http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/ en-gb Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:21:38 GMT http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/October-2008/Gain-the-competitive-edge-in-business-marketing.aspx http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/October-2008/Gain-the-competitive-edge-in-business-marketing.aspx Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:01:23 GMT In times of economic downturn all sorts of problems land in front of directors and business owners, including sales declines, cash flows and cost cutting. For most companies marketing will be the key to survival, but probably at a reduced cost. The use of email marketing and direct mail can be a cost effective way to continue to market the company’s products and services and seek out new customers. Both of these forms of marketing rely on the written word. At Better Writing: Better Business we know how important good writing skills are. Many bosses say, according to research, that they would not do business with companies that can’t weed out language errors. They say that the lack of good writing skills could well be a reflection of other weaknesses in the business. Improving these is a cost effective solution for employers, and easily done. Better Writing: Better Business is an online server-based programme that holds the keys to accurate writing. Staff can undertake it at their own pace, and learn at their desk. With no need for expensive offsite learning, you will be conserving upskilling funds and giving your staff skills that could swiftly give your business and company ‘the competitive edge’. http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/August-2008/Grammatical-errors-can-seriously-undermine-an-organisations-credibility.aspx http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/August-2008/Grammatical-errors-can-seriously-undermine-an-organisations-credibility.aspx Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:13:16 GMT Grammatical errors can seriously undermine an organisation's credibility, so it's essential that employers identify problems at an early stage. Nadia Damon reports. Eilish Dempsey worked as a receptionist at shipping firm NYK Group Europe for nine years before moving into a new role as PA to the managing director. Drafting business correspondence and e-mails were a key part of the job, so Dempsey knew she needed to brush up on her grammar. "I had learned all these things in the past," she explains, "but when you don't use this knowledge every day you tend to lose it." Following her request for additional training, she attended a one-day effective business English course with training company Hemsley Fraser. "The course covered a lot of useful things," says Dempsey, "and it taught me to look at my work more carefully before pressing the 'send' button." After initially having to spend time re-reading her work - with her managing director often having to amend his previously dictated correspondence himself, Dempsey claims her increased awareness of business writing techniques and grammar has given her the confidence to rewrite sentences and make other alterations that are welcomed by her boss. This has cut down on the number of drafts required - saving them both time. Literacy day Regardless of whether good grammar is required at recruitment stage, or may be a necessity further down the line, all businesses need to ensure they have a literacy programme in place, says Heather Ker, author of the recently launched Better Writing: Better Business, a web-based modular course produced by educational software developer, Basic Writing Skills. "Because unless people have been extremely lucky in their choice of school or teacher, they are very likely [thanks to successive UK education policies] to have missed out on the technicalities of grammar and punctuation," she explains. Sue Southwood, development officer for Literacy, Numeracy and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) at the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), which has worked with the British Army on literacy issues, acknowledges that grammar is a frequent issue for employers. She claims that a key part of any learning & development department's literacy policy should be recognising the problem and how it might be affecting the business. She says this knowledge can then be used to raise awareness among key staff to conduct a skills check and/or as a basis for individual interviews with employees as part of an organisational needs analysis. Aptitude tests Where business writing is a key part of the job, employers are entitled to conduct aptitude tests at the recruitment stage. However, much like any employment procedure, a grammar diagnostic should adhere to recruitment best practice - which means telling candidates about a test in advance and asking them if they have any special requirements. This is particularly important when testing dyslexics, as the condition comes under the Disability Discrimination Act. It should be clear during any assessment that the organisation is testing essential skills for the role itself, rather than weeding out anyone it privately deems to be unsuitable. But while it is understandable that employers may be keen to diagnose any literacy issues early in the recruitment process, NIACE development officer (Dyslexia) Rachel Davies makes the point that by testing at the interview stage, and rejecting applicants purely on the basis of grammar, employers do run the risk of missing out on candidates who may have better business skills and just need some additional support or training. Incognito interventions As literacy will always be a touchy subject in the workplace, Southwood recommends that employers refer to these skills using work-based examples. "Marketing courses as 'report writing' or 'writing better e-mails' is much more effective," she explains, "as is using a model that offers opportunities to improve rather than suggesting people have needs or gaps that need to be met or filled." Alison Cowper, learning consultant at Hemsley Fraser, agrees that diplomacy is a key part of grammar awareness - especially as many very well-educated people have never had this training. She says: "People can feel a bit touchy about being sent on a course, but, in my experience, people are quite hungry to learn." Cowper, who teaches a one-day effective business English course, reveals that companies which dress grammar and punctuation training up as editing, proof reading or business writing will automatically generate great demand. Barry Rockhill, managing director of GBC Learning, claims a lot of grammar and punctuation tuition is