Dunder Mifflin Alert! Nielsen to Disable Employees' 'Reply to All' E-mail Functionality

There have been plenty of cutbacks across the magazine publishing industry, but, at least to this point, the various e-mail functions within Outlook have been spared. That is, until now.

The following memo, distributed to Nielsen employees today, sounds like it was taken straight from a script for NBC’s The Office.

Unfortunately, I’m told, it’s all-too-real.

“REPLY TO ALL” FUNCTION TO BE DISABLED

A Message from Andrew Cawood

In December, the Nielsen Executive Council (NEC) held an Act Now! event to review suggestions from across the business that would eliminate bureaucracy and inefficiency. Beginning Thursday, January 29, we will implement one of the approved recommendations: removing the “Reply to All” functionality from Microsoft Outlook.

We have noticed that the “Reply to All” functionality results in unnecessary inbox clutter. Beginning Thursday we will eliminate this function, allowing you to reply only to the sender. Responders who want to copy all can do so by selecting the names or using a distribution list.

Eliminating the “Reply to All” function will:

• Require us to copy only those who need to be involved in an e-mail conversation
• Reduce non-essential messages in mailboxes, freeing up our time as well as server space

This is one of the many changes being implemented as a result of the NEC Act Now! initiative. If you have any suggestions on how we can continue to improve the way we work, please send your comments to Nielsen Communications [mailto: REDACTED].

Andrew Cawood
Chief Information Officer

Frightening.

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Reply all

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 02/04/2009 - 18:40.

Wait, the CTO/CIO - the head technology guy - the guy who outsources all of the tech jobs to India. The same guy who is in charge of the integrity of Nielsen's data. He doesn't know the difference between Reply and Reply All so the company has to disable the Reply All button on the toolbar only to have employees, who seem to be more technological than Mr. Habib, enable three separate work-arounds? Damn, now we know why U.S. businesses are in the toilet. LMFAO

Reply

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 02/04/2009 - 18:49.

Flying executives and black belts to meetings to determine effeciencies - $35,000 Rolling out the software to disable reply all button - $50,000 Employees working around the "fix" and making the company and it's executives look like idiots to their clients - Priceless

We can get it back...

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 06:26.

Just reset the toolbar and it comes back!!!!!!

Ironic

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 13:11.

Define Irony - The CIO/CTO doesn't know the basics of using Microsoft Outlook yet he's the Chief *Technology* officer. That's pretty frightening.

Habib?

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 14:46.

How does a guy with a degree in Journalism and Public Administration get an IT job? Mitchell J. Habib serves as Executive Vice President, Global Business Services for The Nielsen Company. He was appointed to this role in March 2007. In this capacity, Mitchell has worldwide responsibility for all operations, production, Sourcing, Real Estate and IT services across all Nielsen businesses and functions. This includes systems that support information development and delivery to Nielsen’s global client base as well as applications, IT infrastructure and facilities associated with day-to-day operations of the company. Mitchell joined Nielsen from Citigroup, where he served as Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Citigroup’s North America Consumer Businesses and, before that, as CIO for Citigroup’s North America Credit Cards Division. Prior to joining Citigroup in 2004, he was CIO for several major divisions at General Electric, from 1997-2004, including GE Healthcare, GE Employers Reinsurance Company, GE Information Technology Services and GE Aircraft Engines Services. Mitchell holds a Masters of Public Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from the University of Florida.

Wow

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 10:15.

I thought the company I worked for is messed up. I really feel for the Nielsen employees and customers.

almost everything you read is true...sorry to say...

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 20:48.

Almost all of the flame mail you read above is true...I work at Nielsen...lots of black belt six sigma types, all cross-matrixed in a confusing array where it is really hard to figure out who is doing what...and the deal with Tata is a deal with the devil...a siren's song about what Nielsen calls "cost leadership"...less cost= less experience = less throughput..there is no free lunch. I felt the final straw was when I learned one of the people who I most respected in the entire industry was let go...a very dynamic guy with a great track record of delivery.. But here is the funny part...the duopoly with IRI is going well...Nielsen is gaining share over the long haul...but the attitude at Nielsen is, like I am sure for alot of companies, fear of losing one's job...not a good one for sure... I really like the company but the new emphasis on taking costs out of the business has gone beyond cutting the fat...there is real muscle and gristle being cut...and it hurts.

Reply All Not Disabled with Webmail

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 02/07/2009 - 13:13.

In a stunning bout of stupidity, Nielsen spent tens of thousands of dollars to disable the Reply All button but you can still work around it in Outlook and it is still available via the webmail program. Sad. The thousands of dollars spent on this travesty could have saved a few jobs.

Ha ha

Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 22:59.

