HG1341_TOV_guidelines_AW

1backwriting guidelines next contentsMay 2014
life
Bringing our
brand to
to write for
Hay Group
How

Letter from Stephen Kaye 3
Why we’ve developed our tone of voice 4
Start with why 5
Our writing guidelines 7
Be insightful 8
Be committed 9
Be courageous 10
Be helpful 12
Be empathetic 15
Putting it into practice 16
Glossary: good words to use 21
Contents

Hello
I’m really pleased to introduce Hay Group’s new tone of voice guidelines – which
explain how we bring our brand to life in the way that we write.
Giving our clients what they want
It’s tempting to fall back on familiar language. Sometimes it feels natural to use long and
complicated words to get our ideas across.The difficult truth is that this isn’t what our
clients want.They want us to inform, inspire and improve their businesses.That means
explaining what we know in a way that makes sense to our clients (and colleagues). And
it means showing the results, not just how you got there. We show our work off the best
when we explain our knowledge in a way that’s right for the client.
This email from a business leader sums it up:
‘A few words on what I look for from a remuneration consultant: Let me start with what
I do not want – a lot of data which I then have to make sense of and draw conclusions from.
So what do I want:
1. Answers from a professional I can trust. Or to put it another way, I want a professional
that can transform data into information and knowledge, which I can then use to do
my job. I neither have the time nor the inclination to become an expert or to draw my
own conclusions.
2. However, I do require the logic to be sufficiently well laid out that the thinking can be
challenged, if appropriate. I want to be fully armed when I come to do my job, which
is to get buy in from board colleagues, management and ultimately shareholders.
3. Put simply I want either salary recommendations together with the supporting logic
to consider, or alternatives with the pros and cons.’
(Francis Gugen, consultant, investor and ex CEO for Western Europe of energy
company, Hess Corporation)
Whatever your role, whatever your country, this tone of voice is for you. Take it, use it,
and together we can make Hay Group even stronger and better.
Stephen Kaye, President and CEO

To reach our 2020 goal – to be the ‘go-to’
advisory firm for people and work – everything
we do needs to be in line with our brand and
our values.
These tone of voice guidelines will help our brand shine
through in our writing: every email, every proposal, every
policy. All our documents should reflect our values, and
show how we bring them to life.
Why we know it works
We developed our tone of voice by looking at some of
the big thinkers in business today.
We were inspired by the ethnographer Simon Sinek and
his call to businesses to stand out from the crowd. And
we looked at the work of Richard Boyatzis to see how our
guidelines fit with his ideas about resonant leadership.
We also took Daniel Kahneman’s work into account. He
suggests you should make your writing as clear as possible
so that the reader doesn’t have to strain their thinking to
follow it. He calls this‘cognitive ease.’
Why we want to use it
“My clients want lots of details.”
“I need to use long words to sound credible.”
“It’s not broken, why do we need to fix it?”
It’s true that we get great results for our clients, and we
build positive relationships between colleagues all the
time. We also have to be willing to adapt. We work in a
crowded market. Every other consulting firm talks about
how much they know, how much experience they have,
why they’re the most trusted...
That’s why we need to sound different. We need to stand
out from the crowd.
Why we’ve developed our tone of voice
It’s part of our new brand.
And we wouldn’t ask you
to do it if we didn’t think it
would make
a difference.
About Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kahneman is an American psychologist and is
known for his work on the psychology of judgment
and decision making, behavioral economics and
hedonic psychology. His book Thinking, Fast and Slow,
published in 2011, explains how humans think.
In 2002 he won the Nobel Memorial Prize in
Economic Sciences for his‘prospect theory’which
argues that we fear loss more than we value gain.

A few years ago the ethnographer Simon Sinek
looked into what great leaders do to inspire
others. He put his findings in a book (and the
second-most-watched TED talk of all time).
He found that those leaders did one thing that nobody else
did: they started with why. According to Sinek, everyone
else talked about what they do, and how they do it.
Start with why
An example he gave was Apple.
Their ‘what’ is that they make great computers.
Their ‘how’ is that their products are beautifully
designed and user friendly.
But it’s their ‘why’ that makes them stand out:
We believe in thinking differently.
About Simon Sinek
Simon Sinek is a trained ethnographer. He’s the
author of two books: the global bestsellers Start
With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to
Take Action and Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams
Pull Together and Others Don’t.
He analyzed the leaders who make the biggest
impact in their organizations and the companies
that have the biggest impact on the world. He
found patterns in the ways they think, act and
communicate, and in the environments where
people operate at their best.
Sinek has presented his views on business and
leadership to leaders and organizations including:
3M, Disney, KPMG, Pfizer, NBC/Universal, jetBlue, the
military, government agencies and entrepreneurs.
You can listen to him here.

