4 ways plain language makes for happier, more effective employees
This blog is for people who are in charge of others at work. Are you a manager? Are you in HR? If you’re responsible for other staff, here are four reasons why plain language is a must-have.
Plain language fosters inclusivity
I’m guessing you’re the kind of person who wants everyone at your organisation to feel included. You want to talk to people as respected equals. For you, plain language is essential.
Notice how you feel as you read these policies on inclusion:
We want all our people to thrive here. Everyone has unique traits and skills – and we want you to feel celebrated for yours.
Organisation X has made a commitment to its inclusion policy, which involves ensuring an environment where thriving is the norm. It is realised that individuality will mean a broad range of traits and skills are found at Organisation X, which is committed to celebrating those aspects of its workforce.
One message feels real. The other rings hollow.
The hollow message is made up of:
overblown language
referring to your organisation as an entity rather than as the people who make it up
using full words, without any contractions (we’ve, don’t) that sound conversational.
What comes across as real?
Simple language.
Calling yourself ‘I’ or ‘we’ and the other people ‘you’.
Using contractions.
Plain language makes people feel included simply because it’s approachable and friendly. Sit with that for a minute. It’s massively important.
Plain language includes more literacy levels
At your organisation, there will be people on most levels of literacy.
You’ll have people who can read vast amounts of complex info and understand it well. 18% of New Zealand adults are here – described as levels 4 and 5 on the OECD’s Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey.
You’ll have people who are confident readers but may not be able to take in quite as much or quite as complex info. 38% of New Zealand adults are on level 3.
You’ll have people who can – but don’t like – reading and would much rather do business orally. Reading feels very hard on this level and these people know they miss a lot of the meaning. 29% of us are on level 2.
If you have a hands-on, practical arm in your organisation, you might employ people at level 1. This is where you can read something identical to what you’re looking for, like your own name. Nothing else makes much sense. 14% of us are here.
The spread of literacy in New Zealand – only levels 3, 4, and 5 like reading!
What do you think your level is? What about a family member?
Why are some of us on those lower levels?
This could be because of dyslexia (10% of us have it).
English might not be these people’s first language.
Or they might have just had a shitty education!
Why do we have such low literacy?
We don’t. We’re the fifth most literate country in the OECD, tied with Australia!
Your workplace will have a range of literacy levels
That’s a statistical certainty. Wherever you have a range of people, you have a range of literacy levels.
Whatever levels your people are at, plain language will make reading easier and quicker for them.
Even people with those high literacy levels don’t go around hunting out tricky stuff to read. They’re at work. They read to do their jobs.
No one ever read something at work and said ‘This is too easy to read. Make it harder.’ But every single day people think ‘This is way too long and complex. I wish it was easier.’
When you use plain language, people will understand your meaning more accurately. They’ll feel like you’re talking to them respectfully.
That will make them feel included. And this is true whether they’re level 2 or level 5 on the literacy scale.
How do we include people on level 1 and 2?
It’s uncommon for people to tell their workmates ‘I can’t read’ or ‘I hate reading’. People on level 1 and 2 spend a lot of their work life covering up this difficulty.
So notice how people behave. If someone always deals with you in person or by phone, reciprocate. Leave them voice messages rather than texts or emails.
As an organisational policy, consider:
including a lot of images to support the text in your important documents
making short videos of your key organisational messages, like policies and how-to guides
explaining important info at staff meetings – not just saying ‘we have a new policy, so please read it’, but actually explaining the key points and who to talk to if people want to know more.
Plain language empowers your people
People can make informed decisions and take ownership of their tasks if they understand the information they’re working from. They’re much more likely to solve problems in creative, effective ways if they’re fully informed.
Who doesn’t want a more autonomous and motivated workforce?
One of the easiest ways to give people the freedom to act confidently is to set a clear direction, have clear policies, and give people straightforward information so they can get on with things.
An example from my life
I remember the stunning change that came over me when my boss started an accountability programme with a business mentor. She and the deputy chief executive were a tight team, and they went to all the accountability meetings together. One of the things they did was turn our company vision into 10-year, 5-year, 2-year, and 1-year goals.
They showed us the whole lot. It was the first time I realised our organisation had somewhere it wanted to go. And it was INSPIRING! I got fired up!
Our team made quarterly goals based on the 1-year goal, and we got stuff done – important stuff! It was galvanising to realise that any spare time I had could go towards getting us where we wanted to go.
Knowing the company’s goals got me focused on achieving them!
I even wrote a plan for how to maximise my time towards the goals and got my manager to sign it off. (Yes, I have a touch of the Geek.)
And how did I get this motivation? My leaders wrote clear goals so I knew our destination and the route to getting there. I could see how I could contribute to getting there.
Empowerment, autonomy, and motivation – caused by a clear written direction. Plain language helps!
Plain language greases the wheels
Have you every screamed with frustration because a process was so darn complicated and bureaucratic? And POINTLESS?
Plain language isn’t just about using simple words. It’s also about getting rid of anything unnecessary and unhelpful – reducing the number of steps, shortening the info required on the form.
The less admin people have to do, the more they can get on with their real work.
Speaking of pointless, imagine you decide to send an email to a bunch of people at work. You know it’s relevant for only one team, but you copy in 2 other teams as a courtesy.
You’ve just wasted 28 minutes of your organisation’s time.
I’ve assumed 10 people are in each team, so 20 people get the email as a courtesy. An email of about four paragraphs takes most people 1 minute and 24 seconds to read. Add those 20 people’s time together and it’s 28 minutes all up, just for one cc. (The people who actually needed it spent a collective 12.4 minutes on it. But we’re counting that as time well used.)
How do I know it takes a minute and 24 seconds on average?
An typical paragraph of four to five lines ranges from 68 to 102 words – the average is 85 words. From Readability Monitor
The average reading speed for non-fiction in English is 238 words per minute – from 190 studies of 18,537 participants
That’s just ONE little cc as a courtesy. Imagine the carnage when people email the whole organisation!
Unnecessary processes and emails waste time!
Here’s what I’m NOT saying. I’m not saying:
we should never email people
emails can’t create a fantastic sense of community and shared purpose.
Of course we should, and of course they can.
I AM saying if you’re going to email people, make it worth it. Is this courtesy-copy worth taking up 28 minutes of your organisation’s time?
Here’s another thing I’m saying
People generally read plain language in half the time it takes them to read normal writing. I know that because of all the tests I’ve done on my workshop participants.
Plain language is TWICE as quick to read. TWICE as quick!
Plain language really does grease the wheels.
You do fewer pointless admin activities
What you read takes you half as long as normal
And people love working in a well-greased workplace!
So there you are!
Plain language makes your workplace more inclusive – people feel respected and treated like the real humans that they are. Plain language helps us, regardless of our literacy level. It empowers people to be more autonomous and motivated. And plan language helps cut out pointless tasks and is twice as quick to read.
Winning all round!
If you want to learn more yourself – or put your whole organisation through self-paced learning (nudge nudge wink wink 😊) – here’s a great option:
