The new boss of Northcliffe Media has launched a bid to cut the number of tiers of management across the company to a maximum of five
Steve Auckland says he wants as few people as possible in the chain of command between him and a reporter or ad rep.
Since his arrival earlier this year, Steve has already dismantled the structure of regional managing directors and editors, leading to some high-profile departures from the company.
Now other management roles could be under threat as Steve seeks to introduce a flatter structure throughout the business.
Steve told HTFP: “The main aim is to see that the MDs and editors are as close to the frontline troops as possible.
“I’ve always liked flatter structures because you can get quicker decision-making. The aspiration we have is to get to five layers.”
He added: “I can’t say that’s always going to be a hard and fast rule, but we certainly don’t want one manager on one person situations.”
Types of role which could potentially be under threat include deputy advertising directors and deputy MDs.
The dismantling of the regional structure led to the departures of South West regional MD Steve Anderson-Dixon and his North East counterpart Phil Inman.
Both have since bounced back in senior management roles in the Midlands – Steve as regional MD of Trinity Mirror and Phil as MD-designate of the Midland News Association.
Under the new structure, most Northcliffe daily editors now report to Rich Mead, one of two recently-appointed executive directors who together with Steve Auckland now make-up the group’s senior management team.
However the editors of the Nottingham Post, Leicester Mercury, Bristol Evening Post and Hull Daily Mail report to the newly-appointed publishers in those centres, each of whom reports directly to Steve.
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I could name a few managers that could be got rid of for their hideous actions that led to countless people being moved and then losing their jobs. This new guy certainly sounds like an improvement on the people he replaced – I just hope that at long last we see some investment in grassroots journalism and some concrete decisions that are not changed a few months down the line as has happened over the past few years.
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Deputy and assistant editors are a luxury regional dailies can no longer afford. Get rid of them, Steve, to stop even more sub-editors being axed because chief subs and new editors can easily deputise when editors are elsewhere.
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Assistant editors aren’t a luxury any more. They are effectively subs and proof readers with a higher pay grade. If you axe them you’ll simply reduce the subbing strength! The real luxury that modern dailies cannot afford is the figurehead editor who spends his time swanning about the place in meetings with other local Great I Ams while the assistant and deputy editors do his job.
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I love the Orwellian language of Mr Auckland wanting to get close to the front line… just brilliant!
You really couldn’t make this stuff up!
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I suppose it’s better late than never! NM could have done with this kind of approach years ago – but vested interest always cut of any improvements at the pass.
The problem is that this company let so many of the best managers go – one way or another.
As a “senior” manager I actually always believed that our role was not in an office with “an open door policy” but to be with the guys on the shop floor and with our customers.
The only problem was that my boss just loved meetings and corporate events!!!!!!!!!
All about profile don’t you know – ha.
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I am reminded of the line in Blackadder (forgive me if not toally accurate, but you get the idea) …
General, to men in the trenches: We’re right behind you, men
Blackadder: Yes, about 30 miles behind us
It’s all disguise but essentially, this means more cuts surely.
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Well, What can I say,JC Wood I totally agree……
Too many good people went in the first three culls ….
However, with the current MD’S and the so called General Managers that have no clue what they are doing apart from having too many meetings with their doors closed it will be watch the space!!!! i think their may be a few that are already looking to jump ship……….. get the life boats people
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Agree with all comments. Trust your staff on the shop floor and let departmental heads make more decisions on their own, certainly anything that hasn’t got legal implications. I used to get so frustrated at the length of meetings for anything at my North East regional that it used to get me in trouble. Basically, it’s the first time I’ve read anything positive for a while.
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It doesn’t matter how many layers of management you remove if the business model is flawed. Like its peers Northcliffe sealed its fate more than a decade ago when it refused to believe that a fundamental and irreversible change in the market was on the horizon. There were a few visionary executives in the industry at that time but they became totally frustrated and left long before the cuts even started.
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A colleague of mine read this headline to me over the phone – I though it meant end of the Kleenex.
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I agree with I’MOUTOFIT in his comment on figurehead editors some of whom think it is below their dignity to get ink on their hands, so to speak, by wading in to help embattled subs or reporters. Some have more blisters from playing golf in works time than through hard work. As for deputy and assistant editors, I know of some who never get involved in reporting or subbing, instead passing their time sifting through freebies in the post, churning out self-indulgent, often badly-written columns, film reviews and duplicating the work of news editors and chief subs. If yours do mainly subbing, perhaps it would be better to replace them with extra subs at a much cheaper rate. As for proof-reading, I thought that went out with hot metal. On one occasion I laid out a small feature, subbed it and wrote the headings. The assistant editor came over and said he didn’t like it so I did it again to his instructions. A few minutes later, the deputy editor strolled by, looked at it, said he didn’t like it and I did it a third time to his instructions. The editor later saw a proof and told me he liked my original better and told me to revert to it. I rest my case.
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NNG started its decline around 1995 and by the year 2000 it was in the full flow of appalling management from the London lot down to provincial level. The influence of the so called marketing people wrecked the group. The results are what you see now. I had many good and successful years with Northcliffe. I don’t like what I see now.
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