Writing Skills and Professionalism Are Lacking Among New Hires

Writing skills and professionalism were the top two areas in which HR professionals identified deficiencies among their newly hired employees in 2006, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). A 2006 SHRM survey of nearly 500 U.S. HR leaders found 62% of the respondents citing a lack of writing ability in new workers and 49% indicating a lack of professionalism. Other competencies that new hires lacked were verbal communication skills (noted by 47% of respondents), customer service skills (43%) and analytical skills (40%). ("2006 Access to Human Capital and Employment Verification Survey Report" [Collison], March 2006, pp. 3, 7-8)