Keeping the Camp Motivated

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, June 15, 2001 by Caroline Jenkins

As the advertising recession drags on and layoffs and cutbacks continue, the mood at most staff meetings is somewhat less than upbeat. How do you turn on the optimism? Four publishing executives describe how they are preserving morale at their companies.

Adam Marder

President, Business Technology Group, CMP Media

CMP is handling the current economic situation by reinforcing that each division of the company serves different audiences, has different needs and uses different business models. That allows the presidents of each division to make the right decisions on a brand-by-brand basis--as opposed to the company cutting 10 percent of the workforce or 300 people or something along those lines.

Company-wide, we're continuing to do a lot of things that CMP has always done, things that you might expect to be cut out at a time like this--summer hours, flex time, picnics and training programs.

In terms of reductions in the workforce within the business technology group--you can't pretend that that doesn't bother people. No matter how well you handle it, it's going to create some amount of discomfort in the employee base. If you don't allow people to feel that, if you don't allow people to talk about it--you're making a huge mistake. So we communicate with people often and regularly. We are honest. If things are going to happen, we tell our employees. We also include the managers and leaders of our brands as a part of the process. The involvement of the right level of manager and leader, and then that communication and honesty--it goes a long way toward making people feel that reductions weren't some kind of arbitrary process.

Michael T. Carr

Executive Vice President, President of the Publishing Group, and Publisher, Playboy

We have not announced, and do not expect to announce, any layoffs at the magazine. At Playboy, we've redoubled our efforts on behalf of advertisers, with an eye toward bringing all of our assets to bear to help them improve their sales. As a result, our ad revenues are up more than $500,000 in the first half of 2001, and the second half looks even more promising.

Morale, however, is an issue we visit every day. It is my firm belief that morale at Playboy is kept high by being honest with our employees--by keeping them informed about issues that affect them personally and professionally. Also, we strive to take an active interest in their lives, not just in their job performance. As a result, Playboy has a large percentage of employees who have been with us for more than 20 years. They've seen the good, the bad and the fantastic. And, through it all, they've come to understand that we're a family dedicated to growing as a team.

Mary Jo Romeo

Publisher, Parents

At Parents, we have the number-one brand in the parenting category, so we will feel an economic pinch less than second- or third-tier titles. But we still find that it is more important than ever to remain optimistic during these tough economic times. Our sales and marketing teams, for example, are working overtime to deliver meaningful programs to our advertisers.

I don't think that morale is down on the staff--because we don't let that happen. We have many exciting plans and much important editorial to get out to our readers. Our clients have been great, too. They all completely understand what is going on, and are very respectful of the challenges we all face. We need to build for 2002, and in the meantime, we'll operate as cost efficiently as possible.

Jerry Kaplan

President, Magazine Group, Meredith Corporation

For many of our employees--and most of our sellers--this is the first time they have had to operate in a down economy. Keeping people focused, motivated and feeling good about themselves, their company and their professions is top of mind right now at Meredith.

We are doing a couple of things to keep morale high. We've launched a trade advertising campaign that reasserts our position as the leader in the home and family market. We've added special sales incentives for all ad sellers and marketing and promotion people to encourage them to make that extra sales call. And we are focusing on expanding titles such as Country Home, Traditional Home and More.

And here's the good news: We're starting to see results. The July and August issues of Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies' Home Journal are up. Midwest Living closed its July/August issue with an all-time record for the issue. We are seeing improved performance with Wood, and our Special Interest Publications are also up over last year.