How to improve the writing skills of new hires

Eschbach says there’s been a marked decrease in quality writing candidates since he began his career more than 20 years ago. Margot Carmichael Lester—who, as founder of the bi-coastal The Word Factory, has trained corporate writers for 15 years—confirms this trend. “Unfortunately, we’re seeing growing demand for more remedial writing training,” says Lester, whose clients include Aflac, Golden Corral Corp., and Fremont Bank. “As K-12 education is drawn more toward teaching skills required for standardized tests, I fear we’ll see more deficiencies in the critical skills of writing, reading and evaluation.” So what are corporate editors doing to salvage corporate writing? 1. Screen them