Different occasions and environments require different styles of communication. You don’t use the same language style and vocabulary when you talk to your mom, your friends and then your boss. Even at work, the same thing that works with coworkers doesn’t necessarily fly with a supervisor.
What we are talking about here is register and the same thing can be presented in very different ways. Reddit user SkrandyNick expressed his opinion on how a supervisor praising the employees for their work doesn’t benefit them and employees would appreciate a different kind of reward. He was suspended for it. Because he responded with a meme. Although who knows if his employer wouldn’t have reacted the same way to a well-worded paragraph.
More info: Reddit
Amazon driver wanted to express his dissatisfaction with his wage in a work group chat and was suspended because he sent out a meme
Image credits: SkrandyNick
As people figured out in the comments, the Original Poster (OP) works for Amazon as a delivery driver, as they recognized the rating system these drivers have from the initial message.
The screenshot begins with a supervisor telling the team what a good job they did because they were ranked Fantastic Plus for their services. As the Route Consultant explains, “Fantastic and Fantastic Plus is a performance ranking system within the Amazon network where DSPs receive an evaluation for service, safety, client experience, and other metrics.”
When the supervisor called out the OP, he responded with yet another meme
Image credits: SkrandyNick
Image credits: SkrandyNick
They also note that “How you perform to the critical metrics on the Amazon DSP scorecard impacts your compensation.” However, it turns out that Amazon Drivers don’t get any bonuses for reaching the highest ranking, so the news doesn’t mean anything and the praise from the supervisor gets old after some time not even boosting employees’ morale.
Nick, the employee, decided to express his frustration with this company’s policy through a meme. He took the popular meme template known as Drowning High Five which shows a person’s hand sticking out above water but seemingly sinking. It also shows another person’s hand which is above the water and it gives the sinking one a high five instead of helping.
Later Nick had to sign a corrective action notice that said that he was being suspended for using a meme and mocking the company
In Nick’s meme, the drowning hand symbolized the “drivers with increased route sizes, wanting a raise or peak season bonus” and the hand which doesn’t provide any kid of help symbolizes Amazon Homebase not doing anything to change the drivers’ situation but telling them “Congrats on another fantastic plus week.”
It seems that the supervisor in the chat didn’t understand OP’s humor and told him that the image was not appropriate for the conversation. The manager publicly announced that they would have to have a talk with Nick, to which the driver answered with another meme.
The notice also mentioned that the OP sent another meme when the supervisor called out his behavior
This time it was a meme that ridicules the reasons for which people get in trouble and its origin is the American situational comedy Parks and Recreation. In an episode titled Sister City, the character Raul, who is a delegate from Baraqua, lists some reasons one can go to jail and no trials are needed. Nick’s version of this meme says, “Using a meme to voice how you feel? Straight to jail.”
While Nick didn’t go to jail, he was suspended for two days. His corrective action notice said that the reason for it was that he “posted on [his] company scheduling program (homebase) with a ‘meme’ mocking the integrity of the operation [they] are running as a company. After being addressed by Supervisor <...>, Nickolas <...> continued to mock him.”
Nick responded with the Drowning Hand Meme to the supervisor's message congratulating the team for getting the highest ranking for their service
A sense of humor is often seen as a positive character feature and as it is seen from the comments, people loved how Nick responded to his supervisor. Redditors were calling him a legend and wished they would have enough courage to pull something similar off.
However, Emily Kate Pope, the author of a study on professional communication said, “Memes might be funny to look at on Facebook or Instagram, but they can make you look unprofessional in the office. Perhaps due to their overly casual nature, they also make their senders look less serious about their careers and produce less trustworthy work products.”
In the OP's eyes, the message didn't have use for him because it didn't affect his salary, so he illustrated his sentiment with a funny picture
If we look at Nick’s meme, the problem his supervisor had as indicated in the notice was that he was mocking his company’s policies and further sent another meme in response to being disciplined.
But in general, humor in the workplace is necessary. It benefits both the employees and the company. The University of Warwick found out that happy people are 12 percent more productive, which means more profit for the employer.
Not only that, St Edward’s University’s survey revealed that “81% believe a fun working environment would make them more productive; 93% said that laughing on the job helps to reduce work-related stress. A further 55% said they would take less pay to have more fun at work.”
Image credits: Garry Knight (not the actual photo)
His reaction to being told off was to respond with the Go To Jail meme that quite fit the situation, but not the supervisor's mood
More and more companies are realizing that humor is a powerful tool not only to boost employees’ morale, which in turn boosts their productivity, but to actually increase their sales and profit.
Like how Wendy’s dedicated their Twitter account to savage roasts and Dunkin’ Donuts are also trying to be relatable by incorporating humor in their posts. Companies are joining TikTok and publishing funny videos following trends that make people think they are relatable and want to buy from them or use their services.
Humor in the workplace can help release stress and a good mood makes employees more productive, but Amazon didn't like the mocking tone
But maybe Amazon is not quite there yet. Although, it’s safe to assume that his colleagues were loving this conversation and didn’t join only because of the repercussions they would have to face. You may imagine that the coworkers were grateful that someone actually stood up for them all and brought up the issue of raises.
According to Indeed, delivery drivers in the US at Amazon DSP earn $18.59 per hour, but it ranges anywhere between $9.35 and $28.10. However, Amazon is known as an exploitative employer and many of their employees have complained about the high expectations and lack of employment rights.
However, people online loved this chat and were calling the OP a legend for speaking facts
It’s a tough job and we learned about the unexpected things drivers have to deal with from TikTok user revengekkid as he shared 12 things he wasn’t warned about before starting his job. Some of the unexpected things include not having time to have a break and not all cars having AC, which becomes a problem during summer.
Bored Panda covered the man’s experience, so if you want to learn more, this link will take you to the article.
Many people in the comments under Nick’s post thought that the OP should spend the time he got off work on searching for a new job because they didn’t think it’s worth working for a company that can’t take valid criticism and suspends you for using a meme.
We would like to know what you think of Nick’s response to the congratulations on another Fantastic Plus rating. Do you think he got what he deserved because it was unprofessional? Or do you think the supervisor overreacted? Let us know what would be your reaction if you saw such a conversation unfold in your workplace.