5y
Our management style is clear from the get-go when we bring on staff. YES! We DO require employees that enjoy working with autonomy, independence, and proactivity. NO, we don't have a lot of meetings or daily check-ins. We’re a small team, and each person has an important role. We provide clear instruction during the training phase and need our staff to follow procedures while proactively managing themselves without supervision.
For the person that requires daily guidance and tutorship, this presents a challenge. This person found out quickly that our needs are not within their abilities. For other team members, (who have been with us for years), the format of our management style is a fit.
Notably, this past employee has spelled “occasionally” incorrectly in her complaint. As a media company, we have to require our team to spell words accurately and be laser-focused with details, at all times. That is our baseline as a media company. When constant errors are happening, we do have to step in and micromanage, unfortunately. Turnover in junior positions has been because of this exact problem. It has been harder than we imagined to find people that are naturally great with spelling. We’ve also found that junior staff turn over quickly when they realize a "wedding" media company is just like any other company - filled with daily administrative needs that don’t have anything to do with flowers or pretty things. (Even though we do love flowers and pretty things, obviously!)
Regarding salary, employees are paid based on their level of education and work experience. Some of our past administrative team members or interns have been new to the work force and are paid accordingly. Our team members who are senior and have thrived with our management style are paid accordingly, have eye/dental/and full medical coverage, and have four weeks paid vacation time. Junior staffers do not have the same benefits.
In terms of being over-worked, our staff work eight hours a day, Monday to Friday. Weekends are extremely rare - and required only twice a year when our print magazine is in final production. The volume of work is very busy and our clients are very particular. Again, some personalities are a fit for this, while other personalities prefer a slower pace and a smaller workload. We agree wholeheartedly, we aren’t a fit for the latter type.