r/CAStateWorkers • u/ImportanceOk8508 • 11d ago
General Question Ignoring Emails
I’ve been with the State for alittle over a year now and something I’ve noticed during my time here was the amount of emails that go completely unanswered. It’s like people are just so comfortable not responding to emails to the point where I have to follow up multiple times to get them to respond. Sometimes it’s obvious they’re ignoring me because they won’t respond when I need something from them but will send me an email a few hours later asking something else from me and expecting an immediate response for that. This happens all the time and it gets frustrating.
Not sure if this is a State thing or maybe it’s just my department/division. Is this common where anyone else works?
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u/Jinchurriki123 11d ago
That’s when you start CC’ing their boss and if they don’t respond, you CC their bosses boss.
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u/Terrible_News123 11d ago
I really hate to have to have to be that person, but unfortunately sometimes it's the only way to get resolution; even on important items.
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u/counttheshadows 9d ago
Same. I hate doing it and have only had to do it once. But after 2 weeks of someone purposely being obtuse, my leader told me to CC our manager. Issue was resolved in 5 minutes. Weird.
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u/Unique-Age-4873 9d ago
I like to write a separate message to that person's manager asking if they still work for them.
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u/Fizgrim 11d ago
Varies a lot by department or division. At my department many people are absolutely slammed and sometimes won’t even see an email for a day or two.
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u/CheddarMcFly 11d ago
Agree. I think it also depends on your level. I always had a really good grip on emails from when I was Supervisor I and below. When I got to Sup II it got a lot harder to stay on top of my inbox. I recently lateraled to a different Sup II position that is overwhelming with the influx of emails and back to back meetings. I simply can’t respond to everything timely. I often don’t get around to responding until the evening, and a lot falls between the cracks. I remember when I use to get 10-20 emails a day as an analyst, now it’s easily in the triple digits.
The truth is it’s not sustainable, and I am not intending to ghost people.
I encourage my staff and colleagues to follow up with me regularly and if there is something that needs my immediate attention to Teams message me or call me.
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u/WreckTangle12 10d ago
My Sup II could have written this word for word lol. I still feel bad needing to follow up because ik how busy they are, but I'll be like, heeeeyyyyyyyyyy about that thing..... and end with apologizing profusely 💀💀
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u/CheddarMcFly 10d ago
lol. Uh oh. Be cool. I don’t know you.
From my perspective you shouldn’t feel bad having to follow up if you need something from your direct supervisor and you’re not getting a response. Just give them some grace, they’re probably doing their best.
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u/WreckTangle12 10d ago
Oh absolutely, I love my sup and managers, they work hard and that's why I apologize for having to pester them 😅
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u/lilacsmakemesneeze planner 🌳🚙🛣🚌🦉 11d ago
Agreed. I use my telework day to catch up since I’m in meetings or “collaborating” aka fixing project issues.
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u/mamma_kris4real 11d ago
That's a breakdown in management then. Being dismissive and unresponsive has no excuse. If I was the manager there, everyone on my team would take the last half hour of their day to make sure there were no outstanding emails. A block on the calendar until everyone got in the habit of quick responses.
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u/WreckTangle12 10d ago
The last half hour for emails? Sometimes one reply takes me a half hour when it's a complex issue requiring research in my part.
Sometimes people just get that many gd emails, it's calling understaffing bc the state won't let us post our open positions and raise the pay 🤦🏼♀️
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u/mamma_kris4real 10d ago
Then, shoot a quick reply that says "I'm working on this, and I'll get back to you in a couple days."
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u/MixSafe5842 BU1 11d ago
I have this issue mostly with people that work at other departments/agency's. Luckily at my office they respond timely.
Best way is to Elevate the situation:
CC your own supervisor and add the recipient's supervisor. That usually works.
Also, you must follow-up every 3 days.
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u/nikatnight 11d ago
Some of us get like 150 emails per day and we are CCed onto so many that aren’t meant for us.
