Reference no: EM133238858 , Length: word count:600
Strategic Managerial Communication
Delivering Bad News
"Bad news isn't wine. It doesn't get better with age."
Context and Purpose
Delivering bad news poses multiple communication challenges. On one hand, some are often compelled to deliver bad news in the "least painful" way possible, but at times this can create an unclear and indirect message that only serves to confuse. On the other hand, some can be brutally honest, refusing to sacrifice their clarity for empathetic or tone-sensitive language, thus causing a perception of cold and uncaring. The process of delivering bad or unsettling news, especially as a manager, can be a prime opportunity to assess one's communication effectiveness and skillset.
Assignment Overview
For this assignment, you will assume the role of Sam Dawkins, Human Resource Manager at Rizeo, a moderate-size manufacturing organization that produces plastic storage containers. This (fictitious) organization is located in rural Kentucky and employs 1,100 full-time employees.
After a series of meetings, Rizeo's leadership team decided a change needed to be made to employee benefits to reduce cost as an attempt to offset consistent down years in production and a declining market. Communicating benefit changes of this nature are particularly difficult, as the topic can become very personal to both the writer and the receiver. Your goal is to write a document (format of your choosing) that persuasively communicates the benefit change to employees in a way that reduces resistance and increases understanding for the rationale.
Scenario: To reduce expenses, your organization has elected to keep their current health insurance provider, but eliminate their use of the most popular plan, that included a lower deductible. The old plan had a $1,500.00 deductible, whereas the new plan has a 3,000 dollar deductible. This change, while one of many made by the organization, is projected to save the company a large but unspecified amount of money (effective first of the year).
Receivers: Like any manufacturing plant, Rizeo has a diverse group of employees. Yet, statistically, the largest group of employees falls within the 50-64 year old demographic. Rumors are circling that some employees will quit if this change is made, but leadership believes that limited employer alternatives in the small rural town make this outcome unlikely. To make matters more complicated, your parent company, who purchased the plant without any immediate changes last year, is rumored to be making an unannounced visit to conduct a comprehensive survey of employee engagement and the plant's culture.
Connections to Course Content. Students are strongly encouraged to read all Week One Readings and complete the Week One Module prior to beginning this assignment. After, students should strategize and design their message to be goal-oriented and receiver- centric (see reading). The message should also integrate the five critical communication competencies: professionalism, clarity, concisenss, evidence-driven, and persuasiveness.
The following are common questions (and answers) about this particular assignment:
- How long? There is no page requirement for this assignment. Your length should be dependent upon your goals as a communicator and the receivers you address.
- What to include? The decision about what to include or not include is at the author's discretion. You do have some creative liberties on details not included here, but any details created cannot undo the significance of the message (e.g., you cannot say, "this change is just temporary and thus it will go away soon").
- Format requirements? Specific formatting requirements are sparse (e.g., no font restrictions, page layouts, etc.); however, it may be helpful to think about this document as an attachment that would be included in a mass email to the entire company.