teen fired via Facebook

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by groovypq

(I swear they never check email anymore).

Are you sure they aren't just ignoring your emails? Have you tried doing delivery and open confirmation to know when the email is received and opened?

Employers of college students should do the same thing that many colleges and universities (and professors) do. Tell the students that all correspondence is sent to their inbox and there will be no attempts to reach them beyond that. Therefore, they are responsible to keep their inbox clear and to check their emails. Then anything they miss is completely on them.

[groovypq]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Are you sure they aren't just ignoring your emails? Have you tried doing delivery and open confirmation to know when the email is received and opened?

Employers of college students should do the same thing that many colleges and universities (and professors) do. Tell the students that all correspondence is sent to their inbox and there will be no attempts to reach them beyond that. Therefore, they are responsible to keep their inbox clear and to check their emails. Then anything they miss is completely on them.

I've done that for more important emails, and honestly, many of them either click "do not send notification" when they open it or they never open it. I have actually gotten notifications months after sending the email saying it was "deleted without opening."

Interesting point you make. I've actually had this debate with fellow coaches recently. For years, I wrote into my rules that you just HAD to check email, and there were still those that just didn't. So this year, I started sending every message by email AND Facebook (general messages, like "practice is moved" or whatnot, not anything personal like in the story above). It seemed to work. One of my fellow coaches told me I should just demand they check email, but he also has a problem with team members complaining that he doesn't communicate well.

I don't know what the solution is. I read too many things saying that the millennials aren't going to change, so we should adapt our communication to them. On the other hand, I don't really feel that's right. Every other generation has had to adapt to standards, why shouldn't they? I guess it's a pick-your-battles situation.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by groovypq

Interesting point you make. I've actually had this debate with fellow coaches recently. For years, I wrote into my rules that you just HAD to check email, and there were still those that just didn't. So this year, I started sending every message by email AND Facebook (general messages, like "practice is moved" or whatnot, not anything personal like in the story above). It seemed to work. One of my fellow coaches told me I should just demand they check email, but he also has a problem with team members complaining that he doesn't communicate well.

I don't know what the solution is. I read too many things saying that the millennials aren't going to change, so we should adapt our communication to them. On the other hand, I don't really feel that's right. Every other generation has had to adapt to standards, why shouldn't they? I guess it's a pick-your-battles situation.

Emailing them is enough adaptation. They better be happy that we are the ones who don't mind emailing. There are still coaches and professors who neither send nor check emails.

Every semester, it never fails that a couple of students miss important announcements and opportunities that were distributed via email. I just smirk and remind them that THAT is on them. Clean out your inbox and check your email. The End.