‘Start with why’ is our main writing principle.
It’s about taking the focus away from what we do and
how we do it, and tapping into why we do it. For us,
more often than not, the why is about helping businesses
achieve more through their people. And we should always
approach our writing with that in mind. It’s about starting
with the client, and taking an‘outside-in’approach.
How you do it depends on the purpose of your writing.
What does this mean for us?
If you’re explaining or informing
Think about why you’re writing. In other words,
what’s the most important or interesting thing you
want to get across?
An example:
What: I’d like you to fill in this survey.
How: Click the link in this email.
Why: We want to get better at what we do.
If you’re persuading or inspiring
Think about why readers should buy in to what
you’re saying. What’s the benefit to them?
Some examples:
What: We’ve got over 30 years’experience in
employee opinion research.
How: We’ll help your leaders and managers
increase your organization’s performance with our
knowledge of employee engagement.
Why: We can help your business achieve more by
making sure your people are engaged.
What: We’ve got over 70 years of experience in
compensation, talent and role clarification.
How: We use a variety of consulting approaches and
services.
Why: We’ll help you succeed by making sure you
get the right people in the right roles, being paid the
right amount.
Starting with why is our main writing principle.
But there are plenty of other things we can do to
give our writing more impact. These guidelines will
show you how to write in our tone, all the time, but
here’s a summary you can refer to if you’re in a rush:
Quick-start guide
Here are the main things to do every time
you write:
1. Start with why. That’s either the most important
or interesting point you’re trying to make, or the
benefit to your reader.
2. Say what you think. And back it up with our
knowledge and research.
3. Add a call to action. What do you want your reader
to do?
4. Tell it like it is. And if there’s a negative thing to say,
talk about how you’ll help people overcome it.
5. Use everyday language. Would an intelligent
person from outside our industry understand?
6. Make it personal. Say you, we, us (not clients,
Hay Group, human resources/capital).

Our writing guidelines
The way we write is based
on our brand personality
and our values.
Insightful
Committed
Courageous
Helpful
Empathetic
Our guidelines will take
you through how each
value applies
to language.

Why do it?
We’re proud of our knowledge and research.
We’ve got decades of experience. And we work
with some of the best people in the business.
But to stand out from the crowd, we need to showcase
what we offer: our expert advice and insight, our ability
to apply what we know, our access to data and long
research history. We’re perceptive and curious, looking
for things and often discovering what others don’t.
How to do it
• Say what you think.
• Say why you think it.
• Say it straight.
Say what you think
Our clients have hired us to tell them what they don’t
already know. So give opinions (not just observations).
And recommendations (not just options).
And do it at the start. Our readers shouldn’t have to
wade through pages of data to get to what we think.
If your writing doesn’t need an opinion, start with the
most important or surprising point instead.
Say why you think it
This is where our knowledge and research come in.
Use it to back up your opinions.
You can use it to back up your opinion in three ways:
Stories: Talk about the clients you’ve helped, the
successes they’ve had, and the results you’ve achieved
together.
Relationships: Mention the people we work with and
the partners we have. If our research is backed by
influential thinkers and academics, make sure people
know about it.
Facts and figures: Numbers, percentages, research.
Use data to back up your point. And be inventive
– find ways to make your numbers tell a story.
Say it straight
Thou shalt be committed to trying to aim not to kill
(wherever possible).
No hedging, no caveats.
Just say what you need to say, with confidence.
So instead of: We’re committed to giving you an expert
opinion wherever possible.
Try: We give you an expert opinion.
Be insightful
Why stories?
Because business reports don’t have
to be boring.
“You’re one page away from the no-holds-barred
story of one year in the life of a company.”
(IBM annual report 2000, ranked no.1 in the‘Annual
Report on Annual Reports’the following year.)
Because stories reach parts of the brain
that facts and figures don’t touch.
Stories connect with the part of our brain that
controls our emotions, the limbic system. They
influence our emotions and decision-making,
not just our rational thought.
And if you end on a positive note, your listeners’brains
get hit with feel-good dopamine that puts them in the
“perfect frame of mind to be thinking about a new
future, a new identity for yourself or your organization.”
(Stephen Denning, author of The Leader’s Guide
to Storytelling)
“Emotion is a key part of making changes. And
emotion is the carrier wave of great leadership. We get
convinced of things through emotional arguments,
then we use rational ones to make ourselves feel better.”
(Richard Boyatzis, Hay Group International Conference,
November 2013)

