FAIL for NBC as an Employer, Ask Conan

NBC v. Leno v. O’Brien

I won’t equivocate about who should get what time slot from NBC and the fate of “The Tonight Show” – I’m with Conan on this one. The network courted the guy five years ago with the promise of hosting “The Tonight Show” and gave it to him. Now they want to take it away. Instead of admitting that they made some poor choices, i.e., to put Jay on at 10 instead of the usual programming, they are blaming the hosts. Besides probably being contractually uncool, it’s just bad management.

David Carr points out in The New York Time’s Media Decoder article, “NBC Broadcasts Itself As a Punchline,” that the network who incessantly promotes itself is taking some hits, “…management can come in for a lot of wear and tear when your talent gets pushed around and gets into feelings. Talk-show hosts usually push back, because, after all, they’re the ones with the microphone and they have a new chance to maim you ever single night.”

Seems to me that NBC is handling the talent and its ratings problem unjustly and they look bad doing it. Would you want to work for a company that treats you that way? Most of us (who aren’t sociopaths) have a very keen sense of fairness and know right from wrong. Although we can sometimes be childish about it, protesting “No Fair,” we like to see events in the workplace carried out in an even-handed manner. But we’ve all seen the undeserving guy who gets the promotion or the incompetent gal who no one will fire.

In addition to fairness, we all like to believe that we’re valued by our employer. It’s a real blow to the self-esteem when your efforts aren’t recognized or you’re passed over for a choice project.. Awhile back, I was hired by a community mental health center to head their intake department. The boss didn’t do me any favors by telling the staff prior to my start date that “we’re so lucky to get her, she’s got all the right experience and credentials!” What a set-up for them to hate my guts. Some of the staff did come around. But in a weird turn of events, I was laid off in five months and someone I supervised took over my job. Yeah, an associate degree in accounting trumps a clinician with a Master’s… Still bitter? You bet.

So, I’m rooting for Conan to come out on top in this smackdown. He should be treated better. Where do you stand?

This is a post by Nancy LaFever. You can read more from her at the Centre for Emotional Wellbeing blog.