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No Raises This Year For Radio One Employees
6-27-2012
Although Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins reported one of the better quarters, starting off 2012, his employees will not be receiving any raises. Back in May Liggins reported that revenue at Radio One was up over 6% for the first quarter of 2012 and that May was pacing "off the charts." Yesterday, Radio One employees received an e-mail from Liggins thanking them for their "continued commitment to the company," but added, "I have made what I know will be an unpopular decision and that is to postpone giving merit increases this year." Employees will have the option of taking an addition three days of paid time off in lieu of the raises that were budgeted for July.
Here is the full e-mail:
To the Radio One Family,
I would like to start by sincerely thanking all of you for your hard work and continued commitment to the Company. As you are aware, we had a successful Q1 and the outlook on Q2 is positive as well. It goes without saying that our success is dependent upon our employees, so congratulations and thank you.
While I am very pleased with our current performance, it is my position and that of our Board of Directors that we must continue to aggressively manage our expenses and grow our revenue in order to adhere to the terms of our bank agreement. As a result, I have made what I know will be an unpopular decision and that is to postpone giving merit increases this year. Although we budgeted for the increases to be granted to eligible employees in July, this difficult decision is being made because I need to ensure that our success is sustained and that we are properly positioned financially before increasing our fixed costs.
I value your contributions and I know this news is not what you wanted to hear. In an effort to demonstrate my appreciation for your efforts, I am granting all eligible employees an additional 3 days of PTO days to use, with management approval, between July 1 and September 30, 2012.
Please accept this token of my appreciation. Information on how to track the additional PTO days will be distributed from HR or your business office shortly.
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(6/30/2012 12:13:02 PM) Poor Radio One employees . . . Is Internet radio kicking your ass? Why not jump ship? We're hiring at Pandora. Check out: http://newton.newtonsoftware.com/career/CareerHome.action?clientId=4028f88b276ac19301276e38e49b048e |
| - PandoraFanBoi |
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(6/27/2012 4:04:44 PM) I don't think anyone should be surprised by this. Next will be a pay cuts... |
| - Ken |
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(6/27/2012 10:13:01 AM) Ha! I haven't had a raise in six-and-a-half years, because "times are tough." Cry me a river. |
| - LW |
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(6/27/2012 7:35:12 AM) ironically, my comment can be found in todays Radio Ink sales blog, 'Are You Competitive?' |
| - wayne ens |
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(6/27/2012 7:14:41 AM) This is a tough one to comment on, but here goes. I remember a great sales manager cautioning us that one great book does not a trend make. He chided us to continue to work at our craft--telling our story and prowling for more share. Sustained success is true success. In my humble opinion, popping the champagne corks after a successful quarter would be premature and irresponsible. A prudent leader makes sure the good news holds before adding more weight to the expense side of the ledger. |
| - Larry |
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