Why do it?
We care about our clients’ organizations and are
dedicated to making them stronger and more
sustainable after working with us.
Being committed means thinking about our clients and
what they need. We work with them as partners and
advisors. In writing, we can show we’re committed by
clearly telling our clients and colleagues what they need
to do.
How we do it
Use a clear call to action whenever you write.
Using a clear call to action
You’ve explained what you think.You’ve explained why you
think it, backing it up with evidence. Now tell your reader
what you want them to do:
• Talk to us about making your strategy happen.
• Read our new research on executive pay.
• Find out more about the new version of us
on the v.2020 page.
Be committed
If your readers
don’t need to
do anything,
just say that.

Why do it?
It can take courage to tell clients what they need
to know, not just what they want to hear.
Our tone will help us do this in a positive way. It will also
help us to take out unnecessary detail and mix up the
rhythm of our writing.
How to do it
• Tell it like it is (but start with the positive).
• Cut it down.
• Vary the pace.
Tell it like it is (but start with the positive)
Imagine this as a headline: Nine in 10 mergers and
acquisitions don’t deliver.
It’s intriguing, but it leaves you feeling a little depressed.
Making it more positive looks like this: One in 10
mergers and acquisitions deliver: we’ll help you be
part of the top 10 percent.
It takes courage to talk positively, even in difficult times.
But it’s more likely to get the results we need.
“Sustained, desired change always starts in the positive
emotional attractor – a possibility. If you start in the
negative, you go into a defensive stress response and your
body and mind start to close down.”(Richard Boyatzis)
Starting with the positive doesn’t mean telling clients
(or colleagues) what they want to hear. It doesn’t mean
pretending that things are fine when they’re not.
And it’s an approach that can work in the most
challenging communications.
Be courageous
Before
Peer-group benchmarking is designed to help inform
reward decisions. It provides helpful context when
setting pay. But boards tend to see the data as the
answer. They expect consultants to come up with the
‘magic number’for their chief executives’packages.
After
How much are other chief executives paid? And how
much does it matter? Our peer-group benchmarking
gives boards the context they need to set chief
executives’pay.
But boards that make good decisions on reward
take the time to look at the bigger picture. So we
always remind board members that our data is one
ingredient, not the full recipe.
The‘before’example makes it clear what boards are
getting wrong: they rely too heavily on benchmarking
data when setting chief executives’pay.
In the second version, we make the same point by
referring to the boards that make good decisions.
This time we’re saying that people who look at the
bigger picture are getting it right.
Same information, different emphasis.
Before
The attendance at funerals of close relatives and
friends will normally be restricted to a maximum of
one day, with pay. Additional time may be allowed if
you are responsible for funeral arrangements.
After
You can take a paid day off to go to the funeral
of a close relative or friend. And if you’re arranging
a funeral, talk to us about taking the extra time
you need.
In the first version, we talk about‘restricting time off
to one day’. In the second version, we say clearly that
staff can‘have a paid day off’.
Same information, different emphasis.

Cut it down
We have the courage to use our judgment when we
write, and only give our readers the information they
need. That means cutting details about processes and
background (unless the reader has asked for them).
“RemCo members want simplicity, they don’t need
to know all the detail and your newsletter does the
summarizing for them. They’re not technical people
– that’s up to me.”
(Mark Jarvis, Ricardo PLC, delegate at the 2013 European
Executive Reward conference)
If you need to add lots of extra detail, like technical or
legal requirements, think about adding it as an appendix.
And see page 14 for more on working with long
documents.
If you’re not sure what to cut, try writing it as a six-word
story, a tweet or an elevator pitch, then add detail
around that. It will force you to focus on the crucial
information and nothing else.
Vary the pace
Courageous writing gives our reader a sense of ambition
and possibility. So let’s create excitement by switching
the rhythm of what we write.
Be courageous
Courageous writing
gives our reader a sense
of ambition and possibility.
So let’s create excitement by
switching
the rhythm
of what we write.
If you write lots of sentences that are the same length, it gets boring.
It all starts to sound the same: indistinct and uninteresting.
And before long your reader is crying out for something different.
So throw in the odd short sentence.
Like this.

