Question

You are the HR Manager of a privately owned company. Your head office is in Ontario, and you have satellite offices across the country. In total, the company employs approximately 3,000 workers (both hourly and salaried; all employees are non-union). Increased competition has forced you to reduce sales and income projections for the next year, and you have decided it will be necessary to reduce employment across the company by 10 percent. You intend to make an announcement about this in one week from now. It is your intent to implement this move in a way that will be as fair as possible and, to the extent possible, minimize impact on the people involved.

You are going to email the president of the company (Ed Lewis) with a communication plan including:

14. A list of the key audiences for this announcement. (Hint: There are several, both internal and external.) Explain who they are and how they might react to this news.
15. The potential key messages for each of these audiences. What are the two/three most important points each audience group will need to hear?
16. Whether the message should be delivered directly or indirectly to each audience and why.
17. The best communication channel(s), for example email, letter, phone, face-to-face, etc., to use for each audiences. How are you going to deliver this news?

Note: You are not to include the actual full message or “scripts” for each audience. This email is simply the first step in the process, and it is going to be read and evaluated by the president of the company.

COMM 3020 – Emails (5%)

FORMAT Proper email format (Date, To, From, Subject –properly aligned, Salutation, Closing (Name) Utilizes short sentences/paragraphs and if appropriate, bullets, numbers, lists for easy comprehension Block format (space between paragraphs), single spaced	/3
OPENING Clearly explains the topic and purpose of email Uses a Direct Opening, rather than Indirect ie. ‘frontloads’ the main purpose for writing immediately	/2
BODY DETAILS – The key points: A list of the key audiences for this announcement. (Hint: There are several, both internal and external.) The potential key messages for each of these audiences. Whether the message for each of these audiences should be directly or indirectly delivered and why. The best communication channel(s) to use for each of these audiences.	/10
MECHANICS Error-free style and mechanics (spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, formal business language & tone).	/5
TOTAL	/20

Answer 1

31 - May - 2020

From,

Mr. Antony Gonsalvez

HR Manager, XYZ Pvt. Ltd

Ontario, Canada

Contact : XXXXXXXXXXX

To,

Mr. Ed Lewis

President, XYZ Pvt. Ltd

Dear Sir,

Subject : Proposing a Crucial Communication Plan to Execute During Coming Week

Hope this mail finds you at the best of your health.

I am writing this mail to propose a crucial communication plan to execute during the coming week in prestigious company.  As you know, currently, we employ three thousand workers in the hourly and salary system. Boomed competition has forced us to reduce sales and income projections for the next year, and we have decided it will be ideal to reduce workforce across the company by 10 percent. I intend to make an announcement about this downsizing in one week from now such that negative impact on the people involved is minimum.

Sending with the mail, further details regarding the announcement. Since this is a strategic decision, only internal audiences can be targeted. Kindly have a perusal.

List of audiences for the announcement

• All Salaried Workers
• All Hourly Paid Workers
• All  Work Supervisors

Potential Key Messages

• Company moves for a downsizing as it has become a necessary evil.
• There will be self-appraisal form and appraisal from the core committee.
• All Supervisors are supposed to make their reports ready.
• Appraisal will be on the basis of performance. Not on the basis of sentiments.
• Three hundred poor performers will be identified and will part as good friends.

Message to all audience need not be direct. Face to face communication can happen with supervisors and hr team. Announcement can be made by HR Manager with the consent of President.

Best Communication Channels to Use

• E- Mail ( 3,000 workers and supervisors )
• Announcement at work stations / department / factory ( 3,000 workers and supervisors )
• Telephone ( Supervisors )
• Notification mail ( HR Team )

Kindly revert a mail after the perusal. I wait twenty four seven for clarification calls if any. Looking forward to your response.

With respect

Antony Gonsalvez