It ain’t what you say - Brush up on your business grammar
Are poor writing standards damaging business? In this article Anthony Landale looks at the problems caused by inaccurate grammar and highlights a fast training solution.
If you want to know just how embarrassing and damaging it can be to make high profile gaffes with English then look no further than George Bush. As most of us know, a whole industry has sprung up to pour scorn and ridicule on the President’s head because of his frequent linguistic blunders. But George isn’t alone in his poor command of language - this is a problem which is endemic in the UK and is particularly pressing for organisations that rely on professional written communication.
It is easy enough to see why this has suddenly become a core concern. We only have to consider the so-called e-generation, those who have never known a world without email and texting, to recognise the sudden change in focus in communication. Today’s youth are writing to one another more than ever, but formal writing and accurate sentence construction is a skill rarely practiced. Even older e-mailers are catching the bug - paying less attention to their grammar when typing out a message than they would ever have dreamed of in the past.
However, while many of us might be happy enough to cut corners when writing to colleagues and friends, we have different standards when it comes to being the recipients of business communication. Indeed, when we are on the receiving end of sloppy writing, the tables turn and the potential costs of getting it wrong become apparent. For example, a recent CBI report has suggested that the texting generation is “unable to function in the workplace” because people simply cannot write well enough. And according to Richard Lambert, Director General of the CBI, “basic literacy and numeracy problems are a nightmare for businesses and individuals.”
It isn’t only the CBI which is concerned. In 2005 a Royal Mail survey of companies discovered that poor grammar and atrocious spelling could be costing UK businesses a staggering £41 billion in lost sales. Commenting on this finding Julia Strong, Deputy Director of the National Literacy Trust, pointed not only to the significant impact that staff with inadequate literacy skills could have on their organisation’s competitiveness, but also highlighted the crying need for business to provide skills training to rectify such literacy problems.
Most companies know this of course. They know that their customers are likely to be driven away by error strewn communication. They may not know, however, that overcharging is seen by more customers as a lesser offence than companies which don’t have a grip on their grammar. When it comes to writing standards, it appears that customers have a low tolerance threshold.
Identifying the rocks
So what do organisations have to do to meet this challenge? First it’s surely important to recognise that there is a balance to be struck. We know that language and grammar is changing faster than ever; imported media, new technology, a much faster world… all impact on the language we use and how we use it. There is nothing wrong with that. However, when it comes to communicating, engaging and influencing people in the workplace a different imperative comes into focus. The reason for this is that when the rules that underpin language are so eroded that people no longer talk in a unified voice, then a barrier springs up between the communicator and the recipient. This is exactly why grammar is so important; it helps with meaning, understanding and relationship - and this suggests it’s an issue that needs proper attention.
So is there an easy remedy for the situation? According to Clive Lewis, MD of Illumine Training, there is. “We don’t want to train people to be linguists or scholars, but we do want to help people get to grips with the essentials of grammar. This is why we have introduced a fast and practical refresher course for people who know they sometimes slip up with their grammar, and want to ensure their written communication won’t embarrass them again.”
The Illumine programme is called ‘Grammar on the Rocks™‘. It doesn’t try to bombard participants with too much information.
What it does instead is divide grammar into three bite sized chunks as follows:
- Major Rocks - including the use of apostrophes, plurals, subject-verb agreements and bad verbal grammar.
- Minor Rocks - which cover the use of colons, semicolons, punctuation of lists, using the right words in a sentence and hyphen usage.
- Submerged Rocks - which are those less commonly known obstacles such as where to add prepositions and when, if ever, to use split infinitives.
I didn’t know it wasn’t wrong
The ramifications of poor grammar are also something that should have ambitious executives thinking hard. Why? Because this is a matter that also impacts on personal career success.
In short, managers who want to ‘get on’ need good written English. This starts for most of us with our own CV’s. Yet you only have to ask any recruitment consultant how many CV’s they jettison without reading past the first paragraph, to see that the majority of candidates fall far short of what is considered acceptable.
For example, according to a survey conducted by Hertfordshire University last year, over three-quarters of employers are put off a job candidate by poor spelling or grammar. Interestingly, this figure was more than twice the 34% who were annoyed by CV exaggerations. As one manager commented, “I work in a personnel department and see so many spelling errors on application forms. I can’t believe what some people send in. Some can’t even spell the job title they are applying for. It doesn’t surprise me that employers are put off by bad spelling; it not only shows a lack of basic skills but also a lack of attention to detail and self awareness”.
And it isn’t only in the recruitment process where the problem shows up. Just think of the presentations, proposals and reports that aspiring executives will have to submit to clients, colleagues and senior managers during their careers. Misuse of apostrophes, poor punctuation, poor spelling… all such gaffes will have senior managers questioning an executive’s suitability for promotion.
Must know vs nice to know
Grammar on the Rocks™ highlights 23 specific areas you may want to address. Now we will take a look at a few of these areas.
As I have been intimating in this article, while purists have a particular view of grammar rooted in the centuries long evolution of the English language, there is a much more pragmatic view than this. It doesn’t make sense to expect emailers and texters to change their habits. Indeed that would be a Canute-like folly. If we follow the ‘Grammar on the Rocks™‘ principles it is altogether more prudent to suggest that we need to adapt our style both to the medium being used and to the expectations of the audience. In other words, if we are tasked with writing a formal document then we had better brush up on our ability to write in a more formal style.
In this context here are some simple rules to follow:
1. Must knows - the must know aspects of grammar include:
- Understanding when and how to use apostrophes. In particular it’s important to know how i) an apostrophe is used to stand in for a letter that is missing (e.g. don’t), ii) how it is used in a singular possessive sense (e.g. IBM’s market) and iii) how it is used after a plural noun (e.g. our managers’ challenges).
2. Nice to knows - the nice to know aspects of grammar include:
- Understanding and being able to use words that are spelt nearly the same, but possess different meanings. The classic example here is ‘to affect’, which means to influence, and ‘to effect’, which means to cause a result; there are many such words which people confuse, including practice/practise and enquiry/inquiry.
If this is all too reminiscent of long unproductive hours spent in the class room then don’t be too downhearted. The promise that Clive Lewis, at Illumine Training, makes is that you can pick up these essentials in just half a day; and for UK bosses it is also worth reminding you that you are not alone. In corporate America it is reported the Fortune 500 companies are spending more than $3billion a year retraining employees in basic English. On both sides of the Atlantic we can blame the Blackberry and the instant messaging culture for this problem, but that won’t help to solve it. It is up to training and HR departments and individual staff to take action, get to grips with their grammar, and glean the rewards that will come through increased personal confidence, improved professional standards and better customer relationships.
Test your grammar with our FREE and simple to use Grammar Test at http://www.illumine.co.uk/resources/grammar-test.html
Find out more about Grammar on the Rocks™ and other courses on +44 (0)1753 866633 or http://www.illumine.co.uk/communicate/grammar-on-the-rocks.html
Tags: Business Writing Workshop (Training), Fun Stuff, Grammar on The Rocks™ (Training), Powerful writing techniques, The importance of grammar, Written Communication