The Business Benefits of Developing Employee Writing Skills

     

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Writing training has the potential to produce huge benefits for professional organizations, but it’s not always clear what benefits an organization can reasonably expect from developing their employees’ writing skills. Specifically, in what ways does improving written communication abilities translate into actual business outcomes?

First, better writing powers better business results.

The research is clear: better writing produces highly desirable business results in all kinds of ways. Joseph Kimble, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s Research & Writing Department, cited multiple examples in his book, Writing for Dollars, Writing to Please:

• FedEx saved $400,000 after rewriting operations manuals whose improved clarity led to fewer mistakes.
• Similarly, GE saved up to $375,000 annually per customer after rewriting its software manuals, whose improved clarity led to decrease of 125 calls per representative.
• The FCC was able to re-assign five full-time staff by reducing questions and inquiries after rewriting regulations to be clearer, plainer, and easier to understand.
• The U.S. Navy saved $27 to $37 million per year after rewriting business memos so they could be read in less time.

In general, companies that invest in training see 24% high-profit margins, according to an American Society for Training and Development survey of over 2,500 companies. Additionally, companies that spend more on training have 218% higher income per employee and 6% higher shareholder return when training expenditure per employee increases by just $680.

Second, better writing protects against certain costs and risks.

We looked at this question in our recent article, The ROI of Writing: How to Calculate the ROI of Faster Writing. Better trained writers can almost always write faster because they’re more skilled and need fewer rounds of editing and revising. We estimate a trained writer works about 25% faster than others, and that seemingly modest improvement translates into dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of labor hours and costs saved.
 
Training hedges against certain risks as well, such as employee recruitment and retention issues. Employees actively want to be trained; Gallup reports that nine out of ten (87%) of millennials specifically want development opportunities so they can improve their skills and future career prospects. That translates into improved employee engagement and retention.

Yet many writing programs don’t seem to work.

Unfortunately, many organizations have been burned by poor experiences with training of all types, including writing training. It’s important to realize that not all training – and not all trainers – are equal; always choose the right training program and options for your organization and its unique workforce. For example, professional writing training outperforms academic continuing education-style courses in most business environments; here’s why.
 

If you have further questions about what good writing training takes – and what it can achieve for your business –  please reach out for more information.