Tips on developing a more engaging writing style for HR projects

Just as a side note...sometimes in employee communication (depending on the subject) matter of fact can be better and more appropriate than creative. True engagement is more about the what rather than the how it is being said

Could you perhaps give an example of where you perceive this to be a problem?

Just as a side note...sometimes in employee communication (depending on the subject) matter of fact can be better and more appropriate than creative. True engagement is more about the what rather than the how it is being said

Could you perhaps give an example of where you perceive this to be a problem?

That would be my perspective as well. Over the years in HR, I have spent quite a bit of time and thought to drafting announcements, policies and other documents that go out to the whole staff that are "precise as a pair of scissors". You have to sacrifice an elegant turn of phrase and aim at complete absence of ambiguity. In my last job, I would often have in mind our lone workers in remote parts of the country who worked at weekends, i.e. they had no colleague or manager to refer to at the time and the support departments were also closed. Everything I sent out had to be crystal clear at the first reading - which is a good reason to use a cliché such as "crystal clear" rather than find a more arresting synonym, because everyone knows what the cliché means.

I have also occasionally written for a couple of magazines: I've written book reviews, I've contributed to a column on quirky places to visit (the handcuff collection in the Police Museum in Tetbury, Glos, if you're ever down that way), and various other subjects. It is a very different skill. It's fun to be able to show more personality in your writing and maybe even some wit, but I am quite ruthless about excluding anything extraneous from anything I send out as HRD.

If you are interested in writing, there are lots of books you might enjoy: Partridge's Usage and Abusage is an oldie but goodie, Lynne Truss's Eats Shoots and Leaves, and The Economist Style Guide are 3 that I like, although they all major on clarity rather than creativity.

Mentioned this to my wife who’s presently doing a free Open University creative writing course. In addition to OU ( and with same cautions about the differences between creative writing and effective business communications) she highly recommends searching Coursera online who seem to link to all kinds of suitable looking material

Hi Keith,

Thanks for coming back to me. Sorry for the delay in looking at responses. I'm working on projects such as introducing new maternity benefits & it's more the communications to the team about these.