Assignment 13
josh881765
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Module 11 Negative Messages 165
A negative message always has several purposes:
Primary Purposes:
• To give the reader the bad news. • To have the reader read, understand, and accept the message. • To maintain as much goodwill as possible.
Secondary Purposes:
• To build a good image of the writer. • To build a good image of the writer’s organization. • To reduce or eliminate future correspondence on the same subject so the message
doesn’t create more work for the writer.
Even when it is not possible to make the reader happy with the news we must convey, we still want readers to feel that
• They have been taken seriously. • Our decision is fair and reasonable. • If they were in our shoes, they would make the same decision.
What’s the best subject line for a negative message? LO 11-1 ▶ Only use negative subject lines if you think the reader may otherwise ignore the message.
Letters don’t require subject lines (◀◀ p. 127). Omit a subject line in negative letters unless you think readers may ignore what they think is a routine message. (See, for example, Figure 11.2 later in this module).
When you give bad news to superiors, use a subject line that focuses on solving the problem.
Even bad news can have a silver lining. Petra Anderson was among dozens wounded at the Aurora, Colorado, shooting at the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises that also killed 12 people. But owing to a small birth defect in her brain, the buckshot that might otherwise have killed her in fact missed anything vital. With all of the bad news in her life at the time—her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer—a brain defect might have been just one more burden to carry. But in this case, it was the miracle that saved her life.
Source: Dylan Stableford, “Colorado Shooting Victim’s Brain Condition Helped Her Survive, Pastor Says,” June 25, 2012, http://news.yahoo. com/blogs/lookout/colorado- shooting-petra-anderson-brain- survive-150918602.html .
Subject: Improving Our Subscription Letter
When you write to peers and subordinates, put the topic (but not your action on it) in the subject line.
Subject: Status of Conversion Table Program
Due to heavy demands on our time, we have not yet been able to write programs for the conversion tables you asked for.
How should I organize negative messages? LO 11-2 ▶ It depends on your purposes and audiences.
Choose the pattern based on the situation.
• Letters to people outside your organization should be indirect to build goodwill. • When you write to superiors, you need to propose solutions, not just report a problem. • When you write to peers and subordinates, try to get their input in dealing with
negative situations.
Site to See
Go to www.users.elite.net/runner/ jennifers/no.htm www.users.elite.net/runner/ jennifers/yes.htm for Jennifer Runner’s compilation of “no” in more than 520 languages and “yes” in more than 550 languages, respectively.
Go to
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166 Unit Three Letters, Memos, E-Mail, and Web Writing
What pattern of organization to use is also influenced by your purposes. The patterns in this section assume that maintaining goodwill is an important purpose. But as you’ll see later in the module, on some occasions, maintaining goodwill is less important than giving the negative clearly.
Giving Bad News to Customers and Other People Outside Your Organization
The following pattern helps writers maintain goodwill:
1. Give the reason for the refusal before the refusal itself when you have a reason that readers will understand and accept. A good reason prepares the reader to expect the refusal.
2. Give the negative just once, clearly. Inconspicuous refusals can be missed, making it necessary to say no a second time.
3. Present an alternative or compromise, if one is available. An alternative not only gives readers another way to get what they want but also suggests that you care about readers and helping them solve their problems.
4. End with a positive, forward-looking statement.
Figure 11.1 summarizes the pattern. Figure 11.2 uses the basic pattern.
Reasons Make the reason for the refusal clear and convincing. The following reason is inadequate.
Weak reason: The goal of the Knoxville CHARGE-ALL Center is to provide our customers faster, more personalized service. Since you now live outside the Knoxville CHARGE-ALL service area, we can no longer offer you the advantages of a local CHARGE-ALL Center.
If the reader says, “I don’t care if my bills are slow and impersonal,” will the company let the reader keep the card? No. The real reason for the negative is that the bank’s fran- chise allows it to have cardholders only in a given geographical region.
Real reason: Each local CHARGE-ALL Center is permitted to offer accounts to customers in a several-state area. The Knoxville CHARGE-ALL Center serves custom- ers east of the Mississippi. You can continue to use your current card until it expires. When that happens, you’ll need to open an account with a CHARGE-ALL Center that serves Texas.
Don’t hide behind “company policy”: Readers will assume the policy is designed to benefit you at their expense. If possible, show how the readers benefit from the policy. If they do not benefit, don’t mention the policy.
The mystery of which client hired Burson-Marsteller, a public relations firm, to help spread negative information about Google was solved when an influential blogger revealed it to be none other than Facebook. The revelation proved embarrassing for the social networking site, as news of the effort was reported nationally when some Facebook users were also expressing concerns over privacy and whether personal data was being sold to third parties. Always consider ethics when sending out negative messages.
