July 21, 2009

Top ten worst on-the-job email bloopers
Survey reveals favourite 'doh!' moments

Most professionals have experienced at least one cringe-inducing moment after they've hit "send," a new survey suggests. Nearly eight in 10 advertising and marketing executives polled confess they've made a mistake when sending e-mail. When asked to name the worst snafu they or others they know have made on the job, the responses ranged from erroneously sending out an employee's salary information to the entire company to recalling a nasty e-mail about the boss that made its way to top management.

The survey was developed by The Creative Group, a specialized staffing service providing marketing, advertising, creative and web professionals on a project basis, and conducted by an independent research firm. It is based on 250 telephone interviews -- 125 with advertising executives randomly selected from advertising agencies and 125 with senior marketing executives randomly selected from companies.

Advertising and marketing executives were asked, "Have you ever mistakenly e-mailed someone the wrong message or copied someone on a message without intending to?" Their responses:

Yes -78%

No -22%

Survey respondents also were asked to describe the worst e-mail mistakes that they or others they know have made. Among the responses:

1. "Someone sent out confidential salary information to the whole firm."
2. "I once sent a job offer to the wrong person."
3. "An employee sent his resume to me by mistake. It was supposed to go to an outside company."
4. "Someone made a nasty comment about a supervisor and it was sent to the supervisor by mistake. It eventually led to dismissal."
5. "A person called another employee an idiot in an e-mail to everyone in the company."
6. "One of our vendors accidentally e-mailed me information about their sales performance, so I gained some inside knowledge about that vendor."
7. "We sent an e-mail to a client that was meant for a vendor. It made it difficult when the client had seen our costs."
8. "Confidential information about one client was sent to a different client. It was certainly embarrassing."
9. "I once sent an internal memo about restroom etiquette to a prospective client by accident."
10. "Someone sent me a copy of an employee's bank records by mistake."

"Professionals are busier than ever these days, making e-mail mistakes more likely," said Collin Maria Ezzell, division director for The Creative Group. "As mistakes can be glaringly visible, professionals need to avoid anything that could cause employers to question their competence and jeopardize their good standing with the company."