. . . began the comment from a graduate of Oxford University. I gave him the chance to correct his post. Today’s feed from The Telegraph though held little surprise… “more than half of 200 respondents to a survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters expressed concern about the lack of graduate’s writing skills, while 55 per cent said an inability to communicate effectively poses a serious problem for their business.” Earlier articles worried that graduates were bringing an informal e-mail emoticon 
and SMS-text shorthand writing style (ROFLOL) to everything from formal school theses and papers to business proposals.
The dumbed-down “celebritisation” of US business verbal skills is long complete, thus the tag line change to this magazine today. But to see the malaise reach across the Pond into such storied United Kingdom institutions of higher learning is, in the words of the BBC’s only seemingly fictional character “Yes, Minister’s” Sir Humphrey Applegate, “the end of civilisation as we know it.” To him anyone not speaking or writing perfect “toff” English after attending Eton and then either of the two “name” Universities (Oxford and Cambridge for those reading in the Colonies) were relegated, said as condescendingly as one can imagine, to the dustbin of the LSE (The London School of Economics).
I hired a young man fresh out of Florida State University in the late 1980’s. As a joke I nicknamed him “Norm” (as in Crosby, the lovable, language-fracturing US-comedian of the time) known for his ability to seemingly elevate his own vocabulary by extraordinarily poor and wholly inappropriate word usage in every situation. Today he is a PriceWaterhouseCoopers partner.
Crosby’s fracturing was deliberate and witty showing his true command and incredible love of language. He would first deconstruct then reconstruct it in such a way as to play the buffoon and provide extraordinary laughs. The recently departed George Carlin was also a master at the use of the language as music in comedy. They were both very much like the young Picasso who was first a disciplined classical painter before moving into the abstract we today know and value. Norm, George and Pablo knew exactly what they were doing, loved their craft and it required countless hours of rehearsal and practice to get “wrong” right (or is it write?).
My employee had no clue but had obvious other talents. Still, no matter how many times I would privately prompt him with the words, “OK Norm” and correct his usage, it popped up in so many places we just gave up. And therein lies the rub.
We bemoan schools for producing below par graduates yet how many of those AGR recruiters would be willing to focus and invest time in mentoring to help them get it right? Part of the problem is the lack of selfless mentors who understand that a big part of their job is moulding the future leaders of their company. Now too many just want to make sure they get theirs and move on.
Without Bob Caira (use “periodically,” for, “every so often”), Dave Aucamp (title doesn’t matter, how much you’re paid does), Howard Frank (commitment does not have 2 t’s), Shelley Schneider, Dean Markezin, Connie Miller-Clinton, Dr. Dorman Pickleseimer and other mentors along the way, this writer would likely suffer the same fate.
Where leadership was enlightened, how I build a well-functioning team, help this person on my team be the best he or she can be was most important. Sadly today, it is strictly up or out, survival of the fittest, grit your teeth, bear down and walk barefoot across burning coals kind of stuff. When a stint on The Apprentice is worth more than a degree because you are “battle scarred and tested,” our priorities shift into very dangerous territory. The recent winner of the UK program could not even get out of bed to his new job on the first day because he felt ill. That became a lead headline in the UK.
Writing and communication skills are learned over a lifetime and require two sides willing to admit that help is both needed and wanted. Teaching, mentoring and helping employees learn good communication and writing skills are tasks that fall to each of us. US Senator Hillary Clinton wrote a book as first lady saying it takes a village to raise a child. It may well indeed take one to build a functioning, well-communicating business person as well.
I know I am grateful to have had help along the way. Maybe less expectation on both sides and an occasional slice of humble pie from those taking the survey as well as their interviewees would help.