Source: Dan Lyons, “Facebook Busted in Clumsy Smear on Google,” May 12, 2011, http://news. yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20110512/ ts_dailybeast/14045_ facebookbustedinclumsy- smearattemptongoogle .
Figure 11.1 How to Organize a Negative Letter Reason
Refusal
Alternative
Goodwill Ending
Site to See
Go to www.useit.com/ alertbox/20000123.html General guidelines for saying “no” can be applied to specific situations. Computer expert Jakob Neilsen explains how to tell users that your website can’t do what they want.
Go to
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Module 11 Negative Messages 167
Weak reason: I cannot write an insurance policy for you because company policy does not allow me to do so.
Better reason: Gorham insures cars only when they are normally garaged at night. Standard insurance policies cover a wider variety of risks and charge higher fees. Limiting the policies we write gives Gorham customers the lowest possible rates for auto insurance.
Figure 11.2 A Negative Letter
Dear Policyholder:
When your auto insurance is renewed, it will no longer include liability coverage unless you select the new Assurance Plan. Here’s why.
Liability coverage is being discontinued. It, and the part of the premium which paid for it, will be dropped from all policies when they are renewed.
This could leave a gap in your protection. But you can replace the old Liability Coverage with Vickers’ new Assurance Plan.
With the new Assurance Plan, you receive benefits for litigation or awards arising from an accident--regardless of who’s at fault. The cost for the Assurance Plan at any level is based on the ages of drivers, where you live, your driving record, and other factors. If these change before your policy is renewed, the cost of your Assurance Plan may also change. The actual cost will be listed in your renewal statement.
To sign up for the Assurance Plan, just check the level of coverage you want on the enclosed form and return it in the postage-paid envelope within 14 days. You'll be assured of the coverage you select.
Sincerely,
C. J. Morgan President
P.S. The Assurance Plan protects you against possible legal costs arising from an accident. Sign up for the Plan today and receive full coverage from Vickers.
Insurance Company 3373 Forbes Avenue Rosemont, PA 19010
(215) 555-0100 Liability Coverage
Is Being Discontinued— Here’s How to Replace It!
Negative information highlighted so reader won’
t ignore message.
Forward-looking ending emphasizes reader’s choice.
Alternative
Alternative
Negative
Positive information underlined for emphas
is.
No reason is given. The change probably benefits
the company
rather than the
reader, so it is
omitted.
Negat ive
Alter native
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168
Thinking about the Legal Implications of What You Say LO 11-3
Building a Critical Skill
Any message that is recorded—on paper (even a napkin), on a disk or hard drive, on voice mail—can be subpoenaed in a legal case. During the government’s months-long case against Microsoft in the late 1990s, e-mail messages figured prominently as evidence. Even an electronic message that has been erased can be reconstituted by experts, and serv- ers can be hacked, as was the case at the University of East Anglia, where hundreds of e-mails from prominent British and American climate researchers, some suggesting to critics that data might have been manipulated or withheld, under- mined their public image. In any message you write, how- ever informal or hurried, you need to be sure to say exactly what you mean.
Dell, Inc., and its financial service affiliate in New York were sued after about 700 complaints flooded the office of Andrew Cuomo, the state’s attorney general. At heart was whether Dell had engaged in “bait and switch,” with salespeople promis- ing customers 0% financing but then tricking them into higher interest rates. According to Paul Reisner, who had excellent credit and owned his own home, the company informed him that he’d never qualified for 0% financing and then promptly obligated him to pay a 29% interest rate.
Thinking about the legal implications of what you say is particularly important in negative messages. In an effort to cushion bad news, writers sometimes give reasons that create legal liabilities. For example, as Elizabeth McCord has shown, the statement that a plant is “too noisy and dan- gerous” for a group tour could be used as evidence against the company in a worker’s compensation claim. In another case, a writer telling a job candidate that the firm had hired
someone else said that he thought she was the best candidate. She sued and won.
People have found themselves in hot water for posting neg- ative information on the Internet. Alan and Linda Townsend were sued after launching a website to complain about the quality of a product, Spray on Siding, used on their house. The suit alleged the site infringed on the company’s trade- marks, defamed its product, and intentionally misled and con- fused consumers. An automobile club in California fired 27 workers for posting offensive material. A Boston University instructor blogged about an attractive student and was dis- missed, as was a nanny who revealed too much about herself and her employers.
You don’t need to be a lawyer to figure out what to say—or not to say. Think about how a reasonable person might interpret your words. If that interpretation isn’t what you mean, revise the passage so that it says what you mean.
