I write a blog on HR issues, and I can’t sit by and watch the shenanigans at NBC without pleading for some common sense. It’s not a stretch to ask — if this is how they treat the talent, how do they treat their regular employees?
I have one question. What would Jack Donaghy do? [WWJDD]
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I know NBC picked Leno over Conan — and I know they’re okay with this tough, strategic, and bold decision. (barf) Nevertheless, here’s a copy of the email I sent to NBC. Feel free to write your own.
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From: Laurie Ruettimann <laurie@punkrockhr.com>
To: JOHN.ECK@nbc.com, Jeff.Gaspin@nbc.com, JEFF.ZUCKER@nbc.com, jeff.zucker@nbcuni.com, STEVE.CAPUS@nbc.com, ALLISON.GOLLUST@nbc.com, PAULA.MADISON@nbc.com, CORY.SHIELDS@nbc.com, JOHN.WALLACE@nbc.com, David.Verdi@nbc.com, Jeff.Zucker@nbc.com, Bob.Wright@nbc.com, LYNN.CALPETER@nbc.com, DICK.EBERSOL@nbc.com, MARK.HOFFMAN@nbc.com, MICHAEL.PILOT@nbc.com, david.verdi@nbc.com, MARC.CHINI@nbcuni.com, Alyssa.Corcoran@nbcuni.com, MICHAEL.BASS@nbcuni.com, MICHAEL.PILOT@nbcuni.com, Ron.Lamprecht@nbcuni.com
Date: Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 6:24 PM
Subject: Talent Management 101: Your Late Night Woes
This is the worst example of a talent management process in the history of mankind. Human Resources professionals around the world are doing a better job than NBC/Universal. When you’re doing it worse than HR, you’re doing it wrong.
Keep Conan at 11:35. Let Jay go to FOX. This is talent management 101.
Best,
Laurie Ruettimann
http://punkrockhr.com
*h/t to consumerist for the email addresses!
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s only January and you already have a quote-of-the-year entry:
“When you’re doing it worse than HR, you’re doing it wrong.”
Hilarious!
Leno to Fox? That’s kind of harsh, isn’t it?
Leno? NBC? Conan? Sounds like something out of an Ikea catalogue….
But I agree that, “When you’re doing it worse than HR, you’re doing it wrong.” is brilliant. Total genius!
I’ve emailed as well. I put my heart into it, and it’s frustrating knowing they won’t even read it.
Right on Laurie! I couldn’t agree more. It’s sad to see what’s happening to Conan. He deserves better. I’m going to send an e-mail as well!
I have three kids under the age of 8, hence, I do not know who these people are, or what late night television is. I do, however, know who Jack Donaghy is. Thank you Lord for my DVR.
You are so right on this Laurie. I have to admit, I’m not impartial – I love Conan. Jay is tanking the whole lineup; he should go. The whole 10PM deal was a predictable mistake to begin with. Whoever thought of that should go too. I’m so glad this mind-blower is public because, aside from being in itself very entertaining, it brings to a comic level some of the more private but similar HR blunders I’ve witnessed in real life. I only wish all of us as employees had the financial standing Conan has, to be able to stand up for what’s right and not take any guff.
PS WWJDD? I’m going to save that for my staff meeting.
Great job Laurie. And this gets me thinking (which OF COURSE was your intention) about the whole aspect of HR being involved in strategic decisions as it relates to a companies talented employees.
A decision was made by NBC to try their “experiment”. It was a miserable failure and now another decision is being made by NBC to try to clean up the mess. And through it all, I’m sure nobody even thought to consult the NBC HR folks. Dozens of employees will be affected by these changes.
I have a cousin who is an accountant that works in post production on movies and tv. She’s presently unemployed but she said that if NBC goes into production on shows to fill five 10pm time slots, she might have work. I wonder if any NBC HR people are being brought in to help place any of Conan’s crew into other jobs.
If you need me, I’ll be watching Letterman.
You should of start off with “Dear Pig Vomits:”
Anyway, totally agree with this and glad NBC is a sinking ship. Also, I’m wondering how Brazen Careerist feels when they list NBC/Universal as the number 1 company for Gen Y workers?
Leno must have something on somebody. I never understood why NBC caved in to him in the first place with the early show. He agreed some years ago that he would be leaving as of X date; they made plans to move forward, then at the eleventh hour he changed his mind. NBC should have said “too damn bad” at that time and they could have avoided this whole mess.
THAT was their big HR screwup, in my opinion. That’s why I think Leno must have the goods on them, because even the greenest HR person would have seen the folly of that move. Hell, even the Packers got it right with Brett Favre.
First of all, I agree with all of you. That being said, why do we care so much about what’s happening on television? If they were doing something nasty to John Stewart I would care more – however, that is cable and this is normal network television. It reminds me of the stories you hear from the 30′s and 40′s about the movie studios playing havoc with the actor’s lives. Apparently the network execs are both power hungry and scared to death of losing their jobs, which is probably the norm anyway.
