How our jobs have changed

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, April 1, 1998 by Barbara Love

"The question is, what can your company do to support people trying to juggle it all?" says deGraffenreid. "This stuff was around in pockets, but within the past five years lifestyle issues have risen to the top. As lifestyle becomes more important, the job becomes less important."

Management today is seeking new formulas for success. So managers need people who have broader job skills and skills that go beyond the job itself. The people in demand need to have the people skills, as well as the talent and initiative to move the job forward.

Speaking as the trainer for Time Inc. circulators, director of staff development for the consumer marketing division Michele Jaworski says she needs people who have strong analytical and creative skills, but are more adaptable than circulators used to be and more responsive to change. "The environment is so competitive and the landscape changes so rapidly that the solution needed today is maybe not the solution needed tomorrow."

Generalists are in

Rice expresses the opinion of many companies when she explains that Cahners is looking for generalists: "We're having a very difficult time recruiting people with a broad set of skills," says Rice. "It's not applicable now for someone to come in with very narrow skills. With smaller staffs, people are generalists. They can do a wide variety of things. It's important that an editor be a good leader and a good manager and understand how to develop new products. Financial people need accounting skills, but also need to know how to interpret the data, apply it, and make sure it's provided in a relevant way back to management so they can make educated decisions. It's hard to find people who have these broad skills, can work in a fast-paced environment with superfast change, and live with ambiguity.

"These days there is no one right answer to any given situation," Rice continues. "We're dealing with gray areas when we talk about such questions as, How do we grow revenue? What should we sell? How do we make customers happy? How do we make employees happy? There is no clear path to follow. There's no rule book. You have to know how to move forward without one."

RELATED ARTICLE: PRODUCTION EXECUTIVES TODAY ARE

[] Interacting with agencies and sometimes advertisers to sell computer-to-plate technology

[] More intelligent about paper choices and better informed about paper trends as a result of the shocking paper price hike just a few years ago

[] Having to become more knowledgeable about printers and printing technology and objectives to be better negotiators in what is becoming more of a sellers market

[] Seen as central to the coming network that will link advertiser, agency, the paper mill, printer and freelance photographers

RELATED ARTICLE: CIRCULATORS TODAY ARE

[] Playing a much greater role as consumer marketers

[] In need of a much broader set of skills

[] Very involved in establishing, developing arid using databases for more targeted marketing

[] Expected to market and sometimes manage brand extensions