Sources: Andrew C. Revkin, “Hacked E-Mail Is New Fodder for Climate Dispute,” The New York Times, November 20, 2009, http://www.nytimes. com/2009/11/21/science/earth/21climate.html?_r 5 1 ; “Unethical Sales Practice Lands Dell in Legal Trouble,” June 6, 2007, downloaded at http://in.ibtimes.com/articles/20070606/unethical-sales-practice-lands- dell-in-legal-trouble.htm ; Elizabeth A. McCord, “The Business Writer, the Law, and Routine Business Communication. A Legal and Rhetorical Analysis,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication 5, no. 2 (1991): 173–99; Charles Odum, “Complaints Posted on website Spark Lawsuit,” USAToday, November 5, 2004, downloaded at www.usatoday. com/tech/news/techpolicy/2004-11-05-complaints-site-suit_x.htm ; and Stacy Burling, “Blogs Can Help Boost a Career or Sink It,” September 13, 2005, downloaded at http://news.yahoo.com/s/sv/20050913/ tc_siliconvalley/_www12634035 .
Avoid saying that you cannot do something. Most negative messages exist because the writer or company has chosen certain policies or cutoff points. In the preceding example, the company could choose to insure a wider variety of customers if it wanted to do so.
Often you will enforce policies you did not design. Don’t pass the buck by saying, “This is a terrible policy.” Carelessly criticizing your superiors is never a good idea. If you really think a policy is bad, try to persuade your superiors to change it. If you can’t think of convincing reasons to change the policy, maybe it isn’t so bad after all.
If you have several reasons for saying no, use only those that are strong and watertight. If you give five reasons and readers dismiss two of them, readers may feel that they’ve won and should get the request.
Weak reason: You cannot store large bulky items in the dormitory over the summer because moving them into and out of storage would tie up the stairs and the elevators just at the busiest times when people are moving in and out.
Way to dismiss We’ll move large items before or after the two days when most the reason: people are moving in or out.
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Module 11 Negative Messages 169
If you do not have a good reason, omit the reason rather than use a weak one. Even if you have a strong reason, omit it if it makes the company look bad.
Reason that Our company is not hiring at the present time because profits hurts company: are down. In fact, the downturn has prompted top management to reduce the
salaried staff by 5% just this month, with perhaps more reductions to come. Better: Our company does not have any openings now.
Refusals Deemphasize the refusal by putting it in the same paragraph as the reason, rather than in a paragraph by itself.
Sometimes you may be able to imply the refusal rather than stating it directly.
Direct refusal: You cannot get insurance for just one month. Implied refusal: The shortest term for an insurance policy is six months.
Be sure that the implication is crystal clear. Any message can be misunderstood, but an optimistic or desperate reader is particularly unlikely to understand a negative message. One of your purposes in a negative message is to close the door on the subject. You do not want to have to write a second letter saying that the real answer is no.
Alternatives Giving the reader an alternative or a compromise, if one is available,
• Offers the reader another way to get what he or she wants. • Suggests that you really care about the reader and about helping to meet his or
her needs. • Enables the reader to reestablish the psychological freedom you limited when you
said no. • Allows you to end on a positive note and to present yourself and your organization as
positive, friendly, and helpful.
When you give an alternative, give readers all the information they need to act on it, but don’t take the necessary steps. Let readers decide whether to try the alternative.
Negative messages limit the reader’s freedom. People may respond to a limitation of freedom by asserting their freedom in some other arena. Jack W. Brehm calls this phenomenon psychological reactance. 1 Psychological reactance is at work when a cus- tomer who has been denied credit no longer buys even on a cash basis or a subordinate who has been passed over for a promotion gets back at the company by deliberately doing a poor job.
Instant Replay
Organizing Letters to Customers
1. Give the reason for the refusal before the refusal itself when you have a reason that readers will understand and accept.
2. Give the negative just once, clearly.
3. Present an alternative or compromise, if one is available.
4. End with a positive, forward-looking statement.
I R
Organizing L
The alternative of working from home may be sending a negative message at the office, according to a study by Kimberly Elsbach, of the University of California, Davis, and Daniel Cable, of London Business School. “Face time” at the office generated a more positive image of workers than working outside the office. Wrote Elsbach and Cable: “Just being seen at work, without any information about what you’re actually doing, leads people to think more highly of you.”
Source: Chana R. Schoenberger, “Working from Home? Beware a Career Hit,” The Wall Street Journal, July 13, 2012, http:// blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2012/07/13/ working-from-home-beware-a- careerhit/?KEYWORDS 5 good 1 news 1 .
Psychological reactance often triggers questionable behavior.
Non Sequitur © 1997 Wiley Miller. Reprinted by permission of Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
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170 Unit Three Letters, Memos, E-Mail, and Web Writing
Alternative
April 27, 2012
Mr. H. J. Moody Canton Corporation 2407 North Avenue Kearney, NE 68847
Subject: Bid Number 5853, Part Number D-40040
Dear Mr. Moody:
Thank you for requesting our quotation on your Part No. D-40040.
