Is Poor English Skills in HR a Barrier? Let's Discuss Ways to Improve Communication

Hi,

Going by the various postings and the subsequent replies on this site, I think the standard of English is not agreeable and matchable with the standard laid down for a corporate HR person.

Be it grammar, sentence formation, or vocabulary, many experienced HR generalist members here show a lack of language skill. This is very much annoying. It is a general convention that an HR professional has to be proficient at drafting, framing, and verbal argumentative expressions.

A few enthusiastic CiteHR members have meticulously posted PPTs on language, communication, and soft skills improvement. This is laudable. Numerous members download them and give a 'Thank you' note. What is the aftermath of this downloading? The copied file would rest in the archives or be forwarded.

In the US/UK, high school and university students face difficulty in putting thoughts into words. When native speakers of English are unable to cope with the situation, just think of the scenario here. Due to the lack of skill, today those students outsource their dissertations/assignments.

This is evident from the fact that I receive quite a high number of assignments to be written for them. Knowing two or three Indian languages will do. Only if we master English, can we go a step further globally.

I request each zonal forum to get together weekly/fortnightly/monthly, spend a whole day, and inculcate ways to effectively build and develop written/oral communication.

How many would aspire to go for it? Please voice your views consciously.

Regards,

Chandru

Hi Chandru,

I completely agree with your view. I have also observed that here most of the members lack good communication skills. HR plays an important role in aligning the goals of employees with the organizational goals, for which I believe HR professionals must possess effective communication and interpersonal skills.

Hope that your initiative would encourage other members to overcome their low standard of language.

Hi Chandru,

I agree with your views as well. It is crucial for HR professionals to be proficient in correct English. You have correctly pointed out that the documents are stored in the archives. I hope that your post will inspire a positive change among the members, and that everyone will be mindful of their English in their posts.

Thanks,
Madhura

Hi Chandru,

I completely agree with you on this. Being an HR person, communication does play a vital role. At times, it is seen that what we communicate verbally, we have the tendency to write in the same way. However, the fact is that written and verbal English have differences which people often overlook while writing. I hope this could bring positive changes in people with their general English.

Nice initiative. Thanks.

Regards,
SJ

Hi Chandru,

I totally agree with you. But tell me some practical ways how I can improve oral and written communication skills and my accent. I hope your suggestions would help me out. Looking forward to your reply.

Regards,
Sandy

Dear Chandru,

We appreciate your views on posting this concerning issue. In agreement, I believe that unless the concern is addressed with a focus on quality, it may not be effective. Quality should not be overlooked with a casual attitude as it could negatively impact the outcomes.

Since we all need to communicate in English, it is crucial that our communication is purposeful to yield fruitful results. As you mentioned, a good presentation or article may just be forwarded or stored, but I disagree with this perspective. Perceptions can vary from person to person unless we establish standards for effective communication. With many individuals contributing their innovative methods or practices, I believe we can navigate towards clearer communication and see positive outcomes.

Thank you.

Dear Mr. S Chandrashekhar,

What a coincidence! Exactly a year ago, i.e., on 03 Nov 2007, I had raised this issue in this forum. A year later, you have raised the same issue. Thank you very much. The link to my post is as below: <link outdated-removed>

The problem with this site is that most of the members prefer to communicate in informal English. However, informality should not kill the spirit of the language itself. This, they do not understand.

HR is already losing ground to finance, marketing, etc. The junior HR members are creating one more reason to lose their credibility. But who listens? God bless them!

Thanks once again.

Dinesh V Divekar
Soft Skill and Behavioral Training Consultant

Hi Chandru,

I completely agree with your opinion. Communication is very important as well as necessary for HR. I have seen that many people agree with you, but is there anyone who can take the side of those people who are not good enough in English? Is there any way out of this problem? Seniors should do something about this issue.

Thanks & Regards,
Akhil
[EMAIL="akhil6943@gmail.com"]

Hi All,

I too agree with the same. Communication skills are very important for HR professionals. They are the face of the organization.

Regards,
Gitika Sharma
9971398130
Human Resources
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Hi All,

I am just starting my career in HR as a fresher, and I am not excellent in English. Because of it, I am facing lots of problems in corresponding. Please suggest what I should do.

Thank you.

Dear Chandrasekar,

I agree. Ever since I started to communicate with the members here, I appeal to them to use English the way it should be. At times, the expressions are just intolerable. I always wonder how these "professionals" run the show in their respective organizations.

Shall we put in a joint effort and make things happen in Chennai, at least, in making the HR professionals use English effectively? I am available on Sundays. In the last three months, I have 'helped' four persons who sought help in this area.