Why do it?
Clients and colleagues are busy. So make their
lives as easy as possible.
How to do it
• Use normal words, not formal ones.
• Drop consultant-speak.
• Explain with metaphors.
• Use bullets and headings.
Use normal words, not formal ones
Make what you’re saying easier to follow by using
everyday language. (There’s a longer list at the end
of this guide too.)
“If you use complex, pretentious language to describe
familiar ideas, people will see this as a sign of poor
intelligence and low credibility.”
(Daniel Kahneman, Nobel prize-winning psychologist,
author of Thinking Fast and Slow)
Be helpful
Formal Normal
(Human) resources People
Human capital People
Assist Help
Capabilities Potential, people or skills
Commence Start
Ensure Make sure
In order to To
Leverage Make the most of/use
Maximize Make the most of
Please note Remember
Prior to Before
Proceed Go ahead
Provide Give
Purchase Buy
Substantive Substantial, meaningful (or explain why
something is substantive, e.g. based on research)
Sufficient Enough

Drop consultant-speak
Consultants often use buzzwords, like optimize,
maximize or leverage. But it’s not helpful to use
unnatural words like this when you don’t need to.
Big thinkers don’t need complicated language to
communicate well. Think Warren Buffett or Bill Gates.
They use simple language powerfully.
Be helpful
“One unoriginal but useful tip: Write with a specific
person in mind. When writing Berkshire Hathaway’s
annual report, I pretend that I’m talking to my
sisters. I have no trouble picturing them: though
highly intelligent, they are not experts in accounting
or finance. They will understand plain English, but
jargon may puzzle them. My goal is simply to give
them the information I would wish them to supply
me if our positions were reversed. To succeed, I don’t
need to be Shakespeare; I must, though, have a
sincere desire to inform.”
(Warren Buffett)
“We don’t go to work and say‘Here I am – I’m a
human resource – allocate my asset’. We go to
work because we want to add value; to be able to
say:‘I did something useful’.”
(Richard Boyatzis)
Why drop consultant-speak?
A large international company decided to have
a year of‘operational excellence’. There were
signs around the building to tell everyone it was
happening, but three months in, the management
team found nothing had changed.
Apart from in one team.
So they talked to the woman who ran that team, and
asked her what she was doing that nobody else was.
And she said:“Well, we took down the‘operational
excellence’sign. And we have a meeting every week,
called‘doing the everyday things better’.”
What about jargon?
Jargon is the technical language we sometimes use to
explain what we do. Because you might assume that
readers know and understand a set of words or concepts
– for example, if they’re specialists in their field. And that’s
fine as long as you’re communicating with people who
know those terms (but even then we’d recommend using
them sparingly). If you’re not, either avoid jargon entirely
or spell it out the first time you use it.
Explain with metaphors
It’s helpful to explain complicated ideas with metaphors.
Metaphors use something people understand to explain
something they might not. Like this:
Making your merger successful means looking into the
future. You don’t just focus on planning the wedding.
You lay the foundations for a long and happy union.

Use bullets and subheadings
Bullets and subheadings are a good way
to help your reader navigate through
a document.
Better bullets
• Keep them short.
• Start each one with the same type of word
(like a verb or a noun).
• Stick to four or five at the most.
Successful subheadings
Subheadings help your readers navigate the page.
There are four types:
Categories: eg. ‘Introduction’
Questions: eg. ‘What are the next steps?’
Summaries: eg. ‘We need to step in now’
Quirky/surprising: eg. ‘Let’s get going’
“Sometimes it feels natural to use long and
complicated words to get our ideas across.
The difficult truth is that this isn’t what our
clients want.” (Stephen Kaye)
Be helpful
What about longer documents?
Here are some ideas to help you structure longer
documents, like proposals.
A one-page summary
Always include one. And put it right at the start.
A contents page
Make it easy for your readers to find what they need with
a clear contents page.
Pull-quotes
Break up the text by pulling out any interesting quotes.
Like the one from Stephen Kaye, top right.
Boxes
Lots of details? Try putting them in a box at the side or
bottom of the main text. Like this one.
Pictures and captions
Sometimes a relevant picture (and caption) will help you
inspire your reader.
Appendices
Put technical details in a section at the back.