Your blueprints call for flame-cut rings 1/2" thick A516 grade 70. To use that grade, we’d have to grind down from 1" thick material. However, if you can use A515 grade 70, which we stock in 1/2" thick, you can cut the price by more than half.
Quantity Description Gross Weight Price/Each
75 Rings Drawing D-40040, 12 lbs. $15.08 A516 Grade 70 1" thick x 6" O.D. x 2.8" I.D. ground to .5" thick.
75 Rings Drawing D-40040, 6 lbs. $6.91 A515 Grade 70 1/2" thick x 6" O.D. x 2.8" I.D.
(Depending on circumstances,
different alternatives may exist.)
Leaves decision up to read er to re-
establish psychological fre edom.
Buffer
Reason
“Serving the needs of America since 1890” 1800 Olney Avenue • Philadelphia, PA 19140 • 215•555•7800 • Fax: 215•555•9803
Stee l Fabrication Stee l Fabrication
If you can use A515 grade 70, let me know.
Sincerely,
Valerie Prynne VP:wc
Figure 11.3 A Refusal with an Alternative
An alternative allows the reader to react in a way that doesn’t hurt you. By letting read- ers decide for themselves whether they want the alternative, you allow them to reestablish their sense of psychological freedom.
The specific alternative will vary depending on the circumstances. In Figure 11.3 , the company is unwilling to quote a price on an item on which it cannot be competitive. In dif- ferent circumstances, the writer might offer different alternatives.
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Endings If you have a good alternative, refer to it in your ending: “Let me know if you can use A515 grade 70.”
The best endings look to the future, as in this letter refusing to continue a charge account for a customer who has moved.
Journalist Lynze Wardle Lenio notes that some types of bosses make employees so uncomfortable that she calls them “toxic.’ The Slacker spends most of his or her time on trivial projects, only to panic when deadlines approach. The Land Mine explodes in anger when, despite a long list of successes, an employee errs in some relatively minor way. Knowing what type of boss you have is vital to understanding how best to work with him or her. The good news is that most bosses want to work well with their employees.
Source: Lynze Wardle Lenio, “4 Types of Toxic Bosses—and How to Handle Them,” Forbes, May 25, 2012, http://www.forbes.com/ sites/dailymuse/2012/05/25/4- types-of-toxic-bosses-and-how-to- handlethem/ .
Shared Problem
Details
Alternatives
Request for Action
Figure 11.4 How to Organize a Negative Memo to Your Superior
Wherever you have your account, you’ll continue to get all the service you’ve learned to expect from CHARGE-ALL and the convenience of charging items at over a million stores, restaurants, and hotels in the U.S. and abroad—and in Knoxville, too, whenever you come back to visit!
Avoid endings that seem insincere.
This ending lacks you-attitude and would not be good even in a positive message. In a situation where the company has just refused to help, it’s likely to sound sarcastic or mean.
Giving Bad News to Superiors
Your superior expects you to solve minor problems by yourself. But sometimes, solving a problem requires more authority or resources than you have. When you give bad news to a superior, also recommend a way to deal with the problem. Turn the negative message into a persuasive one.
1. Describe the problem. Tell what’s wrong, clearly and unemotionally. 2. Tell how it happened. Provide the background. What underlying factors led to this
specific problem? 3. Describe the options for fixing it. If one option is clearly best, you may need to
discuss only one. But if the reader will think of other options, or if different people will judge the options differently, describe all the options, giving their advantages and disadvantages.
4. Recommend a solution and ask for action. Ask for approval so you can to make the necessary changes to fix the problem.
Figure 11.4 summarizes the pattern.
We are happy to have been of service, and should we be able to assist you in the future, please contact us.
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Giving Bad News to Peers and Subordinates
When you must pass along serious bad news to peers and subordinates, use a variation of the pattern to superiors:
1. Describe the problem. Tell what’s wrong, clearly and unemotionally. 2. Present an alternative or compromise, if one is available. An alternative gives readers
another way to get what they want and also suggests that you care about readers and helping them meet their needs.
3. If possible, ask for input or action. People in the audience may be able to suggest solutions. And workers who help make a decision are far more likely to accept the consequences.
Figure 11.5 summarizes this pattern. No serious negative (such as being downsized or laid off) should come as a complete
surprise. Managers can prepare for possible negatives by giving full information as it becomes available. It is also possible to let the people who will be affected by a decision participate in setting the criteria. Someone who has bought into the criteria for awarding cash for suggestions or retaining workers is more likely to accept decisions using such criteria. And in some cases, the synergism of groups may make possible ideas that man- agement didn’t think of or rejected as “unacceptable.” Some workplaces, for example, might decide to reduce everyone’s pay slightly rather than laying off some individuals. Employee suggestions enabled Mentor Training, a San Jose company providing software training, to cut its payroll by 30% without laying off any full-time employees. 2
When the bad news is less serious, as in Figure 11.6 , use the pattern for negative letters unless your knowledge of the reader(s) suggests that another pattern will be more effective.