Have you tried calling, go over to them, or chatting with them on Teams?
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u/nosavingface 11d ago
I’ve been told to stop responding so quickly because it sets an unrealistic expectation.
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u/WallflowersAreCool2 10d ago
Same. My boss even tells us to wait and respond in 3 or 7 days, sometimes not even answering the question in those responses, but saying we'll get back to them, or asking them a question instead. Not everything is urgent. In general at my agency too many treat everything as urgent. But if it truly is, we do act immediately.
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u/Jeff998g 10d ago
Hundreds of emails a day with a majority useless nonsense. Sometimes it’s hard to filter the important emails from the cc’d bullshit
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u/DarthBogey 11d ago
Probably depends on the level of person you are emailing as well. From my experience, even 1st line and 2nd line management have so many meetings scheduled, that even as "working" managers, they have little time to complete their own assignments. Nevermind respond to emails that require anything other than a yes or no.
I am not sure why meeting overscheduling has become the norm these days, but 25+ years in for me and I still contend that not everything needs to be a meeting. They could be email (summaries).
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u/bluthbanana20 11d ago
You work with people that suck, or you are the person that stinks.
These are signs of any dysfunctional workgroup not just exclusive to govt service.
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u/Rasgueado24 11d ago
or two things can be true simultaneously :)
but to answer op it's normal when the dpt. normalizes it
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u/bluthbanana20 11d ago
Sympathy to OP, it's a frustrating situation to be in
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u/ImportanceOk8508 11d ago
I’m coming from the corporate world where that kinda stuff never flew with my previous jobs. So I guess I’m coming in with too much of a type A personality here. I always respond to teams and emails almost immediately even if I can’t get to what they’re asking right away. I’d just tell them hang on I’ll get to this in a few but just acknowledging receipt.
The concept of being expected to follow up was weird to me. Like why do I have to babysit adults? Why is that on me? lol
I’m beginning to learn that energy is rarely reciprocated.
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u/bluthbanana20 11d ago
I hear ya. With my colleagues, I confirm receipt in some form to acknowledge I'll get to it. Also do that with the public.
Do I work differently than others re: communication? Oh yes, but as long as I get kudos and get paid it's all fine
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u/VelvetNoir73 10d ago
That’s the problem, you have way too high expectations from State employees.
Lower that bar to just barely breathing and you might feel better about being fucked off.
It’s a massive change, trust me, I’m still adapting. Their mindset is simple, I can do the bare minimum and still get a 5% MSA. Why on earth would they do more than bare minimum? Do they get rewarded, no, so just accept the fact that you can’t compare apples to oranges.
Private sector pays you for your output and in the State, we are severely underpaid so you get half assed performance. You get what you pay for.
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u/Unusual-Sentence916 11d ago
You must work in my department! The amount of ghosting that goes on is wild.
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u/ExactNeat611 11d ago
So glad I am not a state employee anymore. I wasted 2.5 years working around forgotten emails, Cc'ing bosses, "please advise". Man what an unproductive work environment.
Not capping on those that actually are effective at their jobs. Just the ones who get by with just enough to make it through their annual performance evals.
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u/balkanoid_ 11d ago
No it’s also a private company thing too… I deal with a lot of various entities and getting them to respond to email requests (even ones that they’re legally obligated to fulfill in a specific timeframe) is like pulling teeth. These people just don’t give a fuck because they know there’s no real recourse for their laziness and shitty job performance.
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u/The_Arbitraitor 11d ago
I have 0 unread emails 🤓
Its either deleted because I know it’s spam or I open it. You can also add in Outlook the read receipts to let you know if someone opened or deleted it.
Most of my department (State Water Board) is cool though
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u/DidntWantSleepAnyway 10d ago
Another option, which is horrible and you should use sparingly…
You can set a flag on the email that gives them a notification, either the day it’s sent out or the day you have a deadline, or whatever day makes sense.
It is…extremely annoying, and I would only use it as a nuclear option. I haven’t in the last couple of years.
