SURVEY SAYS: Who're You Gonna Call?

Odds are, if you’re the boss – you’re getting the call.   A full 34.9% of this week’s respondents make it a point to let the boss know via phone/person, though 4.2% did so via e-mail.   On the other hand, nearly as many – 45.4% – made it a point to tell more than one of the choices – that generally meant someone besides the boss – who, according to most respondents, either (a) would be there, (b) would be able to let others know, and/or (c) would remind the boss later on when he/she started asking where you were.   As one reader noted, “A (boss) & C (co-workers – they cover your desk)” Or, as another noted, “Usually it’s A (the boss), but sometimes it’s also C (co-workers), just in case the boss doesn’t pass it along.”   Or, as one reader noted, “You gotta tell the people up and down and all around otherwise someone will be offended that they don’t count or are missing out on something.” Or there was the reader who said, “I usually leave a message for my boss and for one of my employees. My boss doesn’t usually come in until way after my employees get in, so I want them to know I won’t be in.”  

Most of those who chose “other” were really calling multiple points, but about a third of those included someone who was neither boss, subordinate, nor co-worker (some kind of central administrative staff or secretary was a common reference).

One particularly unusual “case study” in the importance of getting the message to the right people came from the reader who recounted that they “tell different people because you never know who else may be out of the office, or if the person who does get the information will pass it on. I had an occasion last year where I unexpectedly wound up in the hospital on my way home from a weeklong vacation. The person who is now my ex contacted my supervisor, but failed to tell my co-workers. My supervisor failed to pass the information on, and my cell phone didn’t work in the hospital so, without the information and unable to contact me, my co-workers left the office to try to find me. When they got to my home, they found the front porch full of newspapers (all the papers that should have been delivered during my vacation had been ‘held’ and had been delivered that morning). So, now they knew I hadn’t returned from my vacation, but didn’t know what could have happened. Can you say ‘mass panic’?”

Co-workers were least likely to get the call as a single point of contact – just 4.2% would be called, and only 1.4% notified via e-mail, and subordinates only slightly less likely – 4.7% via phone/person and 2.3% via e-mail.   Nobody told nobody (appropriately enough – though, as one reader noted, “If we every didn’t tell anyone – they would come hunt us down like a fox…” ), and just 2.8% said they were NEVER out unexpectedly.

And though I was concerned that the crisp new survey format might cut down on the verbatims, I need not have worried.   Here’s a sampling:

“And then I spend the day working at my computer at home! At least I’m not spreading any germs!”

“On the rare occasion it happens, I tell a couple folks in the department who I know will be in the office. But unless the reason for being out involves a stay in ICU, I am expected to work from home.”

“Because we have the flexibility to work from home, unless you just had a kidney removed, it seems like it’s expected you’ll be online even when you’re ill.” (This sentiment, by the way, was expressed by a large number of teleworkers!)

“I am rarely out unexpectedly, but when it happens, I typically spend 10-15 minutes calling my boss, my peer managers, and at least one person on my staff to ensure everyone knows, as well as changing my voice mail message, etc. When you already feel like $%&$, that’s not a lot of fun, but has to be done!”  

“It’s truly unfortunate, however, from one day to the next I never know who my boss is around here. There are co-workers that think they are running the company and want to play boss. God help the micro-managers!!”

“I’ll usually leave a voice-mail for my boss. Well, one of my three bosses.”

“I’m sure something will happen now that I’ve given this answer, but I’ve only had one sick day in 17 years at this job, and that was in year two.”

“Of course, if I’m ever out unexpectedly due to recently having won the lottery, then I’m sending them a postcard from Barbados!”

But this week’s Editor’s Choice goes to the reader who said, “I e-mail the boss. That way I don’t have to fake the ‘I’m sick’ voice.”

Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey!

P.S..   Despite (or perhaps due to) the new format, this week’s survey not only drew a great response, nearly half (48.6%) said they liked the new format better.   Nearly a third (31%) said, “It works for me,” while roughly 8% said it was “six of one, half-dozen of another.   Nearly 8% said they had no basis for comparison (nice to have new folks joining in), and about 5% said “other.”   About half of those wanted to have more than one choice in the survey (though I had included a “more than one of the above option”; I guess they wanted to be specific) – but all in all, the comments were quite positive.   One noted, “What will you do with all of your free time now that you will not be compiling the results by hand?” (well, the time-consuming part was always assembling the survey, not the tabulation), and one missed the personal feedback from me (I have traditionally responded to most respondents).   I have no easy answer to the latter – but we’ll keep using the new format so long as it works as well as it did this week.   Who knows, we may be able to extend the deadline for response!

Thanks again for your participation, encouragement, and support!