For memos, the context of communication is crucial. The reader’s reaction is influenced by the following factors:
• Do you and the reader have a good relationship? • Does the organization treat people well? • Have readers been warned of possible negatives? • Have readers “bought into” the criteria for the decision? • Do communications after the negative build goodwill?
When should I consider using a buffer? LO 11-4 ▶ When the reader values harmony or when the buffer also serves another purpose.
To some writers and readers, the direct patterns used in the previous section may seem too blunt. You may want to begin messages with a buffer when the reader (individually or culturally) values harmony or when the buffer serves another purpose. For example, when you must thank the reader somewhere in the letter, putting the “thank you” in the first para- graph allows you to start on a positive note.
A buffer is a neutral or positive statement that allows you to delay the negative. Recent research suggests that buffers do not make readers respond more positively, 3 and good buffers are very hard to write. However, in special situations, you may want to use a buffer.
Blogger and management guru Peter Bregman believes that honesty is “much more compelling, powerful, and effective than the alternative,” and that employees want honesty from bosses. He cites a survey by one of his clients that found, for instance, that the number one behavior distinguishing the best managers from others is their ability to honestly ask for help from employees. Bregman’s position is supported by others, including author Terry Bacon, whose findings published in What People Want reveal that honesty is the foremost thing employees want from leaders.
Sources: Peter Bregman, “Do People Really Want You to Be Honest?” Harvard Business Review, January 10, 2012, http://blogs.hbr. org/bregman/2012/01/do-people- really-want-you-to-b.html ; and “9 Things Employees Want from Their Managers (and 5 Things They Don’t),” Business Management Daily, May 21, 2012, http:// www.businessmanagementdaily. com/11630/9-things-employees- want-from-theirmanagers-and-5- things-they-dont .
Shared Problem
Alternatives
Request for Action
Figure 11.5 How to Organize a Negative Memo to Peers or Subordinates
Site to See
Go to http://researchnews.osu. edu/archive/nobuffer.htm for a summary of Kitty Locker’s research on negative messages.
Go to
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Module 11 Negative Messages 173
Date: January 10, 2013
To: All Employees
From: Floyd E. Loer, Dorothy A. Walters, and Stewart Mattson
Subject: Accounting for Work Missed Due to Bad Weather
Olentangy County Services are always open for our customers, whatever the weather. Employees who missed work during the snowstorm last week may count the absence as vacation, sick, or personal day(s).
Hourly workers who missed less than a day have the option of taking the missed time as vacation, sick, or personal hour(s) or of being paid only for the hour(s) they worked.
Approval of vacation or personal days will be automatic; the normal requirement of giving at least 24 hours’ notice is waived.
Thanks for all the efforts you have made to continue giving our customers the best possible service during one of the snowiest winters on record.
Reason
Refusal, stated as positively as possible
One small positive
Goodwill ending
Memo Board of County Commissioners
Olentangy County, Nebraska
Figure 11.6 A Negative Memo to Subordinates
Instant Replay
Organizing Bad News to Superiors
1. Describe the problem. 2. Tell how it happened. 3. Describe the options for
fixing it. 4. Recommend a solution and
ask for action.
I R
Organizing B
To be effective, a buffer must put the reader in a good frame of mind, not give the bad news but not imply a positive answer either, and provide a natural transition to the body of the letter. The kinds of statements most often used as buffers are good news, facts and chronologies of events, references to enclosures, thanks, and statements of principle.
1. Start with any good news or positive elements the letter contains.
Starting Thursday, June 26, you’ll have access to your money 24 hours a day at First National Bank.
Letter announcing that the drive-up windows will be closed for two days while automatic teller machines are installed
2. State a fact or provide a chronology of events.
As a result of the new graduated dues schedule—determined by vote of the Delegate Assembly last December and subsequently endorsed by the Executive Council— members are now asked to establish their own dues rate and to calculate the total amount of their remittance.
Announcement of a new dues structure that will raise most members’ dues
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174 Unit Three Letters, Memos, E-Mail, and Web Writing
3. Refer to enclosures in the letter.
Instant Replay
Organizing Bad News to Peers and Subordinates
1. Describe the problem. 2. Present an alternative
or compromise, if one is available.
3. If possible, ask for input or action.
I R
Organizing B Enclosed is a new sticker for your car. You may pick up additional ones in the office if needed. Please destroy old stickers bearing the signature of “L.S. LaVoie.”
Letter announcing increase in parking rental rates
Thank you for scheduling appointments for me with so many senior people at First National Bank. My visit there March 14 was very informative.
Letter refusing a job offer
Good drivers should pay substantially less for their auto insurance. The Good Driver Plan was created to reward good drivers (those with five-year accident-free records) with our lowest available rates. A change in the plan, effective January 1, will help keep those rates low.