My friend told me about this thread. I thought she was kidding. Such stupidity from a supposedly respected company

Great !

Submitted by zyxo on Tue, 02/10/2009 - 13:56.

The first thing to reduce e-mail is to reduced the number of e-mails you send yourself. So removing the reply to all is a very good initiative.

Wow...what a ride

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 10:35.

i have family that work at Nielsen...for many years...and they quietly applaud the moves to clean up the dead wood...but can not publicly say that to their Nielsen coworkers who are really the issue. It is sad to think US workers would rather lose their jobs than do the work the offshore folks are doing. We all need to wake up to the idea that changes at ALL companies are coming and we need to read "WHO MOVED MY CHEESE" ASAP! Habib and Cawood are not the issue...they would have nothing to do if there was no legacy of stuff to clean up. How hard and fast they clean up is really what rubs people the wrong way. If we had a year notice we were going to lose our jobs, we would wait until the last month to do something and complain about it! TAKE RESPONSIBILITY! Be proactive...make a difference. BTW...there is no global warming. It was made up by scientists to get grants.

People Make the Difference

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 11:07.

Only if they work for TCS. Danny Sacco sends out more useless "People Make the Difference" emails - as if we care anymore. 3500 jobs lost since the "nightmare" team took over. Instead of finding ways to trim costs, they spend money on stupid initiatives like this. I wonder how much money Calhoun and Habib receive in kickbacks from TCS

Habib Blunder - Reply to All Can be Undone

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 19:59.

I currently work at Nielsen (hears eggshells cracking) and have read this and "guffaw" - this is truly one of the stupidest money wasting changes I have ever heard of. All because 1 executive was reacting to an email instead of being more concerned about the employee reaching out for assistance. But then again this seems to be the norm at Nielsen lately. In reality I'm sure the IT team was following ORDERS!! This could have easily been rectified by removing the "reply to all" button from Mr. Habib's outlook toolbar oby using the "customize" feature rather than taking it away from the other 34,999 employees, oh wait a day has past, now 34,998 employees. There is a work around if you are the "customizing" sort, ... *grinz* :) Now you will have many employees wasting time going to Microsoft's site to figure out how to customize their outlook toolbars. It is not hard to do!! I came to Nielsen becaues I had heard it was a great company to work for ... well it used to be.

Just hit Ctrl+Shift+R or

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 23:14.

Just hit Ctrl+Shift+R or Right Click and Reply To All is available.... ANONYMOUS ALWAYS WINS!..

I wonder if the next big

Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 02/15/2009 - 17:51.

I wonder if the next big move by Nielsen "Executive" Management is to require bathroom passes..what a weird place..

let the truth be known

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 02/16/2009 - 08:46.

is there a web site for former and current nielsen employees to share what's going on in this company?

No Passes Needed...

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 02/16/2009 - 20:36.

...the place is one big shit factory.

KRAFT TEAM

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 16:02.

HAHAHAH, if anyone needs a good proxy as to the real way they treat you at Nielsen....need to look no further than the Kraft Team. That team has an average life span of an employee of around 1 yr. With over a 70% office headcount turnover....and this is supposed to be the "Best Team at Nielsen" "Most highly regarded." WHAT A JOKE. To the above posters comments, I could not agree more. WAY too many Chiefs and barley and Indians. EVERYONE is a "VP" And everyone else is just "at the bottom floor" Those were exactly Julie Curries words in a meeting............ VMO's, long hours and crap pay.....the funny thing was that the running joke was "We know we are the lowest paid in the business." RIGHT, NOT FUNNY. The only way you would survive at Nielsen is if you KISS *SS. Unless you have the right manager that takes you under their wing you are pigeon holed. And no, I am not merely biased or jaded, (because I am far better off not being there) just look at the dozens of posts here that would agree........Nielsen is on a bad path.....you don't treat people the way they do and keep going like this for long.....

And to save on paper

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 17:04.

The print button may go next. :)

"is there a web site for

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 21:30.

"is there a web site for former and current nielsen employees to share what's going on in this company?" http://www.topix.com/forum/business/office-equipment/TIH9E8VI09NJLSBBQ

Can't they compromise on reply to all?

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 22:46.

Rather than an all or nothing situation, can't Nielson (et al) implement a solution like Sperry Software's Reply To All Monitor? It inserts a simple msgbox that when you click on the reply to all button says "Are you SURE you want to reply to everyone?". It seems that or maybe Permessa's enterprise tools are worth it just to keep the email savvy people humming along (of which, judging by the workarounds posted, there are quite a few).

Moron's

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/04/2009 - 17:28.

These were some of the same moron's that help run Citi into the ground. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA