and listen to Celine Dion, it would be less painful.
NewCap isn't perfect and has made mistakes... 96x to Big Earl Flip for example but no company or person has always made the right decision.
I've found that they've always been fair, GREAT benifits and stock options with room to grow and opportunities to be promoted to larger stations.
Newcap does have killer investment opportunities. But stocks are worthless in radio, unless you're the owner and control the number that get dished. NC lets you be as creative as you want to be, but unfortunately keep the jerks that keep dishing out bad creativity. They're very accomodating if you want a move as well. Plus, they pay more than most others (outside of indie stations).
As for Astral, they're tops too. And they're honest about cutting people when ratings are bad: "If they're worse next time, you're out." Not like some companies who just cut you off dead, with no notice.
In my experience, outside the indies (who most pay crap but give you some give on work hours, etc), Corus has been the best. But the guys in the major centers wouldn't agree, so, I can't say they are the best.
OK group was very good from what I've heard. Harvard, I think, will become a staff favourite within the decade.
I'm thinking it's all in the local Management! A company is only as great as the folks who run the daily operations! Great parites are a bonus...but I think respect, recognition and Managers who help you achive all your goals are the key to working for a "great" company vs a "company"
I agree with oldpro - you can be with a terrible company and have great management and have a good time, or be with a great company stuck with poor management and count the seconds until you get to go home.
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The cokehead was in a major market. Sometimes the place was really fun and sometimes it was absolutely terrifying. We got bought by a major, and of course, there was a lot of change but over the years I think that it's an improvement. With the big companies comes internal opportunities and more importantly, guidelines for professional conduct.
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but no company or person has always made the right decision. 