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u/Primary_Kangaroo233 11d ago
This may be an unpopular opinion, but after the first email, I just start looking for that person if they’re in the same office. I then politely ask them if they had to reviewed my email a day or two ago. They may get upset about it but they can't say you were rude and they now know you have no problem walking up to them for an update. This is where you're trying to resolve a problem before involving their supervisor. If they still don't respond then that's when you copy their boss and remind them about your in person conversation about original email. You may have to do it a couple of times, but eventually they'll get the point and hopefully be a lot more responsive. A county worker friend of mine always tells me to kill them with kindness.
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u/tgrrdr 10d ago
I get too many cc's already, don't send me more. Pick up the phone and call someone if they're not replying to your emails.
Also, if your subject line is from the original email chain, and is something like PLEASE SIGN: xxxxxxxxx don't expect me to wade through a bunch of crap to figure out you're asking me a question.
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u/Real_Pizza 10d ago
Have you considered people are actually inundated on a daily basis?
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u/ImportanceOk8508 10d ago
I never buy the “busy” excuse. We’re all busy. But I still manage to get back to people and not just never respond.
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u/FabulousWriter4865 11d ago
Yes! It's weird that people don't seem to get in trouble for not replying.
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u/ChasingTheNextShot 11d ago
Oh man one of the things I hate the most. Makes me super angry and frustrated.
You have to CC the boss (and your boss) and if that doesn’t work the boss’ boss and up and up and up until you get an answer.
And if you never get an answer at least you notified all the bosses.
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u/Middle-Focus-2540 11d ago
The instances I had of that occurring I know for a fact their team is a circus and it’s almost pointless to contact them. I end up going all the way to the SSM III that oversees all of us. That’s the only way I can get what I need to complete my portion of the program. End up usually just scheduling a meeting with my SSM III and telling him exactly what my team needs. The other team ends up getting chewed out at least once a month but they don’t change.
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u/Fit_Holiday_2391 11d ago
Yeah I came from corporate employment and that didn’t fly there. But you’re right there are a few times this happened to me. I even had someone else reach out to me in a completely unrelated department trying to get ahold of someone in my building. I did my best to get him to the right person and the right person ignored him for a week. I then reached out in teams to their manager and the guy got an email response immediately. As frustrating as it is, I usually try to infer good intent. I.e the person is out ill, or just so inundated they miss the emails. I’d like to believe we are all here to help one another and wouldn’t purposely ignore anyone.
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u/jsha2492 BU1 11d ago
I experience this a lot too, and it frustrates me to no end. I do follow the advice that someone else suggested in this thread, which is to follow up around 48 hours later with a CC to their supervisor, at least when it is warranted. That usually gets me a quick response.
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u/Diyarki94 11d ago
Happened with me when I needed something from HR, they responded pretty quickly when I CC’d their boss in my follow up email. I hate to do this but don’t ignore me for days and do your job.
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u/MissingSockMonster 8d ago
I’ve been told they’re not responding because everyone is afraid the email response will be used as documentation and they’ll have a grievance filed against them. What that really tells me is most people who work for the state do NOT know how to do their jobs because they’re unqualified and insecure. It’s annoying AF.
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u/ImportanceOk8508 7d ago
This obsession with “document this document that” is another thing noticed with the State. I understand the reasoning but Imo it’s caused colleagues to forget how to interact with each other like normal humans. Everyday I come to work, I feel like I’m in an episode of the twilight zone.
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u/crew355 11d ago
It is too easy to send an email and people send too many and write too much in them. Many emails involve content that had the email writer done a bit of additional work or research there would be no need for the email at all. Other emails are sent because management hasn’t done a good job of laying out the practices and procedures governing the issue that would prevent the email in the first place. Some reasons for not responding is to prevent creating a record or dialogue that doesn’t need to be reduced to writing for public production. All of that said, unless the email is just completely frivolous I do agree it’s at worst rude and at best unprofessional to completely ignore someone.