NBC hates gingers, obvs.
Where is the NBC HR Department during all this mess?
As a Studio (not NBC) Recruiter, I can say there is most likely not as much of an HR presence in this as it may appear. Talent like Conan/Leno are cast and hired by creative teams, and contracts are generally negotiated through Business & Legal Affairs; HR is probably minimally involved at best. The decisions at hand are being made by the highest level of executives.
That being said, the four other major Studio’s have been vehemently and publicly against a late night show in the 10pm slot because, as Glen mentioned, it cuts back on the number of shows that can be aired and the number of people employed with those shows. The industry predicted this failure from the start.
Not sure if you’ve seen this, you probably have, but I’ll pass it on anyways. Jessica Lee has an interesting article on Fistful of Talent on Conan/Leno Debacle. Good read on how not to manage your talent. http://www.fistfuloftalent.com/2010/01/nbc-you-stink.html
@ICANHASLinda: Maybe a ginger kid bit them. Hahahaha
I sent a very strong e-mail to NBC as well.
Conan deserves the Tonight Show.
Leno needs to GO!
@Frank LOL, thanks.
@TheHRD We take late night politics very seriously in the US.
@Bethany They might read it. Who knows?
@AB Well, Adam Corolla says that Conan O’Brien is a dick — but I prefer Conan to Jay Leno.
@Dale I love Jack.
@cowtowngirl I should really find a way to write more about Jack Donaghy on this blog.
@Glen Oooh, interesting!
@Tracy Tran Hahahahahhahahahahhaha, the Brazen thing is funny. I forgot all about that.
@ScottS So insightful. This is a problem that’s been festering for years. Another sign that NBC/Universal has no balls and can’t manage a problem.
@HR Hooligan I’m not sure I care, but it’s less depressing than the earthquake problems in Haiti. I care about that stuff and it breaks my heart. This is easier.
@Icanhaslinda Hilarious.
@adowling Man, I wish NBC would hire me to work with these executives. I’d clean house.
@Shannon Awesome, awesome insight. Thanks for that comment. You need a blog to write about your experiences!
@Nathanial No, I’ll have to check it out NOW!
@spacedcowgirl Those google results still have me laughing.
@Jorge Awesome!
Totally agree with you on this one—
NBC has managed to almost completely implode in a little less than ten years (from its Friends/ER high point). NBCU’s cable channels (especially Bravo and MSNBC) are kicking NBC’s @ss.
I don’t know what’s worse – their handling of corporate strategy, or their handling of talent/HR – but I have three words to describe it: Time. Warner. AOL. That’s about how big this albatross is.
I loved David Letterman’s comment – speaking for the affiliates re: Jay Leno. “Just put a camera on a birdhouse – it will do better!” (Then again that describes a whole lot of reality TV these days.)
Here’s my two cents on Conan. I ***love*** Conan. Think he’s smart, funny, creative, envelope-pushing, and just ON, all the time. But I don’t think he should be (or have been) the host of the Tonight show.
Why? Well, the Tonight show hasn’t been known for witty and envelope pushing since the Jack Paar era. Not to knock Carson, who was entertaining, but it’s basically a show that old white folks watch after a night out at the Olive Garden. It’s not so far evolved from the “take my wife – please” school of comedy/vaudeville/variety. The difference between Carson and Leno (who I dislike with the intensity of a thousand suns) is that Carson knew enough to set up the gag and get the hell out of the way.
I’m on Team Conan, and he can stay @ his current timeslot. I just wish he’d be given the platform/space to do his own brilliant thing, instead of trying to match the “sacred legend” of the Tonight show. Sacred cows make the best burgers and all that sort of stuff.
And by the way, Conan is hella smart. He is handling the whole thing masterfully. That statement he released yesterday made me love him even more. And he now has a HUGE wave of positive sentiment riding his way. (Over 2,000 comments @ NYT alone.) No one should count him out.
Love the comments. Offended by the “doing it worse than HR” comment. HR folks giving themsleves a bad rap is a no-no!! in my book.
@mattymat Thanks. We need uniforms.
@Patrick Whoa, Team Conan could have no better spokesperson. Did you know that the network of NBC (not cable) was valued at $0 for the Comcast acquisition? All that creativity. All those advertisers. Comcast was like, meh, you bring $0 value to the table. Unbelievable.
@Donna Seriously?
@Laurie lol ….designed by Hugo Boss, no doubt. You gotta look good attempting to conquer the world, dammit!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Boss
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniforms_and_insignia_of_the_Schutzstaffel
Have you heard about a single person being on Team Leno? He’s coming across like a total deuchebag in all this, too. NBC is trying to “keep” him and in the process made him out to be the biggest deuchebag of all time.