Regional publisher Johnston Press is set to lift its pay freeze after 18 months and introduce a new performance-related system of rewarding its staff.
The company announced in January this year that it was deferring all salary reviews until July at the earliest, extending a freeze that had already been in place for the previous year.
In an email to staff this week, chief executive Ashley Highfield confirmed the reviews would now be reinstated, but signalled a move away from across-the-board increases for all employees.
Instead, he said the company intends to move towards linking salary increases to performance, meaning some staff may get larger increaes while others receive no pay award.
Wrote Ashley: “This is the year I said we’d get back to growth and thanks to your efforts, your energy and your commitment we are heading in the right direction.
“We are turning the company around and I am pleased to announce we are reinstating pay reviews in recognition of your efforts.
“Reintroducing pay reviews will be the first step in changing the way we reward people. In the last staff survey you said you wanted more recognition for good performance, so in the coming year we are going to move towards linking salary increases to performance where we can.
“Essentially we want to start rewarding our best performers and top talent with larger pay increases than may be awarded to others and, over time, it could even mean that some people don’t receive a pay award when others do.”
Ashley admitted the company was on “a bit of a journey” with its pay process, but added: “The really important message is this: if you perform well in your role you will be rewarded.”
He also made clear in the email that the company wanted to help its lowest paid staff, and would ensure the reinstated pay reviews benefited them.
Johnston Press has not so far made any further comment on the move.
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How do you grade a reporter? Number of front pages? Web hits on stories? It seems completely unworkable.
How the hell do you quantify reporting? What about specialist reporters (health/business etc)?
If it’s done on story counts there are going to be fist fights over press releases in the news room.
Illogical.
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So they’ll essentially be putting a price tag on the work of individuals in editorial that usually work together as a team to put papers together? That’ll work.
As disastrous JP ideas go, this has to be up there with the best (or should that be worst) of them.
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Whatever it is, it won’t be performance-related. A few stars may get inflation plus perhaps one per cent, paid for by the majority deemed less worthy who will get somewhere between zilch and inflation. It’s a pay cut overall, dressed up as something worthy and grander. But better than nothing.
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Used to be like that at one Northcliffe paper I was at. I acted as head of department with virtually no staff for 6 months, worked long hours, and was refused a pay rise by the editor who cited a scruffy appearance as the reason why I didn’t get any more money. It will be a case of if your face fits you’ll be fine, if you don’t 100 per cent endorse everything that is done that’s your pay rise gone
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Simple, it’ll be based on circulation. And as all circulations are falling it means they’ll never have to give anyone a pay rise.
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Seems like a good idea to me. Some seriously lazy reporters in my office and others who go above and beyond for the paper. Why should the lazy get the same pay as those who bring in the splash and be prepared to work evenings and weekends?
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If were a Union I would have a field day asking for data that proved or otherwise that this system did not or did end up being indirectly discriminatory on the basis of gender or age.
Whether any of the Unions dealing with JP have the gumption to do this is a matter of conjecture but — not.
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So then, Ashley, when JP’s results don’t meet the required targets, does that mean you won’t get a pay rise either then?
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This is bound to improve working relations in the newsroom.
‘Did you get a pay rise?’
‘No.’
‘Tough titty – I got ten per cent.’
‘What the hell! Everybody knows you’re rubbish.’
‘Maybe, but as an a…licker I’m right up there with the best.’
As a means of creating bitterness and resentment among staff, this plan will take some beating.
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My editor said in future he’s going to be paying me what I’m worth. No way I’m working for that pittance. Strike ballot.
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Seriously concerned about this, but would like to see more detail – it is fairly common practice within advertising departments as far as I can tell so maybe he is simply referring to this?
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There should always be across the board pay rises and the space to reward someone on top of that if needed.
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It should be interesting to see the factors that will decide the performance criteria; and who will be the judge of that.
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We had pay rises on merit in Leeds some years ago under RIM. I was one of the gainers but there were a number of colleagues who got zero or next to nothing, sometimes because they had joined on higher salaries than others in the first place. So it was one way of evening out the pay.
