The Right People
Waxing on Jim Collins today. (Not like that...)
Jim Collins in "Good to Great" says "get the right people on the bus" and you don't have to motivate them. He continues in "Social Sectors" that the arts and nonprofit universe has the added benefit of offering easily-gotten emotional remuneration that the widget-peddling crowd sometimes can't offer.
We're in a hiring phase at the theatre, preparing for the summer season. We're looking for three major technical positions and working out the calculus for stage manager scheduling - AEA SM, AEA ASM, and Non-AEA ASM.
Our budget, like many budgets this year, has contracted, and our programming is ambitious as ever, so we're in the position of trying to create the usual magic with the usual low pay and even fewer employees than last year. Many people might reflect that low weekly salaries aren't going to attract the right folks, and that you'll have to settle for enthusiasm, but no skill, or maybe some skill but no personality - the fish everyone else threw back.
When I started in tech theatre, I worked for $200 a week, and without bragging - I worked my butt off. I worked six 12 hour days each week for 15 or more weeks summer after summer. Each summer for the subsequent two years at one outfit, I got an additional $10 per week for my growing seniority.
I worked hard, I did creative work with no budget, no time, little skilled help, and 40-year-old stock set parts that were sliding slowly into ruin. Somehow, I built convincing fireplaces, a fire-breathing dragon with real deer-bone claws and flashing green eyes, and a leaking carboy of creosote. When I had down time, I repaired tools, trucks, drops, and lighting equipment. And I loved it. At the end of each of two summers, I got a cash bonus - and as a parting gift a set of beautiful, razor-sharp wood chisels.
I know there are people like that out there, and if you feel like your pay is low, think of what other currency you have to offer potential employees - TDs might like a design opportunity, for instance. One recent interviewee was excited that we weren't going to bunk her with three other people - that she'd have her own room.
Keep your expectations high, and let the people you hire know that you have high expectations, no time, no resources, low pay, and that you expect the best work. You might be surprised to find that there are folks out there who will work for you for the sole reason that you're not a flake. There are bad theatres out there who underpay people, overwork them, and treat them with disrespect (and here's one way to avoid them). Set yourself apart by building the best team you can and supporting by whatever means you've got, and I think we can achieve the results we want, and we don't have to lower our expectations because our weekly salary is less than the big theatre the next county over.
Jim Collins in "Good to Great" says "get the right people on the bus" and you don't have to motivate them. He continues in "Social Sectors" that the arts and nonprofit universe has the added benefit of offering easily-gotten emotional remuneration that the widget-peddling crowd sometimes can't offer.
We're in a hiring phase at the theatre, preparing for the summer season. We're looking for three major technical positions and working out the calculus for stage manager scheduling - AEA SM, AEA ASM, and Non-AEA ASM.
Our budget, like many budgets this year, has contracted, and our programming is ambitious as ever, so we're in the position of trying to create the usual magic with the usual low pay and even fewer employees than last year. Many people might reflect that low weekly salaries aren't going to attract the right folks, and that you'll have to settle for enthusiasm, but no skill, or maybe some skill but no personality - the fish everyone else threw back.
When I started in tech theatre, I worked for $200 a week, and without bragging - I worked my butt off. I worked six 12 hour days each week for 15 or more weeks summer after summer. Each summer for the subsequent two years at one outfit, I got an additional $10 per week for my growing seniority.
I worked hard, I did creative work with no budget, no time, little skilled help, and 40-year-old stock set parts that were sliding slowly into ruin. Somehow, I built convincing fireplaces, a fire-breathing dragon with real deer-bone claws and flashing green eyes, and a leaking carboy of creosote. When I had down time, I repaired tools, trucks, drops, and lighting equipment. And I loved it. At the end of each of two summers, I got a cash bonus - and as a parting gift a set of beautiful, razor-sharp wood chisels.
I know there are people like that out there, and if you feel like your pay is low, think of what other currency you have to offer potential employees - TDs might like a design opportunity, for instance. One recent interviewee was excited that we weren't going to bunk her with three other people - that she'd have her own room.
Keep your expectations high, and let the people you hire know that you have high expectations, no time, no resources, low pay, and that you expect the best work. You might be surprised to find that there are folks out there who will work for you for the sole reason that you're not a flake. There are bad theatres out there who underpay people, overwork them, and treat them with disrespect (and here's one way to avoid them). Set yourself apart by building the best team you can and supporting by whatever means you've got, and I think we can achieve the results we want, and we don't have to lower our expectations because our weekly salary is less than the big theatre the next county over.
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