Head Scratchin'

so last week, i'm doing my job and an email gets delivered in my inbox.  it says something like "for those of you getting a bonus this year,  ....."

what?  people get bonuses here?

ring ring.  "hello, this is maryse."  "yes, apparently there are bonuses"  " no, i don't think we're getting one.  don't go on a shopping spree or anything."  "yes i agree it sucks."

i let it go.

yesterday, another email gets delivered to everyone in the company.  "dear X group staff,  if you got a bonus, you should have heard by now from your supervisor or manager....yadda yadda yadda."

ok so now, clearly since my group isn't included in the X group, we aren't getting a bonus.  fine, whatever.  i'm not surprised since i knew there would be no money in our project budget for such a thing.

the thing is this.  UNTIL THOSE TWO EMAILS MOST OF US WORKING FOR THIS COMPANY DIDN'T REALIZE THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY GOT BONUSES AROUND HERE!!!! 

so i wrote a little reply.  "dear YOU, since not all of us work for X group and are also not getting a bonus, i think it's inappropriate that you should make announcements about bonuses that most of us are not getting."

reply back: "oh sorry, but it's so much easier to make an announcement to everyone ....."

so much easier?  SO MUCH EASIER????

what am i missing here?  i'm not upset that i didn't get a bonus.  we're nonprofit.  we aren't supposed to get bonuses.  that's what you give up for 4 weeks of vacation and being able to wear sweatpants to work if you want.

what got my panties in a bunch is that now, because of this broadcast message to everyone in the company, because people are too lazy to write emails to only those people who did get bonuses, or to the X group since it only involves people within that group, we all know now that some people get bonuses and some people don't.

because it was easier to do it that way. 

Comments

[Liz]

you know, there are just days when lazy thoughtless people should go away and only bother themselves

[Chris]

*sputter* Inappropriate response from HR. Boo hiss! Here it's SO hush hush...

[wenders]

Woah, for jumping on the HR messenger! :)

I AM an HR professional, and YES, this was an incredibly poor 'strategy' for annoucing this. BUT, do we know that the person sending the email made the decision to actually SEND the message that way? Or was it a manager decision that unfortunatly got her name attached to it? Happens more than we'd like, eh? What about your group letting your manager know your thoughts about it an escalating it up the management chain? Gets the point across, doesn't flame anyone AND makes you seem more rational and logical than those in charge of said bonuses.

just a thought. :)
-w

[Lucia]

Oh, man, that bites. You don't work for the Republican Party, by any chance? "For those of you getting whopping tax cuts this year..." oops, sorry, my politics are showing. But I'll bet you one of those bonuses that the people who get bonuses are the ones making more money to begin with.

[Danielle]

Argh. That's not very classy. Or professional.

(Dude, sweatpants to work? That rocks!)

[JulieFrick]

That is horrid, and they should know better. Last year my headmaster sent out an email that said that there would be a standard raise of x% for everyone, but for some people whose work had been "exceptional," it would be a tad bit more. I sent in my contract with a post-it note that said, "Unexceptionally yours." But we joke around like that.

[Anne]

Perhaps she should be reminded how expensive loss of worker productivity can be, and how much it costs to search for and train replacement staff...

[Mintyfresh]

Wow, management folks/whoever makes those decisions at all companies really suck.

That is the most ridiculous excuse I've ever heard ("easier"). I'm fired up on your behalf!

[Susanne]

That is horrendously bad Human Resource management and should be reported to somebody so it can be stopped. If the sieve-head that said "it is easier" doesn't get some instruction on how to make proper email lists, then perhaps someone should show him/her!
As for the inappropriateness of him/her sending the email to "general staff", that is absolutely bad, bad, bad, bad, judgement!

[julia fc]

Tactlessness like that demands revenge.
How about an email to her "For those of you who are coming to my beach house this weekend . . . "

"For those of you coming to my benefit luncheon with George Clooney . . . "

"For those of you who's ass I regularly have to shine to keep my job but not necessarily my self respect . . . "

I'll let you fill in the rest, dude.

[Rita]

What's a bonus? (We "supposedly" don't get them here either. But I work for an accounting firm. Notorious for being cheap.)

[Carol]

HR no-no as well as, poorly trained staff. HELLO!!! most email programs have group lists & such. I like the idea about emptying your trash in the office cause it's "easier".

[Kat]

Now that's lazy. Start emptying your trash in her office, "Sorry for the mess, it's just easier."

[Kim]

Yowza. Self employment, thankfully, means I'm the only one who can do ridiculous things like that. The bonus (ha) being that I only piss *myself* off.

[Debbie]

You'd need a freaking surgical team to unwad my panties after that, are you kidding? Did the person who wrote the email get a bonus? If so, she doesn't deserve it.

Did you write back and ask her if it was easier to lower morale for everyone who didn't get a bonus, thereby decreasing productivity? You should. And you should cc her boss. Seriously, that's just thoughtless, rude and lazy. If I were her manager, I'd want to know if my emplyeee managed to piss off an entire segment of the company in one fell swoop.

[Kristin]

that is so unprofessional and annoying! We got an email here last week that everyone in the agency was getting a 3% raise except attorneys because we got a cost of living adjustment in January. A cost of living adjustment is not a raise people!! It's an adjustment so we can afford to live. Grrrrr.

[cyn]

not the most effective HR thing to do... to announce that. And why aren't you upset you're not getting a bonus? don't ALL of you work for non-profit, including group X? very tacky of them to email everyone.
it would be funny (but not good) to send an email to EVERYONE saying "wow, whoever keeps sending these emails is a stupid bit**"

oh sorry. I only meant for a few ppl to read that, but it was SO MUCH EASIER to just send it to everyone. :D

[Martha]

Okay, here's a thought: maybe the HR person isn't one of the people getting a bonus, and he/she wanted the entire organization to know that this incredibly unfair bonus situation was going on. "Oops, did I just send that email out to the whole company?" is a nice passive-aggressive way of stirring the pot.

[mickoy]

Yes, they seriously need their lazy bums well spanked, my panties would get very bunched.

[melanie]

That's some seriously bad HR. They need a good spanking. ;)

[lynette]

oh, i think you need to rant some more. how insensitive!

[Grace]

two words: lazy idiot.

[Beth S.]

That's a very shabby way to treat a hardworking bunch of employees. Profit or non-, it's incredibly unprofessional. :-(

[caro]

Ugh! That would drive me batty. I would have liked to reply like this: "Dear lazy email broadcaster person, even though you may be part of X group, you will not be receiving a bonus as you are a lazy slacker and I am taking your bonus for myself as punishment for your rude email. nyah nyah nyah."

[Kathy]

Annoying on many levels.

[scribblesnbits]

That was totally tactless of that person. And it seems like that person doesn't even see that. That would definitely bunch up my skivvies.

[Carole]

And why is it that the ones who take the easier route are the ones who get the bonuses? That would fry my ass, too.

[elisa]

That would totally bunch up my panties. And you *so* deserve a bonus.

There are definitely trade-offs working for a non-profit, that's for darn sure.