It did nothing for the morale of those people who were already disaffected, it didn’t encourage them to work harder, quite the reverse.
I’m not against it because a previous house agreement had leeway for the editor to increase pay for extra responsibility and nobody complained about that. However, there’s always a chance that someone whose face doesn’t fit could get a bad report from their news editor and lose out.
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As one of the hardest working in my JP department, I remember putting on the staff survey that hard work should be noticed/rewarded. I was sick of beginning work about 40 minutes early each day, then watching those that arrived at 9am on the dot chat for about 30mins before they saw fit to begin. What was my reward? Redundancy. Nice idea, but it will be difficult to work as pay rises. Bonuses or extra days’ holiday maybe? Oh no, not enough staff left for that!
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Johnson Press, words totally fail me, dear Ashley says we have turned the Company around, really? so you can now increase pay rewards the the staff who perform better than others! What a pity you
dont think about your trade partners namely HND newsagents who have had their terms cut by some 12.5% over the recent years, after all its your company who has produced under value newspapers with price increases that have lost us thousands of weekly sales. example the Kings Lynn News Tuesday and Friday editions, where Johnson Press have last 4000 copies a week! Yes Ashley words fail me, one day the penny will drop, but will Johnson Press still be around?
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Will this apply to all levels of staff including board level? Don’t think so.
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Centres with recognised NUJ chapels retain a legal right to collective pay bargaining. Come on, NUJ, put this guy in his place!
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Our performance pay is linked to the overall profit the company makes so it relies totally on sales/revenue generated. I can’t remember the last time we actually received it though.
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Another hare-brained scheme. How do you performance-rate reporters? Surely they are hired in the first place because of the quality of their writing? And why should those who work their hours be penalized in favour of those who get in to the office 20 minutes early – are they saying that people should be prepared to work for nothing if they want to get a pay rise? Workers with commitments such as children often don’t have the luxury of being so obliging. The idea should be to get everyone to work better together to improve the papers and increase quality AS A TEAM ie if the papers do well everyone benefits. Pay structures as this can only be divisive.
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Oh dear. Scoop is right – it really will be a case of if your face (or tongue) fits. Everyone should get some sort of a pay rise – even deadlegs face a rising cost of living – but by all means reward hard, effective work (and not just presenteeism, JP Cost Cut victim). But if the editor, and it will be the editor, doesn’t like you, you can whistle!
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“Company announces end of pay freeze – employees outraged””
You couldn’t make it up….
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I strongly suspect this policy is directed at advertising and marketing staff, the areas that can bring in cash quickly and the only ones that Ashley has any knowledge of (IT excepted)
It wouldn’t surprise me if the zero pay rises will apply across the board in editorial.
Here’s one cost-cutting idea, Ashley, Why not scrap ALL company cars across Johnston Press? In these austere times, with advertising revenues falling, why are there so many expensive Audis, BMWs and Lexuses littering executive car parks? These people are paid enough to buy their own cars – and they can claim mileage if they’re carrying out company business. Ad reps can use pool cars or get mileage.
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The fact is that the only way you can measure the performance of an individual reporter is by asking the editor to assess them. Cue lots of angry reporters who have worked for no pay rise for the past 5 years queuing up at the ed’s door to ask why all his favourites have a pay rise, but they don’t. Recipe for disaster JP.
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Reading the above comments, the perception seems to be that this policy will be directed at editorial. It will not, editorial staff will remain completely unaffected.
This policy is aimed at top advertising sales people and marketing staff…. In other words move along folks, nothing to see here.
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Sounds like the age old system of divide and rule. Pitch one title’s team against another, or department against another. Those making a few quid more start to believe they deserve it more and the others are just slackers. Dividing potential support within the ranks.
I’n not a lefty and firm believer in market economy – but this has a sour taste. I predict lots of smaller titles will fold.
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Fewer reporters. double the workloads because of web work and demands of crappy Atex system and covering for staff not replaced. Thousands of over-worked reporters therefore due massive pay rises. Backdated several years of course.
What’s that old song…..Dream..
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