Best wishes,

Hi Chandru,

Thank you for waking up. As an HR professional and belonging to a Vernacular Medium, I need to improve my language skills. I will definitely work on it. I believe our colleagues who have already read and agreed with your opinion are also following your suggestion.

Cheers,
Minal

Absolutely, we, as individuals new to HR, need to develop our skills in the English language if we intend to embark on a successful journey in HR. So, from Kolkata, we can come together. Please reply to me with the names of the members from Kolkata who are interested in working on a plan for arranging this meeting.

Anupam

Friends, we have discussed enough about the problem. But what's the solution to this? :idea:

I agree that practice makes a man perfect. But with whom are we going to practice? The people with whom we interact daily - not even do they have proper communication skills. Even if anyone tries his best to be in practice, the other guy discourages you by simply giving a smirk or so. :icon7:

It happened with me many times.

So now let's find a solution to it.

Nice to read the replies posted here. The majority have accepted the fact while very few have defended it. Some of the members think that getting to know the core HR knowledge is more important than language. Of late, the art of letter writing has gone, and SMS English within 160 characters is ruling the stage.

In fact, when sending an email, one has to follow the usual way of a letter style, like Date, From, To, Salutation, Sub, Body, Thanking note, Signing off with Yours.

Just because the Subject line is given, don't ignore the mandatory Sub/Ref inside. Just because To/From is mentioned, don't forget to mention the details of the sender and recipient. You may send an email from somebody's mailbox too, and the recipient will not care to look into the sender's mail ID. They simply click the mail and proceed to read. There is no relaxation for email and snail mail. The mode of transport is the only difference.

We Indians are not linguists with spoken/written ability in all Indian languages. Knowing two or three Indian languages will suffice. Only if we master English can we go a step further globally.

I don't want to offend anybody individually, and this is just an eye-opener.

Regards,

Chandru
Manager-HR

Dear Chandru,

It is a great initiative, and while reading this, I am reminded of the way I learned English myself. I come from a place where we speak only in Tamil, and anyone who speaks in English or even attempts to is often made fun of and called a showoff.

During my time in college, I could hardly construct a sentence in English. Today, I receive a lot of appreciation for my command over the language, and I am able to compete in a metro like Chennai. I should thank the Principal of my college and my friends for it.

My principal had asked us to change the way we think, plan, and prepare ourselves. He had asked us to start doing all of this in English, which we normally do in our mother tongue. He emphasized the importance of positive self-talk, which he said must be in English.

This is just the beginning; he had also asked us to read, read, read and speak, speak, speak in English. To start with, you can choose a topic of your choice or interest and also follow news channels in English. He says this is one of the best ways to master any language. Apart from this, we also underwent formal English speaking classes, which are easily available in every city and town now.

All said and done, I believe it is one's constant willingness and continuous effort to learn that will take them places. As one of our members' signatures says, "KNOWN IS THE DROP, UNKNOWN IS AN OCEAN."

Like some of the members have pointed out, let us not use SMS language and respect this forum. It is these simple efforts that will make us stronger in mastering a language. An old research says a lot of people in the UK do not write anything in the greeting cards they send to their dear ones because they were worried they might commit a spelling mistake. If this is the case in the land of English, then think about us. Our SMS language can actually lead us there. Let us be careful.

All the best for those who want to improve their language.

Regards,

Muthukumar K

For those who are really serious about improving their English, here are 2 simple steps to help you start in the right direction:

1. Avoid laziness and do NOT use SMS lingo. That means no "u" for "you", "dat" for "that", "ur" for "your", etc.

2. Do a spell check before you post your message.

These two steps will consume less than 1 minute of your time. Good luck.

Vijay

Hi all,

First, you must read what you have written before you send it off. If you read out loud, you will get a better idea of the correctness of your grammar.

You wrote the following:
I am just starting my career in HR as a fresher and I am not excellent in English. Because of it, I am facing lots of problems in corresponding....Please suggest what I should do...

Let us now improve on the above:
I have just started my career in HR as an intern, but my English needs improvement. Because of this, I am facing many problems with correspondence. Could you please suggest how I might improve my grammar?

Kind regards,
Lynalan

Thank you all for the replies and individual comments. It's nice to know that everyone is more concerned about the issue that erodes the image of HR. Please continue your efforts in building the right skills to march ahead with expectations.

Regards,
Chandru

Very true, all PowerPoint presentations remain in folders only; no one seriously tries to practice, even I am talking about myself. Every time we see a good article on the internet, we immediately try to download and save it, but no article is good if not used properly in practice.

Regards,
Aseem