Bad News Letter
Farmville Insurance Corp.
212 Main St.
Farmville, VA 23901
March 3, 2021
Main Street Branch of Employees
250 S Main St
Farmville, VA 23901
Dear Faculty and staff of the Main Street Branch:
Subject: Casual Fridays Cancelled
All staff are aware that our branch has allowed for casual Fridays for about a year, it has been a relaxed addition to the workplace. Although, that luxury is shifting beginning on the first of April. In this past year, most everyone has shown professionalism Mondays through Thursdays during the week. Consequently, there has been an increasing amount of faculty that have abused the casual Friday attire suggestions as the relaxed looks have blended into other days of the week.
As manager, I have noticed the relaxation of casual Fridays connecting to more people feeling that they can dress casually throughout the week. This sadly, is not the case, nor is it the environment for casual dress all week long. Dressing professionally is what this office once before required, therefore it should not be a drastic change for most. There is a popular saying that goes, “Dress for success” and it is believed that one will have more confidence and will be more focused on the details of their work. This shift will be a positive and may encourage more leaders in sales.
We can all benefit from having Casual Fridays cancelled because it can encourage our corporate culture again. The culture we have created has affected our work, which will change soon. Our customers also need to be presented with a more professional approach to our efforts put forth. There have been many customer reviews received over the past year about poor professionalism when they were being taken care of. One review stuck out when a customer complained and requested that they “have a more professional agent assist them with their coverage”. Our branch is located in a small town and if one complaint spreads to other clients that we do not upkeep a professional attitude, we may lose more clients than we have progressively over the past year. Moreover, there is a majority who have been dressing more casually, but there are still staff who do not. Thus, there should be a coherent working environment where all are in the same dress moving forward.
We know we are asking a lot of you to change back to the attire a year ago and there may be expressed frustration. Understand that this is for the good of the whole branch’s success. Please begin to work towards this mindset leading up to the week of April 1, 2021. If there are any questions, contact the email stated below.
On behalf of the Farmville Insurance Corporation, we thank you for your support of the success of our company.
Sincerely,
Sydney Rew
Manager of Main Street Branch of Farmville Insurance Corp.
Contact: Sydney.rew23@gmail.com
_________________________________________________________________
After completing the Bad New Letter assignment, I felt confident in writing a letter or memo in the future to any colleague or peer if I had to supply bad news. This assignment broadened my knowledge in having to deliver news that is not ideal for the recipient. I had never composed a letter like such before, so it proved to be interesting to write. I wrote about cancelling casual Friday attire in a fictitious workplace. In the letter I explored different persuasive techniques and rhetorical strategies. To gain perspective, I was submerging myself into the narrative and came up with some compelling reasons for the drop of casual Fridays. I further practiced using the five elements, especially conveying my message to the targeted audience.
_________________________________________________________________
Persuasive Letter
Farmville Citizens Association
121 E Third St
Farmville, VA 23901
March 3, 2021
Sallie O. Amos
Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee
1904 East Third Street
Farmville, VA 23901
Dear Ms. Amos:
Subject: Dangerous Potholes on Hill Street
For over a year, Hill street in the town of Farmville has progressively been deteriorating and potholes have been growing increasingly. Precisely a year ago, I counted three distinct dangerous areas where cars must swerve for safety. In the past week, I have counted upwards toward twenty areas where the street is struggling to hold itself together. The safety of the citizens that live on the street and those that drive on it to navigate home has been affected by an increase of 85% in the potholes on this street.
This detriment first began in 2019 when more established, college student renters were expanding their living locations closer to campus. Hill street is already a narrow road and on top of that there are limited driveways, which leads to a multitude of cars parked on the street. As a result, drivers have to cautiously avoid the cars that make the road even skinnier. The limited space plus pothole obstacles have resulted in four accidents and a various amount of potential serious accidents.
In high school, I experienced a serious car accident in Suffolk, Virginia, and the street I live on in Farmville has a very similar narrow street width. In my accident, the car in front of me swerved to avoid a pothole on the street and was turning onto another street. This car failed to use a turning signal, yet they had to avoid a pothole as well so there were many factors that added up to an unsafe situation. Much like my car accident, I have witnessed one awful accident on my street where the car flipped over due to oncoming traffic and the driver trying to avoid a dangerous pit in the road. Bottom line is the pothole was one of the contributing factors that affected that driver’s path.
I know I am asking a lot of you as a committee member to bring up these safety measures to the council as I am sure you already have them on your radar. But, as a student who goes to Longwood University, and renter of a home on this street I believe it is a dire need for there to be changes made. Additionally, as it has been proven that there have not been any changes made all the more so with accidents there should be continuous upkeep of the infrastructure of the streets of Farmville as well. If action were taken, the community as a whole would benefit. I am aware it takes time and more importantly money, to attack issues like these, but I am wondering what tax dollars are already set aside for things like decorating Main street that could go towards fixing at least a few potholes on the streets where the people you represent live.
On behalf of the residents of Hill street and the town of Farmville, we thank you for your gracious support in our concerns.
Sincerely,
Sydney Rew
_________________________________________________________________
In the second assignment, the Persuasive Letter, I had to write as if I was creating a letter to send to the Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee of Farmville because the potholes on my street had gotten out of hand. In this work I had to switch roles and act as a citizen who was not in power and asking for some change. During the writing process, I had an easier time acting as if I was writing to this committee because I have been in a car accident before that was life threatening. This prompt somewhat related to my situation, which helped when using pathos in the letter. On the other hand, I did have some challenges with coming up with multiple solid reasons that the town as a whole should pick out this one street to assist. In this letter I tried to focus on the context element of the rhetorical situation to further establish the constraints of the circumstances.