Letter announcing that the company will now count traffic tickets, not just accidents, in calculating insurance rates—a change that will raise many people’s premiums
4. Thank the reader for something he or she has done.
5. State a general principle.
Buffers are hard to write. Even if you think the reader would prefer to be let down easily, use a buffer only when you can write a good one.
It’s better not to use a buffer (1) if the reader may ignore a letter with a bland first para- graph, (2) if the reader or the organization prefers “bottom-line-first messages,” (3) if the reader is suspicious of the writer, or (4) if the reader “won’t take no for an answer.”
What are the most common kinds of negative messages? LO 11-5 ▶ Rejections and refusals, disciplinary notices and negative performance appraisals, and
layoffs and firings.
Among the most difficult kinds of negative messages to write are rejections and refusals, disciplinary notices and negative performance appraisals, and layoffs and firings.
Rejections and Refusals
When you refuse requests from people outside your organization, try to use a buffer. Give an alternative if one is available. For example, if you are denying credit, it may still be pos- sible for the reader to put an expensive item on layaway.
Politeness and length help. Graduating seniors at a southwestern university pre- ferred rejection letters that addressed them as Mr./Ms. rather than calling them by
Being fired from a job is usually the worst kind of message an employee can receive, but sometimes the reasons add insult to injury. When a yoga instructor gave a stern look to a Facebook employee texting in the middle of half-moon pose, she had no idea it would lead to her termination from the third-party contractor she worked for. Included in her termination letter was a complaint from the employee. Fourteen employees at the law offices of Elizabeth R. Wellborn were fired, allegedly for all wearing orange shirts on the same day. And employees have been let go after using social media to express their opinions, including a bartender who griped online about having to help waitresses serve food but not being allowed to share their tips.
Sources: Deanne Katz, “Yoga Teacher Fired for Telling Facebook Employee ‘No Phones,’” July 13, 2012, http://www.reuters. com/article/2012/07/13/ tagblogsfindlawcom2012- legallyweird-idUS134598 457920120713 ; Eric Pfeiffer,
(continued)
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Module 11 Negative Messages 175
their first names, that said something specific about their good qualities, that phrased the refusal itself indirectly, and that were longer. 4 An experiment using a denial of additional insurance found that subjects preferred a rejection letter that was lon- ger, more tactful, and more personal. The preferred letter started with a buffer, used a good reason for the refusal, and offered a sales promotion in the last paragraph. The finding held both for English-speaking U.S. subjects and for Spanish-speaking Mexican subjects. 5
When you refuse requests within your organization, use your knowledge of the organi- zation’s culture and of the specific individual to craft your message. In some organizations, it may be appropriate to use company slogans, offer whatever help already-established departments can give, and refer to the individual’s good work. In less personal organiza- tions, a simple negative without embellishment may be more appropriate.
Disciplinary Notices and Negative Performance Appraisals
Present disciplinary notices and negative performance appraisals directly, with no buffer. A buffer might encourage the recipient to minimize the message’s importance—and might even become evidence in a court case that the employee had not been told to shape up “or else.” Cite quantifiable observations of the employee’s behavior, rather than generaliza- tions or inferences based on it. If an employee is disciplined by being laid off without pay, specify when the employee is to return.
Performance appraisals are discussed in detail in Module 12 on persuasive messages. Performance appraisals will be persuasive when they are designed to help a basically good employee improve. But when an employee violates a company rule or fails to improve after repeated appraisals, the company may discipline the employee or build a dossier to support firing him or her.
Layoffs and Firings
Information about layoffs and firings is normally delivered orally but accompanied by a written statement explaining severance pay or unemployment benefits that may be avail- able. The written statement should start either with the reason or with the decision itself. A buffer would not be appropriate.
If a company is in financial trouble, management needs to communicate the problem clearly long before it is necessary to lay anyone off. Sharing information and enlisting everyone’s help in finding solutions may make it possible to save jobs. Sharing informa- tion also means that layoff notices, if they become necessary, will be a formality; they should not be new information to employees.
Before you fire someone, double-check the facts. Make sure the employee has been told about the problem and that he or she will be fired if the problem is not corrected. Give the employee the real reason for the firing. Offering a face-saving reason unrelated to poor performance can create legal liabilities. But avoid broadcasting the reason to other people: to do so can leave the company liable to a defamation suit. 6
How can I apply what I’ve learned in this module? LO 11-6 ▶ Plan your activities and answer the PAIBOC questions.
Before you tackle the assignments for this module, examine the following problem. Figure 11.7 lists the necessary activities. As in Module 10, the PAIBOC questions probe
Harvard College received kudos for the softer tone of its rejection letters to applicants, which included statements like, “Past experience suggests that the particular college a student attends is far less important than what the student does to develop his or her strengths and talents over the next four years.”