Be empathetic
Why do it?
We want our clients and colleagues to know
we understand how they feel and what they’re
trying to achieve.
How to do it
• Write like you speak.
• Make it active, not passive.
Write like you speak
If you write like you speak, it makes you sound
more human. And that instantly makes you seem
more empathetic.
Writing more like you speak means doing four things:
1. Use contractions
Use contractions in writing, just as you would in
spoken language. But only use the ones on the left:
Clear
I’m
You’re
We’re
I’ll
We’ll
You’ll
They’ll
Can’t
Don’t
Confusing
It’ll
It’d
Would’ve
Should’ve
Could’ve
Wouldn’t’ve
Mustn’t’ve
It’ll
That’ll
2. Say you, we, us and I
Personal pronouns add a personal touch. So say‘you’, not
‘clients; ’we’and us not‘Hay Group’.
Try to say you and yours more than you say we and ours
– aim for a ratio of 2:1.
3. Swap nouns for verbs
If a noun ends in -ance/-ence, -ing, -tion/-sion and -ment,
you can usually turn it into a verb. And that will make your
writing shorter and simpler. Like this:
The utilization of technology is widespread.
We use a lot of technology.
The management of people is important.
How you manage your people is important.
The first sentences are distant and cold. The rewrites
sound more open and human.
4. Write active sentences
Active sentences make it clear who is doing what. Passive
sentences don’t. Active sentences take responsibility for
what’s happened.
Passive: The sheriff was shot.
Active: I shot the sheriff.
Passive: Great results were achieved last year.
Active: We got great results last year.
Passive: Mistakes have been made.
Active: We made mistakes.

We’ve taken examples of writing from across
the business to show you how we want to sound.
The original examples aren’t necessarily‘bad’writing.
They show you how we write now. The rewrites show
you what’s different in our new tone of voice.
You’ll see that not every piece of writing uses every brand
value. It’s fine to use your judgment.
Our tone of voice will help us write consistently, inside
and outside the company. So we’ve also included some
internal writing to show you how it works in different
settings.
Under each example you’ll find an explanation of the
other changes we’ve made.
Putting it into practice
to write for
Hay Group
It’s fine
to use your
judgment.
You’ll see that
not every piece
of writing uses
every
brand
value.

After
The latest healthcare act regulations come with
good news for small businesses: the gift of time.
If you choose not to offer healthcare, you won’t
have to pay the penalty straight away. Here’s a
summary of who’s affected:
If you have 50–100 people
You won’t have to pay until at least 2015 (as long as
you meet certain requirements).
If you have more than 100 people
You might be able to delay the penalty if you:
• currently offer health plans to less than
70 percent of your full-time people, or
• don’t offer it to everyone who’s eligible.
If you need help planning healthcare coverage
for your people
Our team can help. Give us a call today.
Before
Recent headlines about“another Obamacare
delay!”related to transitional relief contained in the
final employer shared responsibility regulations
published on February 12, 2014, that partially
postpone a number of the rules for applying
the employer shared responsibility (pay or play)
penalties under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The“delays”will have very little impact on most
employers with 100 or more full-time equivalent
employees (FTEs).
They may, however, prove helpful to those
employers that do not currently offer health
plan coverage to at least 70 percent of their full-
time employees, or do not offer coverage to all
eligible dependents. The chief beneficiaries of the
“delays”are employers with at least 50, but fewer
than 100, FTEs; if these employers meet certain
requirements, they will be completely exempt from
the penalties for 2015, as well as for the portion of
calendar year 2016 preceding the beginning of the
2016 plan year if they operate their health plans on
a fiscal year basis.
What we did
Starting with why
This bit of writing is about giving information rather
than persuading, so we started with the most interesting
or important point.
Insightful
We’ve given a clear opinion about the reforms, and the
fact that they’re good news. And we’ve said it straight:
there’s no ‘might’ be good news.
Committed
We told the reader we can help and suggested they get
in touch.
Courageous
We started with the positive, and cut unnecessary detail.
Helpful
We used subheadings to break up the text.
Empathetic
We talk about ‘you’ a lot to make it sound more personal.
Example 1 – writing for clients
The original piece is a news story about an Obamacare
update, and has lots of useful information.

