Loyalty matters: Why radio could take a leaf out of Ben Fordham’s book

2GB's Ben Fordham. Image: Facebook

If you were a high-profile, successful radio host earning millions, would you ever willingly share some of your salary – even a fraction of it – with the members of your team?

You know the ones I mean. The people you keep thanking for helping to put together the program you so lovingly host. The people who help make you successful on a daily basis.

The people earning much, much less moolah than you.

Regardless of whether you love or loathe his style of radio, Ben Fordham must surely win brownie points for making his staff feel valued.

As recently revealed in news.com.au, the 2GB Breakfast host gives his staff $1000 from his own personal bank account whenever they take an overseas holiday.

It’s a small perk, says Fordham. But it’s his way of building loyalty.

“I want people to hang around.”

It’s for that same reason that Fordham will happily negotiate salaries on behalf of his team members.

“I found out years ago that when producers on (Alan Jones’s) show were seeking a pay rise, they’d go to Alan, and he’d go to management on their behalf.”

“They’d have a greater chance of securing that pay rise because Alan was doing their bidding. So I’ve done that at 2GB for over a decade.”

“If you’re working for me, I will help negotiate your salary package with management.”

Fordham says that when he agreed to take on 2GB Breakfast in 2020, he wanted both himself and his staff to be paid accordingly.

“Before I could share the news with anyone, I sat down with my boss, Tom Malone, and we went through the salaries of my team.”

The result? Fordham advocated successfully for everyone on his team to get a pay rise.

But he doesn’t shout it from the rooftops.

“Don’t get me wrong, I got one too, right? I wouldn’t be so gracious as to be negotiating pay rises for everyone and leaving myself out in the cold.”

Fordham is not a pioneer here, as he himself points out. We’ve all heard stories in the past of the on-air talent making things happen for members of the team – and not all have a financial attachment or are conditional on the goodwill gesture being milked for on-air content.

The great shows and the great radio stations are built on the people who put it all together being totally committed. Management and shareholders reap the financial rewards when that total commitment brings rating success, which then translates into dollars.

It’s the corporate circle of life. And it’s high time the radio industry revaluated the worth of ALL the individuals who are instrumental in this success.

A word Fordham used as his yardstick needs to be rewarded. That word is loyalty.

Recent developments show the folly of mega money-driven decision making. When that blows up – as it invariably does – who picks up the pieces? The same people who keep getting thanked, but rarely rewarded.

Radio can ill afford to be losing any of its good people right now.