Kaun Banega Crorepati?Journos write own cheques; media salesmen sell themselves

Media is a people business, and there are a finite number of media people. These finite number of media people worked, till recently, on a finite number of media products. And suddenly, there was an explosion — the number of media products multiplied — and the number of media people stayed static. As any two bit economist will tell you, when demand exceeds supply, prices go up. And in today's media context, the gap between demand and supply is so wide, that prices of talented media professionals has gone through the roof.

The next few months will see the launch of (at least) two new news channels, one from the BCCL-Reuters JV and one from Broadcast News, the TV18-Sardesai/Manchanda JV. On the print front, there are a minimum of three new newspapers slated to hit the Mumbai stands by July-August, one each from The Hindustan Times, The Zee-Dainik Bhaskar combine, and The Times of India Group.

These are not the only developments; we've left out the rest of India. Chennai will see ‘The Times of India’ launch and is already experiencing the ‘Deccan Chronicle’ offering. Two new channels have just launched in the southern languages.

Where are the people? Currently, it's a merry-go-round, with most "new" talent being head-hunted from competitors. There are a few notable exceptions tho-ugh — talent coming in from a different industry altogether.

The high profile shuffle
With the shortage came Don Corleone-like offers to respected and sought after professionals: offers they couldn't refuse. So Rajdeep Sardesai and Sunil Manchanda moved from NDTV to set up India Broadcast News with TV 18; Pradeep Guha joined Zee after leaving The Times of India (TOI); Suresh Balakrishnan switched from The Hindustan Times to DNA; Ayaz Memon jumped from TOI to DNA, R. Jaggannathan from Business Standard to DNA... the list goes on and on. And will continue to grow.

There is a limit to poaching and senior management has begun to look outside the industry for players in their teams. The Hindustan Times (HT) has put together a top management team under Ranga-nathan Thota, a former GE, Whirlpool and Pepsi executive. Obviously, they are confident that he is capable; that he will lead the HT army into the biggest war they have ever fought. More Ranganathan Thotas will have to be found, have to be recruited.

But laziness still rules and it is this laziness, which is pushing up the prices. Impatience in identifying and recruiting non-media talent has given rise to a frenzied auction of prized professionals, often endangering media organisations and making retention a key focus. Aaj Tak, perhaps, is the worst victim of poaching in the recent months and has given handsome rewards to its staffers in an effort to checkmate the designs of its rival channels. The rewards in the form of hefty salary hikes, promotions and retention pay have come as a windfall for Aaj Tak's editorial staff.

Is this unhealthy auction viable?
Is paying attention to retention far more feasible then poaching?
Attracting and retaining good people has always been high on any media company's business agenda but arguably never more so than now. Regular career moves have become the norm but the poaching mania has contributed to an escalating retention challenge.

Media companies are all trying different tactics to keep their talent happy and away from the preying eyes of the competition.

Although salaries are often a topic of much grumbling, money is not the only determining factor in job satisfaction. Media HR departments need to better understand and have their managers understand how critical the recruiting and hiring process is to finding and keeping good people.

There are a number of obstacles in the challenge of retaining talent: the perception that companies can't retain employees unless they pay better; diminishing budgets that keep organisations from being competitive in career development; the attitude that all employees should get the same treatment.

To read the entire story, grab your copy of Impact Advertising and Weekly magazine issue dated May 16-22, 2005