BUSINESS WRITING I IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

WHY JOHNNY CAN'T WRITE, AND WHY EMPLOYERS ARE MAD

CSNBC • By Kelley Holland • Monday, 11 Nov 2013

Can  you  tell  a  pronoun  from  a  participle;  use  commas  

correctly  in  long  sentences;  describe  the  difference  between  
its  and  it's?  
 
If  not,  you  have  plenty  of  company  in  the  world  of  job  
seekers.  Despite  stubbornly  high  unemployment,  many  
employers  complain  that  they  can't  find  qualified  candidates  for  the  jobs  they  do  have.  
 
Often,  it  turns  out,  the  mismatch  results  from  applicants'  inadequate  communication  skills.  In  
survey  after  survey,  employers  are  complaining  about  job  candidates'  inability  to  speak  and  
write  clearly.    
 
On  Friday,  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  reported  there  were  a  net  204,000  new  jobs  created  
in  October,  though  the  unemployment  rate  rose  to  7.3  percent.  The  numbers  easily  topped  
economist  expectations  of  120,000  new  nonfarm  payroll  jobs  for  the  month.    
 
Experts  differ  on  why  job  candidates  can't  communicate  effectively.  Bram  Lowsky,  an  
executive  vice  president  of  Right  Management,  the  workforce  management  arm  of  Manpower,  
blames  technology.  
 
"With  Gen  X  and  Gen  Y,  because  everything  is  shorthand  and  text,  the  ability  to  communicate  
effectively  is  challenged,"  he  said.  "You  see  it  in  the  business  world,  whether  with  existing  
employees  or  job  candidates  looking  for  work."  
 
Others  say  colleges  aren't  doing  a  good  job.  In  a  survey  of  318  employers  published  earlier  this  
year  by  the  Association  of  American  Colleges  and  Universities  and  conducted  by  Hart  Research  
Associates,  80  percent  said  colleges  should  focus  more  on  written  and  oral  communication.  
 
William  Ellet,  an  adjunct  professor  teaching  writing  at  Brandeis  International  Business  School,  
says  the  problem  starts  even  earlier.  He  points  out  that  when  the  Department  of  Education  in  
2012  published  what  it  called  "The  Nation's  Report  Card:  Writing  2011,"  just  24  percent  of  
eighth  and  12th  graders  were  proficient  in  writing.  From  colleges  on  down,  he  said,  "nobody  
takes  responsibility  for  writing  instruction."  
 
Ellet,  who  previously  taught  writing  at  Harvard  Business  School,  says  the  problem  persists  
even  into  business  school—  and  he  believes  the  problem  isn't  related  to  technology.  "Most  new  
technology  is  text  based,"  he  said,  adding  that  a  majority  of  his  students  report  working  with  
people  they  have  never  met  and  communicating  with  them  largely  through  email.  
 
"Thirty  or  40  years  ago,  using  writing  for  that  wouldn't  have  been  possible,"  he  said,  and  that  
makes  writing  that  much  more  important.  "Businesses  get  that,  but  I  don't  think  universities  do."  
 

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Luckily  for  Ellet,  his  students  have  plenty  of  motivation  to  improve.  "Recruiters  and  companies  
are  saying,  'Send  us  a  writing  sample,  and  if  you  don't  meet  our  standards  for  communication,  we  
are  not  hiring  you,'"  he  said.  
 
It's  not  just  anecdotal:  In  a  2011  survey  of  corporate  recruiters  by  the  Graduate  Management  
Admission  Council,  the  organization  that  administers  the  standardized  test  for  business  school,  
86  percent  said  strong  communication  skills  were  a  priority—well  ahead  of  the  next  skill.  
(Oddly,  though,  when  recruiters  were  asked  in  a  separate  question  what  changes  business  
schools  should  make  to  meet  employers'  needs,  the  recruiters  overwhelmingly  called  for  
something  different:  practical  experience.)  
 
The  good  news  for  job  seekers  is  that  some  companies  are  providing  help  with  writing.  Lowsky  
estimates  that  Right  Management  is  seeing  an  increase  of  20  to  25  percent  in  the  number  of  
clients  investing  in  career  development  for  employees,  including  improving  their  
communication  skills.  
 
T.  Rowe  Price  has  been  working  independently  on  employees'  communication  skills  for  some  
time.  With  offices  in  multiple  time  zones  and  time  sensitive  investment  decisions  to  make,  the  
firm's  leaders  understand  that  clear  communications  are  essential.  A  number  of  senior  people  
at  the  firm  may  work  with  analysts  and  portfolio  managers  on  their  communications,  but  Garry  
Cosnett,  head  of  global  equity  communications,  does  it  full  time.  
 
Cosnett  spends  considerable  time  with  newly  hired  analysts,  helping  them  learn  to  organize  
their  writing  and  make  it  clear  and  persuasive.  Another  part  of  his  job  is  to  read  writing  
samples  from  prospective  hires,  often  second  year  MBA  candidates.  "Sometimes  we  ask  for  
writing  samples  even  prior  to  the  interview  process,  and  I  will  take  a  look  at  that,"  he  said.  "I've  
been  doing  this  for  so  long,  I  have  a  pretty  good  sense  of  what's  fixable  and  what's  terminal."  
T.  Rowe  Price  tends  to  hire  graduates  of  the  most  selective  business  schools,  along  with  some  
lateral  hires  from  other  firms  –  but  even  for  this  elite  group,  writing  can  be  a  challenge,  Cosnett  
says.  
 
"It's  amazing,  the  frequent  disconnect,"  he  said.  "These  are  people  who  all  did  the  very  best  at  
the  best  schools,  probably  since  preschool,  but  they  really  have  not  developed  their  writing  
skills  to  the  degree  that  they  would  have  to  to  succeed  in  this  organization."  
Some  new  hires  are  skeptical,  he  said.  "People  think  when  they  first  meet  me  that  I'm  going  to  
grill  them  on  semicolons."  But  in  fact,  he  says,  he  is  teaching  them  what  they  need  in  order  to  
succeed  at  the  firm.  "You  can  be  the  smartest  person  here,  but  if  you  can't  convince  the  
portfolio  managers  to  buy  what  you're  selling,  you  won't  be  successful."  (In  Wall  Street  terms,  
that  means  you  won't  make  much  money.)  
 
"So  much,"  he  said,  "is  driven  by  the  written  word."  
 
 

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION