IT IS SO EASY TO DO SO
In today's world of electronic devices out of the wazu, it makes absolutely no sense that someone cannot get a message back to you with almost no effort. Today, we are flooded with ways for you to respond to someone when they reach out to you (text, email, phone call). Even Apple makes it super simple by responding to a call with automated responses so people know what is going on. No one is SO busy that they can't take 10 seconds to respond to an urgent email or phone call asking for an answer to something that is critically important to the other person. I've met many C-level executives during my professional career, and what I've found is that these individuals (clearly busier than the average line manager with so many people vying for their time) always made the time to get some type of answer back to you. If they couldn't do it, they would make sure that their personal assistants would do so. Even if it is an "I'm not interested," they took the time to make sure the other person knew where they stood and were clear. The funny thing about this type of response is that it actually frees more time for the executive in the future because if he or she responds with an "I'm not interested" as least they know they have decreased the chances of them getting that phone call or email in the future. When no response is given, the other person could just persistently continue to follow up with you wasting more of your time in the future. It is this long term, around the corner type thinking that probably got many of these people in the positions they hold today.
PEOPLE DON'T FORGET
From an internal standpoint, when you fail to return phone calls, email, or text to your co-workers, these individuals will remember, and this could taint how you are perceived as being effective at your job. Over my years in my professional career, the individuals who were promoted most quickly and seen as someone you can "depend on" were those individuals who were listed as "highly responsive" by their peers. If one of your co-workers needs something important to their success for an upcoming meeting and they make this explicitly clear to you, and then you take so long to respond to them that their success is jeopardized, do you think they are going to have a positive or negative view of your ability to handle the responsibilities of your job? Regardless of what kind of results you may be currently achieving, there is going to be a skewed view of your effectiveness in that role by them. And in a business world in which there is an increased focus on peer and subordinate reviews for possibilities of a promotion, this could be highly detrimental to your ability to make it to the next level.
WHAT IF THE SHOE WAS ON THE OTHER FOOT
The most obvious reason that this is important, and perhaps the most important, is the answer to the question "How would you want others to treat you?" It's funny because I'm sure that some of these people who are horrible at returning phone calls or email or probably some of the most upset when others don't do it for them in a prompt manner. Regardless of how important you think that person is, the courtesy to return a request for information with some type of answer shows something about your moral character and respect for others. People who make their best efforts to do this are generally people who feel that all individuals are worthy of their respect and should be treated accordingly. People who don't do this often have a feeling that there are certain people who are "better" than others, and only these people are "worthy" of their responses. While this may seem to make sense in some ways from a business standpoint, which person do you think would exhibit higher overall moral character from a long term ethical standpoint?
Emails, text, phone calls. They don't seem like a big deal if you don't return them because you are so busy you don't have time. But in the world of email on our phones, automated text responses, and personal assistants, there is no reason we can't respond in a timely manner. The end game is important as well because you never know if that person that you shunned and disrespected some years ago with a lack of response will be put in a position of power over you in the future. And while you may think this person won't hold a grudge against you because of something so small, you never ever know...it might be someone just like me.
Ken Middleton is an Account Manager at TEKsystems that specializes in IT staffing and services. He is a graduate of UNC-Pembroke and current MBA student at Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech.