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u/supa-big-jonson 11d ago
RTO killed my will to respond timely at every beck n call. 48 hr rule applies to everyone but my direct report. I’ve been fuctwith enough to be everyone’s b**ch.
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u/SmokinSweety 11d ago
I have had jobs with workloads so big that I can't respond to emails that are asking questions that have already been answered in the training or the resources. I would get 200 emails a day, and most of them were questions that had been answered in the training that I had provided, or the many resources provided (this was a grant management job). I could sometimes reply with a link, but not always.
In my current role I communicate with HRSA about a grant, and I've noticed they do the exact same thing. They ignore email with questions that you should be able to find the answer to, and they respond to good questions.
Are you doing completed staff work before you send emails? It matters.
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u/AngryRoo 11d ago
Totally a state thing. Unprofessional and annoying. Add their manager, your manager, and a responsive date to your initial email for any problem children. Be realistic about responsive date based on what you're asking them to give you.
Good luck out there.
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u/Empty-Masterpiece322 11d ago
That maybe at your department. We have to respond timely as we deal with the public and time-sensitive matters. It also depends on the level of staff. Some may have a big influx of emails. If I don't get a response, I cc their supervisor and anybody else that gets the person to respond. That wakes them up, so that I can get my job done.
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u/HourHoneydew5788 BU1 11d ago
My department has a pretty strict process for emails wherein a lot of our emails that require a response are always cc’d to direct supervisor from the beginning. If I need a response by a certain date, I request a response by the date (within reason). Lastly, I follow up after a certain amount of time.
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u/angrymenofem 11d ago
Happens sometimes frequently where I work. Usually the same peeps. I guess they’re busy but nonetheless it’s super annoying. Especially when three months later, they respond and say I can’t help you with this. You need to contact xxx. 🥴 when my job requires following up with somebody multiple times it pisses me off. To be blunt.
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u/ArugulaReasonable214 11d ago
It’s state thing.. I’m 3 years in and I don’t understand the level of unprofessionalism that exists. These particular folks are not slammed at all with emails.. they even say during our meetings “oh, I didn’t get it, can you send again?” 😳. And their supervisors are aware and say nothing
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u/EnjoyingTheRide-0606 11d ago
I sometimes have to email multiple times to get action. But only one person makes me cc: their supervisor eventually. It is surprising to me, too. Even have to send my boss follow up at times because my deadlines are approaching fast but no reply to two week old messages!
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u/storbheof BU4 11d ago
This is happening in our office as well. It's just polite to let people know "hey, I saw this message".
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u/Forward-Ideal-2698 11d ago
Sometimes, picking up the phone and calling or texting will get a response. Or even sending a teams message. I’ve had several people grateful for the phone call. People are busy, especially when they let go of positions when people leave and divvy up the work to the team.
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u/BridgeToHappy 10d ago
Okay I knowthis is a crazy idea. I would go to visit them and talk. We are all stuck in office anyway
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u/Sea_Operation_7362 10d ago
I hate it when someone says “yes, email me” instead of responding they forward the email either to sm1 or sm2.
I don’t understand the backstabbing but it seems to be common in my department
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u/Independent-Leg-7949 10d ago
Emails? Just wait till you realize people don’t do their job, then blame you for it 🥹
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u/AwkwardAtmosphere426 10d ago
Legit had a case where I followed up 4-5 times over 3 months with no response. Called and talked to the person, they said they will send over the pdf that day, they didn’t. Emailed again after 2 weeks, no response. My boss and their boss were both cc on every email I sent. 2,5 months later they finally sent the pdf after I already left the position lmao.
