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Change Employee Communication and Avoid the “Golden Bull”

Guest post by: Ben Nash

Article Overview: Communicating with employees in plain English is a good thing! The main benefit is that they will have a greater chance of understanding what you are trying to say (always a good outcome of any communication). Unfortunately many messages sent out by management are less than clear. Here are a few examples of real communications.

Change Employee Communication and Avoid the “Golden Bull”

Communicating with employees in plain English is a good thing! The main benefit is that they will have a greater chance of understanding what you are trying to say (always a good outcome of any communication). Unfortunately many messages sent out by management are less than clear. Here are a few examples of real communications. We’ve also provided some simplified alternatives: Before

High-quality learning environments are a necessary precondition for the facilitation and enhancement of the ongoing learning process.

After

Children need good schools if they are to learn properly.

Before

If there are any points on which you require explanation or further particulars we shall be glad to furnish such additional details as may be required by telephone.

After

If you have any questions, please give us a call.

Before

It is important that you shall read the notes, advice and information detailed opposite then complete the form overleaf (all sections) prior to its immediate return to the Council by way of the envelope provided.

After

Please read the notes opposite before you fill in the form. Then send it back to us as soon as possible in the envelope provided.

Before

Your inquiry about the use of the entrance area at the library for the purpose of displaying posters and leaflets about Welfare and Supplementary Benefit rights, gives rise to the question of the provenance and authoritativeness of the material to be displayed. Posters and leaflets issued by the Central Office of Information, the Department of Health and Social Security and other authoritative bodies are usually displayed in libraries, but items of a disputatious or polemic kind, whilst not necessarily excluded, are considered individually.

After

Thank you for your letter asking for permission to put up posters in the library. Before we can give you an answer we will need to see a copy of the posters to make sure they won’t offend anyone.

All of these are real communications taken from the Plain English Campaign website. The Plain English Campaign has been fighting gobbledygook and BS for thirty years in the UK.

They hand out annual “Golden Bull Awards” to the best (or worst) offenders. A Golden Bull winner in 2009 was the US Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service for a tax form to be completed by suppliers outside of the US.

This is their award winning communication gem:

“W-8BEN Certificate of Foreign status of beneficial owner for United States Tax Withholding - Hybrid Entity – a hybrid entity is any person (other than an individual) that is treated as fiscally transparent in the US… Reverse hybrid entity – a reverse hybrid entity is any person (other than an individual) that is not fiscally transparent under US tax law principles… Fiscally transparent entity… Disregarded entity.”

Check out the Plain English Campaign website and then review your own employee communications for the “Golden Bull” factor.

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Article Tags: communicating with employees, employee communication, golden bull, plain english



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