If you’re looking for cost-cutting ideas for large companies, chances are there is one critical area you’ve overlooked: your employees’ business writing skills.

In fact, you might have a money pit staring you in the face and you don’t even see it. This money sucker wastes time and dollars. And it’s not unique to your business. Like aliens taking over a city in some blockbuster movie, this money pit shows up all over, draining potential profits and tripping up productivity….all without anyone noticing anything is amiss.

No, it’s not an inside embezzler or a Russian hacker that’s quietly sabotaging your efficiency efforts. It’s poor writing skills.

“It’s not an inside embezzler or a Russian hacker that’s quietly sabotaging your efficiency efforts. It’s poor writing skills.”

You have a money pit hiding in your business

Improving writing skills is one of the best cost-cutting ideas for large companies. And I’m not just saying that. Research proves it. One expert estimates American businesses lose $400 billion per year due to weak writing skills.

How much time and money could you save? A study by the American Management Association found that strong writing skills save 30% to 50% in writing time, and up to 50% in reading time. Up to 50%! Imagine if your employees could cut their time spent writing emails, chat messages and documents by half! Then imagine the employees on the receiving end of these messages cutting their reading time in half.

How many hours per day could you get back for more important tasks? How much more productivity might you see?

Or consider the $6.6 million saved by Capitol One when they sent 3,000 employees through training to improve their email writing skills. That’s a huge payoff on their investment!

But why? Why is improving writing skills one of the cost-cutting ideas for large companies you should consider? Because:

  • When employees can write better faster, they communicate necessary information in less time.
  • When the writing is more clear and concise, the information is understood in less time.

Stronger writing skills also streamline what comes next. People know what is expected of them. Team members are all on the same page. Efficiency increases as confusion fades away. All of this means employees can do more.

If you’d like to get rid of this weak writing money pit at your business and start cutting costs, first acknowledge the problem: lack of skill.

Then take these four steps to fix it. It will take time, but it’s not hard. All you have to do is start.

Cost-cutting ideas for large companies start with these four steps:

  1. Get your employees training to help them improve their business writing skills.
  2. Let employees know they don’t have to hide behind some kind of convoluted corporate speak when writing.
  3. Encourage them to be clear and confident.
  4. Reward the smallest try. Better writing takes practice, practice and more practice.

Let them try. Let them fail. And keep them moving forward so you can get those hours and dollars back.

Hello, cost-cutting ideas for large companies! See ya, money pit!

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Sharon Ernst is a retired freelance copywriter now on a mission to improve the business and marketing writing skills of today’s workforce with her blog, newsletter and online classes.