Your employees: Rock stars or sheep?

[Steve Kownacki]

Just want to say thanks to everyone on this thread! In my opinion, this has been one of the most brilliant discussions ever.

Now I must go put on my t-shirt: Here I am. Now what are your other 2 wishes?

Steve

[Mark Raudonis]

[Steve Kownacki] “this has been one of the most brilliant discussions ever. “

I guess that means it qualifies for the “Thread of fame!” 🙂

Mark

[Bob Zelin]

well, I will be contrary (what a surprise) just to piss off Mark (what a surprise).

Mark’s company likes sheep. Mark’s company doesn’t want to pay for rock stars. They want people who will show up to work (sheep do this), and sit there and digitize tapes. And for a little more money, they become “junior editors” and edit the shows. Mark’s company can’t afford LOTS of rock stars – oh – they would love rock stars but they don’t want to pay for 20 rock stars ! They can only afford 3 rock stars, and these 3 people are the ones that take the countless hours of garbage, and the messes created by the “junior rock stars”, and turn them into the shows that are actually on TV. I see this model at our little reality show farm here in Florida. It’s the same model. There is no money for 20 rock stars – so stop your whining. You ain’t getting 20 rock stars in LA, and expect to pay them $40,000 a year. You know exactly what rock stars make.
You will pay for 3, but you won’t pay for 20. And you are lucky if you have 3 more “junior rock stars” that have all the ambition – but they will probably move on – unless you pay them to stay.

bob Zelin

[Samuel Dragon]

Just giving a personal input, feeling I don’t exactly fit (or not yet) the type A person nor do I fit the type B (although some traits makes me think I might)… I’d guess I’m probably A negative (or AB+?)

When I entered the business about four years ago, I was definitely a type B, happy to settle in a job that required technical knowledge and a good grasp of my tools, but wouldn’t require more thinking on my part.

A few months after I joined that company, I referred my good friend to my boss for a job as a junior editor. He had been my roomate through college, but never really seen each other working.

For the first few months none of us made sparkles, although after a year, he got a job on a major gig and for the time he was working freelance, people at the company finally realized his worth. The boss went back to me to feel when his other contract was finishing to grab the oportunity of rehiring him ASAP. The guy isn’t the loudest chap in the place, nor is he the drama queen some have described as what is a RockStar. But I’d guess he is.

At that time, I was still full Type B persona. I never trully realized how knowledgeable he got. Quickly after those events, I grew unhappy with the type of work I was doing. I asked for a position as a junior editor, it took the company 4 or 5 months before processing my request.

When they finally changed me, I truly bloomed, learning quickly, applying knowledge acquired in my previous job to find solutions to problems we’ve encountered. I didn’t become a Rock Star, but I feel I’m on the path. My technical knowledge is now well above most junior editor I know.

My attitude toward work was changed by one main factor; Inspiration. I was inspired by a few people, my friend being one of them. He’s hardworking, always seeking knowledge and knows how to shut it (Still have a problem on that…) So I think having inspirational characters in your company will help bloom mini-rockstars, along with just plainly motivating people into making quality products.

The point of all this was pretty much to remind that we have a tendency to over generalize and I’d guess that alot of your Type B workers could be pushed into the type A or at least Type A negative if you’d shift them to another job or find ways to inspire them. Too often have I seen employers complaining about employees without using the right incentive to motivate them. It’s just the same for employees… Too often, unhappy employees will whine without ever asking for a change of responsibilities. Just don’t tag em as B’s without trying. And I’m a strong believer that someone that never increase and gives substandard performance is just dead weight.

Sorry, tried to be concise but failed miserably 😉

Samuel Dragon
Junior Editor and Freelancer

[Mark Raudonis]

[Bob Zelin] “Mark’s company likes sheep. Mark’s company doesn’t want to pay for rock stars.”

Bob,

First of all, it’s not “my” company. Secondly, you’ve got to work much harder to piss me off.
Thirdly, you’ve got your facts wrong. We have plenty of “rock stars” on our editorial team, and they are compensated accordingly. I have no interest in herding sheep. I’d much rather spend the day with “The Rolling Stones” than “Spinal Tap”.

Mark