Research
Readers: We're pretty happy at work
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Nov 13, 2009 - 10:18:35 AM

These are tough times for folks who plan and buy media, as they are for so many, but when it comes to their work lives, media people are pretty upbeat, despite the long hours, worries over job cuts and slow to non-existent pay raises.

By and large they respect their supervisors, and they respect and are surprisingly close to the people they work with, seeing them as in effect their second family.

They're also team players, and when they disagree they manage to resolve their differences and move on.

Those are the findings of a Media Life poll posted last week on workplace issues facing media planners and buyers.

Asked by Media Life to describe their fellow workers, and given a handful of choices, the major of respondents, 64 percent, agreed with the following statement: "My second family. We grate on each others' nerves occasionally, but in the end we're all on the same team."

The second most common response, at 24 percent, was: "A mild annoyance. Some of them are competent, but others I wonder how they ever got a job."

Just 2 percent were totally down on their fellow workers, agreeing with this statement: "A source of never-ending pain and sorrow. They are clueless and I get stuck with their work"

As for bosses, they came out pretty well, all things considered, largely respected for the competence, if not always for their management skills.

Asked to describe their bosses, the largest share of readers, 34 percent, agreed with this statement: "A smart, competent person, though we have no strong personal bonds."

The No. 2 choice, at 30 percent, was: "A good person who has poor management skills."

No. 3, at 22 percent, was: "My mentor. I have learned so much from him/her."

Just 5 percent dismissed their bosses as incompetent, agreeing with this statement: "A prime example of failing upward."

Media Life was curious about how astute bosses were in knowing who's doing the real work. So we asked that question too.

The largest share, 39 percent, think their bosses do know, agreeing with this statement: "Management is very astute about knowing who's carrying the load and rewarding them for the good work they do."

But nearly as many thought not; 37 percent agreed with this statement: "Sometimes they get it right, but most of the time it seems random as to who they give raises to and promote."

And 24 percent thought management paid no attention, agreeing with this statement: "This is an old boys' (or old girls') network here. If you're not part of the chosen few, you are not noticed."

In terms of management style and the issue of creativity, readers were less than impressed.

Asked to describe the management style at work in their department, the largest share, 51 percent, agreed with this statement: "Informal in appearance, but structured. Efforts to instill creative thinking come off as stilted and insincere."

Just 22 percent saw their departments as creative experiences, agreeing with this statement: "Loosey-goosey. Laid back, with no apparent hierarchy. People team up to get the job done. Ideas flow up, down, and every which direction."

The remaining respondents were evenly divided, having agreeing with one of these two statements: "Highly structured and formal. Direction flows from top down, as do most of the ideas" or "Nuts. We're just plain disorganized."

But on the plus side, when there's a conflict in the department, folks work to get it resolved and to move on.

The question: Do you have a lot of conflict in the office?

Almost two thirds, 64 percent, agreed with this statement: "No more or less than any other office, I imagine. We agree to disagree and usually end things amicably."

Just 12 percent felt their department was a battleground, agreeing with the statement: "Yep. We can't even agree on where to order lunch."

A slightly larger share, 15 percent, said they experienced no conflicts and that everyone got along fine.

When it comes to a conflict between co-workers that is spilling over into office work, media people believe it's best to confront the two first before going to management. Nearly 38 percent said they would confront each party separately first, with 27.6 percent saying they would ignore the conflict.

Nineteen percent said they would go straight to the boss, while 3.4 percent would berate the employees, saying "They should know better."

Finally, Media Life invited respondents to write in their top office pet peeves and say whether they thought they'd ever be resolved. Most answered no to the latter.

Three themes emerged from the responses. People are fed up with poor management, office divas and inconsistent messages.

Others had more colorful responses.

"Too many fires at one time, all the time, with no management direction on priorities," writes one respondent. "It seems the only answer is 'get it done -- I don't care how.'"

"People in my office are constantly complaining about the agencies we deal with, and whining about their workload," writes another. "This won't be fixed until some of these folks go through a layoff once or twice."