offered under the umbrella of 'business writing'. Grammar may be a common bugbear of employers, but Rockhill says many companies are also looking to improve productivity levels by sending individuals on courses that speed up the writing process and offer advice on techniques - particularly when it comes to reports and e-mails. http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/July-2008/Improve-your-literacy-online--July--August-issue-of-Business-Issues.aspx http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/July-2008/Improve-your-literacy-online--July--August-issue-of-Business-Issues.aspx Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:53:33 GMT The UK-wide problem of illiteracy within the workplace is not being helped by spell-check and other supposedly useful technologies, according to Heather Ker, creator of Better Writing: Better Business™, a web - based solution designed to improve writing skills in business. This article discusses that a massive percentage of participants in a recent survey would consider not doing business with a company that displayed poor levels of literacy within their marketing material. The business community has felt the pressure of poor literacy skills mounting for many years and it is estimated that this lack of skills could be costing the UK economy up to £2billion per year. Word processing makes everyday working life easier, but it is still important to proof read every document without assuming that all the errors will be automatically corrected. Better Writing: Better Business™ has designed a new interactive solution to raise basic levels of literacy. It is self-paced, easy to navigate, and perfectly designed for incremental learning. Based on scientific principles of learning, it teaches in stages with clear, concise lessons, practice questions and reviews. With no need for users to leave their place of work to learn, business disruption is minimal. http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/June-2008/BRITS-ARENT-READY-is-the-headline-in-the-Daily-Mirror.aspx http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/June-2008/BRITS-ARENT-READY-is-the-headline-in-the-Daily-Mirror.aspx Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:28:32 GMT Daily Mirror 12th June 2008 BRITS AREN’T READ-Y is the headline in the Daily Mirror. The article reads ‘Forget reading between the lines, the majority of Britons have enough trouble trying to make sense of what is written on them. If you think your literacy skills could do with a brush up, check out Better Writing: Better Business™ (www.bwsbusiness.co.uk). The site offers a series of online courses designed to help businesses and individuals improve their language skills.’ http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/June-2008/Learning-Magazine--Summer-Edition.aspx http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/June-2008/Learning-Magazine--Summer-Edition.aspx Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:27:23 GMT The summer edition of ‘Learning Magazine’ published the findings of the Better Writing: Better Business™ survey. The article says that the lack of basic skills is considered a major threat to the UK economy, and that these dwindling skills levels predictably affect business profitability. http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/May-2008/Better-Writing-Better-Business-link-on-GMTV-website.aspx http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/May-2008/Better-Writing-Better-Business-link-on-GMTV-website.aspx Thu, 22 May 2008 12:54:39 GMT As part of the coverage of Adult Learners’ Week, GMTV has included a link to the www.bwsbusiness.com basic literacy test. The Basic Writing Skills basic literacy test has shown that 68% of the UK adult population has below average basic literacy skills, a statistic that could significantly affect the long term prospects of the UK economy. These results support the Skills for Life findings which estimate that 5.2 million adults in the UK are at, or below, the literacy standard expected of an 11 year old. The article on www.gm.tv asks readers to take the free literacy test with a link to www.bwsbusiness.com . Full details of the article on the GMTV website can be found through this link http://www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=29485 http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/March-2008/Better-Writing-can-mean-better-business.aspx http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/March-2008/Better-Writing-can-mean-better-business.aspx Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:30:53 GMT Experts estimate that poor writing skills could be costing £2billion a year in lost contracts – and poor grammar can be a key influencer when a customer determines whether to do business with an organisation. “If this campaign is able to improve the literacy skills of young professionals by just 10%, the net effect on society and business will be both significant and tangible” The educational software programme, Better Writing: Better Business, gives business owners and HR managers the opportunity to offer employees a platform to learn the correct use of English grammar. East Midlands Chamber of Commerce Business Issues Magazine March / April 2008 http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/March-2008/Tesco-boss-says-too-many-leave-school-without-basic-skills.aspx http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/March-2008/Tesco-boss-says-too-many-leave-school-without-basic-skills.aspx Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:30:26 GMT Companies are struggling to find skilled staff as thousands leave school with a poor grasp of the three Rs, Tesco chief executive claimed. Almost 1 in 6 firms has to give teenagers remedial lessons in English and Maths. Daily Telegraph - Graeme Paton, Education Editor. http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/March-2008/UK-lacks-basic-skills.aspx http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/March-2008/UK-lacks-basic-skills.aspx Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:29:46 GMT Lord Leitch warns that low skills levels can hold back productivity and growth of the UK economy. http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/March-2008/Illiteracy-rate-is-a-national-disgrace-says-Sir-Digby.aspx http://www.BWSBusiness.co.uk/News/March-2008/Illiteracy-rate-is-a-national-disgrace-says-Sir-Digby.aspx Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:28:44 GMT Sir Digby Jones, the Government's skills envoy, painted a bleak picture yesterday of a divided Britain in 2020 if employers refuse to train their unskilled staff. The Telegraph - Richard Tyler.