"Not A Good Way To Make Your Day!"

In Media Guardian a few days ago Global Radio's Chief Executive Ashley Tabor tried to justify his company's decision to turn Capital  and Heart into 'national brands'.

“I’m afraid to say there are not 33 good mid-morning presenters in this country and there are not another 33 good afternoon presenters. I wish there were, but there aren’t.”

I'm convinced that quote will come to haunt Ashley Tabor in years to come, in much the same way as Gerald Ratner's famous 1991 comment describing his £1 earrings as "cheaper than a prawn sandwich from Marks & Spencer, but the sandwich will probably last longer."

First of all Ashley Tabor's comment is probably as good an example of bad people management as you can get.

If you don't think there are as many good mid-morning or afternoon presenters as you would like then the last thing you should do is say so in public.

Can you imagine how those people must feel to discover, through a comment in the press, that their company CEO doesn't think they're good enough.  It's hardly the best way to motivate any of your staff, apart from making them think they'd be better off working for a company where those who work there are appreciated; and doing so before they're "let go" anyway.

Praise in public but criticise in private.

It also contradicts what Global's Richard Park told Media Guardian a couple of years ago:

Park recognises the commercial sector has not helped itself. His charge sheet is short but to the point: commercial stations have spent too long doubting themselves in the face of a sure-footed BBC. That led to panic and too many short term fixes. How to sort things out? Find the talent, trust it, and celebrate it.

“It led me to refresh my own memory about how many good broadcasters there are outside London who never get the chance,” he says. “All I was ever reading from people in publications like yours was that there is no one out there, nothing doing, we can’t find any talent. Well excuse me, you’re not looking.” He accepts the talent production line has stuttered to a halt but insists it can be restarted. “There are people broadcasting right now in Newcastle, in Scotland, in Manchester, in Birmingham that could be very good.”

Global's problem doesn't seem to be a lack of talent within the company, or even the industry as a whole, but its failure to invest the time and effort to find, nurture and develop talent.