Traffic managers play a critical role in radio operations. A traffic department organizes content, schedules advertising and programming, and ensures accuracy in logs. The skill set and experience needed in this role are very specialized. If stations find themselves with a gap here, they often must fill it as best as possible in a mad dash to get everything running as it should.
Whether a station has a permanent or temporary traffic manager slot available, it’s not so easy to hire one. These positions are also a significant investment that coincides with the value they bring to the organization.
So, how can stations fill a gap in traffic management?
Preventing Turnover
Stations can solve the traffic manager challenge by retaining current employees. It’s not an easy initiative, as employee satisfaction includes many factors, from working conditions to salary. You certainly want to keep talent at your station and should strive to do this by creating a positive environment and being competitive in pay. In addition, traffic managers need a reliable, intuitive and modern traffic system to perform their duties without being constantly frustrated.
Even the best stations can lose a traffic manager at any time. These individuals may choose to take a job at another company or leave the industry. The current job market is strong, which means workers have options. It’s a balancing act of valuing employees and ensuring profitability. When a vacancy opens, your first inclination is likely to hire a new person.
Hiring a New Traffic Manager
Recruiting and hiring traffic managers could take months. During that time, you have to make adjustments to keep programming running. Keep in mind that those with experience may only be passive job seekers, so they aren’t applying for jobs regularly.
Recruitment requires dollars in terms of advertising, efficiency losses and other soft costs. Salary is going to be a deciding factor in whether your job is attractive. According to data, the average annual salary for traffic managers is $54,027, and it can reach as high as $106,000.
Numbers lower than the average may not entice much interest, and you’ll continue to struggle to cover all the responsibilities of the position.
There is an alternative to hiring a full-time traffic manager with traffic hubbing.
What Is Traffic Hubbing?
Marketron Traffic Hub is a program that provides outsourcing for traffic operations. Our experienced team becomes your traffic manager for short- or long-term intervals. Using hubbing can save you money, provide constant availability, ensure consistency and maximize efficiency. Marketron Traffic Hub is an option for both Marketron Traffic and Visual Traffic users.
We recently published a case study on traffic hubbing, outlining how it supported two of the most popular stations in the country. Hubbing helped the organization boost efficiency, save over 15 hours weekly and enable employees to do more strategic work.
Check out the case study featuring MediaCo Holding Inc.
to learn more.
