2010 Is there motivation at your station? Chuck Geiger

The first work week of 2010 is in the books and what have you done different? Motivated and creative Country radio people didn't come back to work with a business as usual game plan. Motivation can be tough after the holidays and in the dead of Winter. We must to keep our media compelling and in touch with the listeners and customers. What is quite amazing is that, although they are fully aware of all the losses and costs resulting from lack of motivation, many managers are unwilling to invest time, effort and money to actually create a motivational work environment. 


Reading on the subject, attending seminars, and wishing are not enough. Careful planning and pro-active steps are required “before” a downfall. If the downfall has already occurred, double, and even triple effort and investment may reverse the situation. Motivating employees is a strategy which requires long-term planning to affect the overall work environment, and implementation must be continuous. 

Companies hire department heads with the appropriate education, background, experience and (mainly) technical or industry qualifications. Or they hire people right out of college, who did some internships. Sometimes they promote from within, moving a well-performing assistant department head.

For some reason, those who hire new managers and supervisors expect them to succeed immediately as leaders who will know how to create a motivated team who, in turn, will deliver the expected performance. In a worst case scenario, they actually expect the new hires to correct an existing bad situation (which upper management itself could not solve!). How many times have we seen or experienced this with a company and prospective radio station?

If training and people development were universally labeled as part and parcel of “product research and development” we would have seen an upsurge in operational and organizational performance. Business people and managers who think in this context lead their companies to success beyond their dreams. Instead of constantly searching for “the right magic key” to employee motivation, they would spend their time creating new ventures, with the help of the people they nurtured.

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