1.
Announcing Bad News to Employees
As head of the occupational health and safety committee at your
workplace, you are concerned about the practice of stocking
employee kitchenettes with free coffee and cookies. Lately you
have begun to notice that harried employees are routinely skip
lunch and instead grab handfuls of cookies to eat at their desks.
While you understand the necessity for these makeshift meals,
you feel that there is room in the budget to provide healthier
alternatives to these high-fat, carbohydrate-laden snacks. In
fact, the health and safety committee voted with you in favour
of such a motion at a recent meeting, but you anticipate a high
level of resistance from the employees for whom the cookies are
a dietary staple. Write a memo to all staff announcing that,
effective next month, kitchenettes will be stocked with a
selection of fresh fruits, whole-grain snacks, and spring water
instead of the usual coffee and cookies. Consider which
approach would be best appropriate.