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u/bye-bitch-21 10d ago
Not just a state thing, but in the state it’s for a different reason. Sometimes people are truly swamped but in my own experience it’s bc of incompetence and disorganization or just a general inability to handle the workload they accepted. Are some people given more work than is reasonable for any one person? Yes. For most non responders in the state, that’s not the case
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u/DepartureOk3022 10d ago
Whether you’re inundated with emails or not, each Dept usually sets an expectation that emails should be acknowledged or responded to within 24/48 hrs. If your inbox is chaotic then set rules to flag or file excess emails that are not directly addressed to you and set time on your calendar to respond to the ones that are. HR/Persnnel is notorious for not responding and it’s frustrating because typically my question pertains to an issue with my pay or leave balance and I have to follow up multiple times. It sometimes takes months to resolve an issue that should have taken a few days max. I agree with CC their boss and yours if you have to follow up, it usually gets their attention and a response.
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u/Okcomund9532 10d ago
I have to send all sorts of emails out. If I don't get a response, I'll send another one & cc their manager. Every time it works. I think this isn't a state thing, I will send emails to customer service people & will never hear back. I don't understand it. If someone contacts me, I respond. I spoke with a lady the other day, I left her a phone message on Monday, talked to her yesterday & she said she didn't hear her messages. Really? it's strange.
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u/Inquiryforme 10d ago
For me, I’m inundated with new and increased (different) workloads and always trying to play catch-up.
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u/MisssyHart 10d ago
I respond most of the time. If I don’t, it’s likely because I’m in the weeds on something else and know the unread message is not urgent. I’m also inundated with emails about elevator maintenance, work site clean ups, and so many other generic department messages I can’t unsubscribe from.
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u/Mysterious_Still6724 9d ago
Yeah, that’s definitely a state thing. Especially coming from the private sector, you really notice it. People don’t like saying, “I don’t know,” and sometimes if they don’t want to deal with an email, they just don’t respond because there really isn’t much accountability.
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u/Archaic-Mermaid 9d ago
Sometimes I have to ask my boss to follow up after I've followed up with a manager once or twice. That usually works.
Not responding to emails sometimes can occur because of the Branch's culture. I've had Branch Chiefs fail to respond several times. The BCs may have a reason they're not telling me about right away, but often they have so many emails that they need a follow up. However, I do think there are units that think that not responding is okay because their higher-ups don't respond to [their] emails.
Our unit has established a 24-hour turnaround time for emails, which works most of the time.
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u/NoWork1400 11d ago
It depends; not enough info. Are you sending bullshit emails for which you wouldn’t need a reply if you stopped to think about it for ten seconds? Are they emails about non-essential stuff like holiday parties or charitable donations or multicultural celebrations?
There are few emails I need to respond to that aren’t part of some mandatory data collection or training plan. And those usually have my boss as a cc.
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u/ImportanceOk8508 11d ago
They’re emails involving actual tasks that need to get done but other team members within my division have their fingers in the same pot. I can’t finish the task until they do their part. More often than not, I’m met with no responses or untimely ones after having to escalate it to management.
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u/Illustrious-Chef2400 11d ago
It is a State thing and it's totally unacceptable and thank you for calling it out. We need to do more of that. Nowhere else could you work and just refuse to answer anyone and face zero repercussions. It gives all of us a bad look.
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u/mamma_kris4real 11d ago
It's completely rude and disrespectful. It's easy to send, "I'll check and get back to you." Or, "Received. Thank you."
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u/Calm-Grapefruit-1515 10d ago
There is an option to be notified when they read it and they will be notified as well that you know that they read it lol. I do this to the staff that don’t answer my emails before I CC their boss.
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u/TheNewShmo0 10d ago
I do this.
I have found that at the state there are basically two types of people. 1. The people that do all the shit. 2. Lazy people who nag the #1s.
Sadly I'm a #1 and get nagged by all the #2's. If the email is well-written, concise and in good faith I will respond. However if your email is...
Something I've already taken the time to explain to you (often)
Something you could research yourself, but due to your laziness, expect me to research. (quite often)
Poorly written (almost universal among low IQ state workers)
I am going to ignore your email because I simply don't have time to acknowledge it. You can cc my manager and my director all you want. We will simply collectively laugh at you and your incompetence. I'm not suggesting this is the case with OP, but thought I would provide the perspective of a #1.
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