Source: “Rejection: Some Colleges Do It Better than Others,” The Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2009, B9.
Instant Replay
Effective Buffers
To be effective, a buffer must put the reader in a good frame of mind, not give the bad news but not imply a positive answer either, and provide a natural transition to the body of the letter.
I R
Effective Bu
“Law Firm Fires 14 Employees for Wearing Orange Shirts,” March 19, 2012, http://news. yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/ law-firm-fires-14-employees- wearing-orangeshirts-181404912. html; and Kashmir Hill, “When You Can and Can’t Fire Employees for Social Media Misbehavior,” Forbes, September 25, 2011, http://www.forbes.com/sites/ kashmirhill/2011/08/25/when- you-can-and-cant-fire-employees- forsocial-media-misbehavior/.
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176 Unit Three Letters, Memos, E-Mail, and Web Writing
the basic points required for a solution. Study the two sample solutions to see what makes one unacceptable and the other one good. The checklist at the end of the module in Figure 11.10 can help you evaluate a draft.
Problem
You’re Director of Employee Benefits for a Fortune 500 company. Today, you received the following memo:
A problem for Denmark’s Lego Group, makers of the wildly popular blocks and play sets, may be that too many of the company’s toys are marketed to boys at the expense of girls and thus send a negative message. Critics observe that of the 545 offerings from the company, almost all cater to concepts traditionally associated with boys: trains, rockets, helicopters, and spaceships. Said Peggy Orenstein, author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter, a satirical look at how the toy industry exploits the “princess phase” for girls, “They might as well have a No Girls Allowed Sign.” Gender stereotyping aside, the company’s solution is to introduce more toys aimed specifically at girls, including “American Girl Dolls” and “Lego Friends,” or kits that let girls choose from multiple scenarios while building and socializing with each other.
Figure 11.7 Allocating Time in Writing a Negative Memo (Your time may vary.)
Memo denying matching funds. Total time: 3 hours
Planning Understand the situation. Answer the PAIBOC questions (◀◀ Module 1). Think about document design (◀◀ Module 5). Organize the message.
1 hour
Writing Draft the memo.
½ hour
Revising Reread draft. Measure draft against PAIBOC questions and checklist
for negative messages (Figure 11.10). Revise draft. Ask for feedback. Revise draft based on feedback. Edit to catch grammatical errors. Run spell-check. Proof by eye. Initial memo. Put in interoffice mail.
1½ hours
From: Michelle Jagtiani
Subject: Getting My Retirement Benefits
Next Friday will be my last day here. I am leaving [name of company] to take a position at another firm.
Please process a check for my retirement benefits, including both the deductions from my salary and the company’s contributions for the last three and a half years. I would like to receive the check by next Friday if possible.
You have bad news for Michelle. Although the company does contribute an amount to the retirement fund equal to the amount deducted for retirement from the employee’s paycheck, employees who leave with less than five years of employment get only their own contributions. Michelle will get back only the money that has been deducted from her
Delivering bad news is especially tough when it comes to firing someone. Jonathan A. Segal suggests avoiding common phrases like “We had no choice but to terminate your employment”—justifications that may actually anger the employee.
Source: Jonathan A. Segal, “10 Things Not to Say When Firing an Employee,” BusinessWeek, November 17, 2009, http:// www.businessweek.com/ managing/content/nov2009/ ca2009119_982182.htm .
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Module 11 Negative Messages 177
own pay, plus 4% interest compounded quarterly. Her payments and interest come to just over $17,200; the amount could be higher depending on the amount of her last paycheck, which will include compensation for any unused vacation days and sick leave. Further- more, because the amounts deducted were not considered taxable income, she will have to pay income tax on the money she will receive.
You cannot process the check until after her resignation is effective, so you will mail it to her. You have her home address on file; if she’s moving, she needs to let you know where to send the check. Processing the check may take two to three weeks.
Write a memo to Michelle.
Analysis of the Problem
P What are your purposes in writing or speaking? To tell her that she will get only her own contributions, plus 4% interest compounded quarterly; that the check will be mailed to her home address two to three weeks after her last day on the job; and that the money will be taxable as income.
To build goodwill so that she feels she has been treated fairly and consistently. To minimize negative feelings she may have.
To close the door on this subject.
A Who is (are) your audience(s)? How do the members of your audience differ from each other? What characteristics are relevant to this particular message?
Michelle Jagtiani. Unless she’s a personal friend, I probably wouldn’t know why she’s leaving and where she’s going.
There’s a lot I don’t know. She may or may not know much about taxes; she may or may not be able to take advantage of tax-reduction strategies. I can’t assume the answers because I wouldn’t have them in real life.
I What information must your message include? When the check will come. The facts that the check will be based on her contributions, not her employer’s, and that the money will be taxable income. How lump-sum retirement benefits are calculated. The fact that we have her current address on file but need a new address if she’s moving.
B What reasons or reader benefits can you use to support your position? Giving the amount currently in her account may make her feel she is getting a significant sum of money. Suggesting someone who can give free tax advice (if the company offers this as a fringe benefit) reminds her of the benefits of working with the company. Wishing her luck with her new job is a nice touch.
O What objections can you expect your reader(s) to have? What negative elements of your message must you deemphasize or overcome?
She is getting about half the amount she expected, because she gets no matching funds.
She might have been able to earn more than 4% interest if she had invested the money herself. Depending on her personal tax situation, she may pay more tax on the money as a lump sum than would have been due had she paid it each year as she earned the money.
C How will the context affect the reader’s response? Think about your relationship to the reader, morale in the organization, the economy, the time of year, and any special circumstances.
The stock market has been doing poorly; 4% interest is pretty good.
Though more education typically translates into more income and higher job satisfaction, a recent study by GfK Custom Research North America suggests employees with the most education also experience the most workplace stress. Concerns about job security and dwindling workplace resources are affecting Americans with advanced degrees, leading to a rise in voluntary workplace turnover despite tough economic times. What seems like an obvious benefit can sometimes come with hidden detriments.
Source: Chad Brooks, “Best- Educated Americans Experience the Most Stress at Work,” Business News Daily, June 14, 2011, http:// www.businessnewsdaily.com/ work-related-stress-1403/ .
Source: Brad Wieners, “Lego Is for Girls,” Bloomberg Businessweek, December 14, 2011, http:// www.businessweek.com/printer/ articles/21120-lego-is-for-girls.
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Give reason before refusal.
April 20, 2013
To: Michelle Jagtiani
From Lisa Niaz
Subject Denial of Matching Funds
You cannot receive a check the last day of work and you will get only your own contributions, not a matching sum from the company, because you have not worked for the company for at least five full years.
Your payments and interest come to just over $17,200; the amount could be higher depending on the amount of your last paycheck, which will include compensation for any unused vacation days and sick leave. Furthermore, since the amounts deducted were not considered taxable income, you will have to pay income tax on the money you receive.
The check will be sent to your home address. If the address we have on file is incorrect, please correct it so that your check is not delayed.
This is lifted straight from the problem. The language in problems is often negative and stuffy; information is disorganized.
Think about the situation, and use your own words t
o
create a satisfactory mes sage.
Negative
How will reader know what you have on file?
Better to give current add ress as you have it.
Better to be specific
Figure 11.8 An Unacceptable Solution to the Sample Problem
Discussion of the Sample Solutions
The solution in Figure 11.8 is not acceptable. The subject line gives a blunt negative with no reason or alternative. The first sentence has a condescending tone that is particularly offensive in negative messages. The last sentence focuses on what is being taken away rather than what remains. Paragraph 2 lacks you-attitude and is vague. The memo ends with a negative. There is nothing anywhere in the memo to build goodwill.
The solution in Figure 11.9 , in contrast, is very good. The policy serves as a buffer and explanation. The negative is stated clearly but is buried in the paragraph to avoid overem- phasizing it. The paragraph ends on a positive note by specifying the amount in the account and the fact that the sum might be even higher.
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April 20, 2013
To: Michelle Jagtiani
From: Lisa Niaz
Subject: Receiving Employee Contributions from Retirement Accounts
Employees who leave the company with at least five full years of employment are entitled both to the company contributions and the retirement benefit paycheck deductions contributed to retirement accounts. Those employees who leave the company with less than five years of employment will receive the employee paycheck contributions made to their retirement accounts.
You now have $17,240.62 in your account, which includes 4% interest compounded quarterly. The amount you receive could be even higher since you will also receive payment for any unused sick leave and vacation days.
Because you now have access to the account, the amount you receive will be considered taxable income. Beth Jordan in Employee Financial Services can give you information about possible tax deductions and financial investments which can reduce your income taxes.
The check will be sent to your home address on May 16. The address we have on file is 2724 Merriman Road, Akron, Ohio 44313. If your address changes, please let us know so you can receive your check promptly.
Good luck with your new job!
Good to be specific
Forward-looking
Positive
Good to show how company
can help
Good to state
reason in
third-pers on
to deemphas
ize negative
Good to b e
specific
Figure 11.9 A Good Solution to the Sample Problem
Paragraph 3 contains the additional negative information that the amount will be tax- able but offers the alternative that it may be possible to reduce taxes. The writer builds goodwill by suggesting a specific person the reader could contact.
Paragraph 4 tells the reader what address is in the company files (Michelle may not know whether the files are up-to-date), asks that she update it if necessary, and ends with the reader’s concern: getting her check promptly.
The final paragraph ends on a positive note. This generalized goodwill is appropriate when the writer does not know the reader well.
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