Technical Writing

WR227 Case Studies Dr. Wiseman Bad News Letters

Choose ONE of the two cases below. Be creative in using dates, numbers, specific details to make your “Reasons” section convincing. You must use the correct business letter format (heading, inside address, correct margins, and so on) shown in Chapter 14 of the Markel text. For content, use the indirect bad news structure I have given you in the IEEE article and online lecture. DO NOT USE software templates.

1-Herman Schmelling has just received a "very poor" performance evaluation after two years with your company. His first two evaluations were above average in every area except "professional development." After the second evaluation, you advised him to attend professional workshops, seminars, and conferences, and to become more active in professional organizations. As far as you can see (documented company records and your discussion with Ms. Laurel Jenkins, his immediate supervisor, on June 10, 2010), he has done nothing to increase his professional development, and now his latest evaluation indicates that he is below the average in all categories. Herman is a technical writer with a B.S. in technical communications and a minor in business management. You think that you want to keep him on staff but you need improvement in all phases of his work, but you must have his performance back up to its earlier (2011 & 2012) above-average or better standards. Structure a message that gives him the bad news about his evaluation and informs him that he must improve or be fired. Also inform him that he is now on "probation" and will be re-evaluated in three months, at which time he will be fired if he has not made satisfactory improvement in all areas. Using the indirect bad news structure, write a one-page letter to Mr. Schmelling.

2-A junior engineer, Terry Smith, whom you hired, came to you last week with a request for a 20 percent salary raise. In your office, his tone was professional and assertive, and he was not “demanding,” although you could see in his eyes that he was extremely serious about receiving a sizeable raise. He cited his excellent work record and unsolicited client letters commending his performance. His performance evaluations bear out the fact that he's a topnotch performer and hard worker. The problem is, you do not have the amount he wants allocated for your next budget that comes out January 1, 2013, mainly because the salary increases were calculated back in June 2012. The next raise cycle will not be until next June, although you know that you have a certain “slush fund” available for company emergencies. Part of your mental challenge with this case is to decide if this valuable young engineer’s request now constitutes an emergency for you and the company. In addition, if you approve the 20-percent raise, he would be the highest paid engineer in his section, which includes three engineers who have been with the firm 10 years or longer. They also are topnotch professionals with many award-winning projects. He has been with you for four years. You must explain to him that you can't give him the entire raise he asks for, and yet you definitely want to keep him with the company. Write a letter to him explaining why you can't give him the entire raise, but you can offer him a smaller raise: this smaller amount would have to be parceled out over the next six months as your business cycles into next year’s evaluation of salary increases. You are the top executive with the company, and the board of directors is aware of Mr. Smith’s growing professional reputation and value (but most board members have great loyalty to the other three engineers with company seniority). Using the indirect bad news structure, write a one-page letter to Mr. Smith.