In response to Mark Lapidus’ horror stories about employee misconduct (“Trust, If You Wish — But Verify Too,” Oct. 7), I was disappointed that the main thrust of the article was that since some of your employees might be useless bums, you have to treat all of them as such.
I fail to see how that will encourage your weaker employees to perform better, and I also fail to see how that won’t cause your stronger employees to jump ship at the first opportunity.
I can’t think of too many cases where a 100-page employee “code of conduct” manual inspired me to work harder for my station. Nor can I remember times when frequent reminders that my e-mail was being monitored made me feel like this job was worth staying at. And I’m pretty sure that nobody who’s told that they can expect zero privacy at the office is magically going to be committed to the success of the station.
If your employees stink, I’d wonder more about why they stink than I would about how I can “police” them better.
If you can’t get good employees, have you taken a long, hard look in the mirror? Is your facility a dump? Are you paying shamefully low wages with no benefits? Are you offering zero job security? Are you and your managers acting more like Pointy-Haired Bosses from “Dilbert”?
If you can honestly say that none of those questions applies to your station, you should have little trouble attracting good employees whom you don’t have to treat like prisoners. If you are having such trouble, then re-read that last paragraph!
Aaron Read
General Manager
WEOS(FM)
Geneva, N.Y.
The author is an occasional contributor to Radio World. Opinions are his own.
