Purpose
Unfortunately, in business, not all messages are positive or even routine. Negative, or “bad news,” messages are also relatively common. These kinds of messages include rejecting job applicants; denying claims from customers or requests from employees; disagreeing with a co-worker’s suggestion or idea; notifying your supervisor or customers of a mistake you made; and many more. Because these kinds of communication send negative messages, it is especially important to use respect, courtesy, and care so that the receiver maintains a positive (or at least neutral) impression of you and the company for which you work.
The Scenario
You are the CEO of BearKat Business and Economic Research (or B2ER), located in San Diego, California. Recently, your company has moved to a remote model for employees—in other words, roughly half of your employees will be working from home on a permanent basis.
Many of BER’s current employees—all of whom live in the San Diego metro—are excited about the change, because it means they can live and work anywhere in the U.S. San Diego has one of the highest costs of living in the country, and salaries in the metro tend to be higher as well. Your employees have done the math, and their San Diego salaries will allow them to live like kings and queens in places like Tulsa, Oklahoma, or Jonesboro, Arkansas, or McAllen, Texas. Thus many of your employees are planning to leave San Diego for greener (and cheaper) pastures.
This strikes you as a pretty good idea, actually. The lease you pay on your office facilities is sky-high; and with the switch to remote work, you were considering looking for smaller, less-expensive facilities in the San Diego suburbs. But if you are going to move anyway, why not go even farther afield? Why not relocate the entire company to one of the less expensive cities your employees have been researching?
Your Task
Compose an email to all B2ER employees announcing that the company will be relocating to a new city. If you’d like, you can choose the city you wrote about in the Writing Excercise in Unit 4. If you’re feeling ambitious, though, you can choose a different city.
This email has two goals:
announcing the relocation, including the new city and a time frame.
convincing the employees to remain employed with B2ER. (Remember, some of your employees may want to stay in San Diego; even those who are thinking of moving may not want to move to city YOU have chosen for the new company headquarters. Therefore, this should be treated as a negative message with persuasive elements.)
Your message should:
Be in proper email format. See Ch. 7 for examples.
Be in proper indirect format. Use the Hamburger model. See Chapter 11 video and the rubric.
In the explanation section, discuss benefits TO THE EMPLOYEES of relocating to your chosen city. In addition to the cost of living, you can talk about the amenities and other topics you discussed in the Writing Exercise in Unit 4. You may do new research if you want.
Cite the sources you used in your explanation section and include the full reference at the end of the message. Follow proper APA format.
In the redirect, talk about what will happen next on a practical level. Mention the town halls. See the example in the Chapter 11 video and the rubric for ideas.
Be between 250 and 500 words
Be free of errors and typos.
When writing your message, think about the following questions:
In what ways can you persuade your employees that this new policy will be beneficial?
In what ways can you demonstrate care and courtesy?
What potential concerns/complaints might your employees have? How can you address them in this message?
What information would help your receivers understand the need for the policy?
What details do your receivers need?
How will you ensure a positive working relationship in the future? How can you demonstrate good will?
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