Now here’s the kind of morale-building exercise you don’t often hear about: The management of a chain of convenience stores held a contest in which employees were asked to bet on who’d be fired next.
According to a story on the website of TV station WQAD in Davenport, IA, workers in at more than a dozen QC Marts received faxed memos offering $10 to correctly guess who would be fired next for breaking the rules.
The memo named a worker who was fired that day, and employees were ordered to sign and return the memo to get their paycheck.
According to the story, the memo was entitled, “New Contest — Guess the Next Cashier Who Will Be Fired!”
The memo read: ”To win our game, write on a piece of paper the name of the next cashier you believe will be fired. Seal it in an envelope and give it to the manager to put in my envelope. …
“Secret shoppers will be looking for cashiers wearing a hat, talking on a cell phone, not wearing a QC Mart shirt, having someone hanging around/behind the counter and/or a personal car parked by the pumps after 7 pm.”
”If the name in your envelope has the right answer, you will win $10 CASH. Only one winner per firing.”
”Once we fire the person, we will open all the envelopes, award the prize, and start the contest again.”
Four employees quit after receiving the memo.
The company opposed one employee’s application for unemployment benefits. She fought back and won her case after an administrative law judge called the contest ”deplorable” and the work environment ”hostile,” the TV station reported.
No word on whether the company actually awarded the $10.
