By JACKIE FARWELL
AP Business Writer
U R Fired
Learning that you’ve been fired can take many forms: A
face-to-face meeting, a telephone call, the much-dreaded pink slip.
But an instant message?
According to a new survey, 14 percent of men said they would use
an IM with an emoticon
– one of those animated faces that range from a happy grin to an
angry screamer – to fire someone.
Only 11 percent of women reported the same, according to the
nonscientific survey conducted by Yahoo!
When it’s a personal relationship that’s getting the boot,
slightly fewer people would resort to an online chat to say
”
things just aren’t working out.
”
At the same time, more than half of respondents said they would
rather confess their feelings to a crush using an emoticon than in
person. Ten percent said they’d even propose marriage via an
instant message.
The survey included 40,000 Yahoo! Messenger users.
By JACKIE FARWELL
AP Business Writer
U R Fired
Learning that you’ve been fired can take many forms: A face-to-face meeting, a telephone call, the much-dreaded pink slip. But an instant message?
According to a new survey, 14 percent of men said they would use an IM with an emoticon – one of those animated faces that range from a happy grin to an angry screamer – to fire someone.
Only 11 percent of women reported the same, according to the nonscientific survey conducted by Yahoo!
When it’s a personal relationship that’s getting the boot, slightly fewer people would resort to an online chat to say “things just aren’t working out.”
At the same time, more than half of respondents said they would rather confess their feelings to a crush using an emoticon than in person. Ten percent said they’d even propose marriage via an instant message.
The survey included 40,000 Yahoo! Messenger users.
Co-pay confusion
What do the words “flexible spending account” mean to you? How about “out-of-pocket maximum”? Surely “copay” rings a bell?
If you’re like many people, some of the terms in your health insurance plan might as well be written in Sanskrit. Less than half of workers are comfortable explaining common benefit terms to a friend or co-worker. Only a few more read all of the benefit information provided to them during their office’s annual health care enrollment process, according to a survey by consulting firm Watson Wyatt.
“Employees have seen benefits as kind of a once-a-year event,” said Jill Folan of Watson Wyatt.
Understanding such terminology is increasingly important as workers take more responsibility for managing their coverage, a task once left to employers, she said.
Office kudos
It’s happened to many of us. A co-worker stops by your desk to thank you for a job well done while your boss sits in her office, completely out of earshot. Or the kudos is sent by e-mail, and your happiness fades as you realize your boss isn’t on the recipient list.
It makes you want to shout: “Thanks, but tell the person who can give me a raise!”
More than one third of professionals say businesses are ineffective at rewarding their employees strong performance, according to a new poll.
“Managers at times may overcomplicate what it takes to provide good recognition,” said Diane Domeyer of OfficeTeam, an online job search service that conducted the nonscientific poll.
Saying thanks doesn’t have to involve an expensive, formal event, she said. Rewarding an employee in front of their peers and supervisors can go a long way toward making them feel valued, Domeyer said.
