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Back to the Basics: Determining the Importance of Basic Writing Skills in the Workplace

Back to the Basics: Determining the Importance of Basic Writing Skills in the Workplace MBC Final Project Presentation Camille Verzal May 20, 2003. Frustrations. For me For my co-workers For my organization and its customers. Examples. Unnecessary time wasted Rework Cost to PDI.

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Back to the Basics: Determining the Importance of Basic Writing Skills in the Workplace

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  1. Back to the Basics:Determining the Importance of Basic Writing Skills in the Workplace MBC Final Project Presentation Camille Verzal May 20, 2003

  2. Frustrations • For me • For my co-workers • For my organization and its customers

  3. Examples • Unnecessary time wasted • Rework • Cost to PDI

  4. Key Questions • How important are high-quality writing skills to PDI? • What is the quality of people’s writing overall? • Is there a need for the PDI style guide? • Do employees need training on how to use the style guide?

  5. Research Question • Do PDI employees place high value on grammatically correct written communications that follow a consistent corporate style?

  6. The Survey • 30 questions • Paper survey • Interoffice mail distribution • Population of all PDI employees

  7. The Survey Numbers Population size: 500 employees Sample size: 233 employees Number of returned surveys: 115 Response rate: 49%

  8. Importance of Writing Skills • 94% of respondents said they “strongly agree” or “agree” with the statement: • “Effective writing skills (e.g., good grammar and spelling, proper punctuation and style) are important to my position at PDI.”

  9. Importance of Writing Skills • 93% of respondents said they “strongly disagree” or “disagree” with the statement: • “As long as the message is clear, I am not concerned with the number of spelling or grammar errors that appear in written communications that I receive.”

  10. Quality of Writing Skills • 66% of respondents agreed that they have excellent writing skills. • 41% of respondents agreed that their co-workers have excellent writing skills. • 35% of respondents said they had received negative comments from clients complaining of typos, misspellings, and grammar errors.

  11. The PDI Style Guide “I am aware that PDI has a style guide.”

  12. The PDI Style Guide “I use the PDI style guide.” However, 38% of respondents said they would be motivated to use the style guide if they knew where to locate a copy.

  13. Training Needs • How could PDI best help its employees improve their writing communications? • Improve the PDI style guide and provide orientation on it (23%) • Have people go through a voluntary basic writing program (23%) • Have all employees go through a basic writing training session (14%) • Have a grammar tip sent every week via e-mail (11%)

  14. Survey Results • Do PDI employees place high value on grammatically correct written communications that follow a consistent corporate style? • Yes!

  15. Recommendations • Revise the style guide and ensure that all employees receive a copy. • Market the benefits of the style guide and provide orientation on how to use it. • Encourage senior-level employees to play a role. • Develop informal training sessions on basic writing skills. • Conduct follow-up studies that measure: • Time and cost associated with poor writing skills. • Improvement in writing skills following basic training.

  16. Any Questions?

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