After
How to deal with harassment
What should I do if I’m being harassed?
Tell your supervisor or HR. If your supervisor’s the
problem, call the director of human resources on
x2384.
What should I do if see someone else being
harassed?
Tell their supervisor or HR.
What happens if I report harassment?
We’ll look into it straight away, as confidentially
as we can. If we need to talk to anyone involved
(like the person your complaint is about or any
witnesses), we’ll ask your permission first.
If it turns out you’re right, we’ll take action
against the person involved. That could lead
to us dismissing them.
Before
Harassment procedure
If an employee feels he/she is being harassed, he/
she may choose to advise the offender that his/her
behavior is unwelcome and request the behavior
cease immediately.
Any employee who has experienced or witnessed
an incident of harassment, in any form, should
bring the incident to the immediate attention of
the employee’s supervisor or human resources.
If the situation involves the employee’s direct
supervisor, the employee may contact the director,
human resources for the US at x2384.
All allegations of harassment will be investigated
promptly and in a confidential manner, as
reasonably possible, for an effective investigation.
The investigation may include interviewing
the allegedly harassed employee, the allegedly
harassing employee, any third party witnesses, as
well as considering any other potentially relevant
information.
What we did
Starting with why
The most important point here is that by reading this
you’ll learn how to deal with harassment. So we put
that in the title.
Committed
We added a clearer call to action, telling staff what they
need to do if they experience (or see) harassment.
Courageous
We cut it down. For example, we don’t need to tell them
they can confront the person – it’s common sense.
Helpful
We used subheadings and normal language (like ‘tell’
instead of ‘advise’).
Empathetic
We made it much more personal with ‘you’ and ‘we’.
And we used active, not passive, language. So instead
of ‘allegations will be investigated’ we said ‘we’ll look
into all allegations’.
Example 2 – writing for each other
This internal document covers everything about
harassment, and how to deal with it.

After
See our new apps first, on November 5
We don’t go public till November 19. But we’ll tell
you everything you need to know two weeks before
that at the internal launch.
Take a look at our technology strategy to find out
more about what’s coming up.
Before
The app strategy is coming!
And it’s a game changer.
We have a date for the launch of our new apps. You
will get a sneak preview at the internal launch on
November 5, in advance of the external launch on
November 19.
We know many of you are itching for more
information, but you will receive everything you
need to know from November 5.
Click here for more information about our
technology strategy
What we did
Starting with why
The title explains the benefit to readers.
Committed
We’ve told people where to find more information on
the strategy.
Courageous
We cut down the words. And emphasized the positive
(that staff will see apps before the public launch).
Helpful
We’ve used natural language, like ‘going public’ instead
of ‘external launch’.
Example 3 – writing for each other
The original here gives all the information about a new
launch. The rewrite takes the best of it and cuts it down.

After
The most successful companies don’t keep
reinventing themselves – they evolve one strategy
over time. And they’re still able to respond fast when
things change suddenly.
Our Best Companies for Leadership survey (2013)
shows why. It’s because successful companies are as
good at innovation as they are at the main business
disciplines: customer service, finance, product
development, logistics, marketing and so on.
Working well today and creating ideas for tomorrow.
Good businesses have to excel at both to stay ahead
and cope with the unexpected. And their leaders
make it happen.
How?
• They create a culture where people help new
ideas grow, roll them out across the business and
know when to close them down and move on.
• They have the emotional intelligence and know-
how to help people perform at the top
of their game.
Take a look at the full results to find out more.
Before
The Best Companies for Leadership identified
in Hay Group’s 2013 survey avoid intermittent
revolutions that are normally forged by periodic
strategic reviews.
Instead, these companies are as adept at innovation
as they are at operational excellence. These are the
twin peaks they must ascend simultaneously – a
feat that requires an unusual but crucial mix of
leadership skills.
Recognizing that strategy development is both
ongoing and subject to sudden seismic shifts,
leaders must create a culture in which new ideas are
incubated safely until they can be integrated into
the organization (or terminated). Differentiation
of existing products or services is too subtle. Too
incremental. When the world is turbulent, when the
environment is disruptive, only innovation keeps the
enterprise competitive.
At the same time, organizations must enable
employees to reach the heights of operational
excellence in all its facets – customer service,
product development, logistics, accounting,
marketing and so on. They must operate at the top
of their game now and build the future so that the
organization maintains its preeminence. It is far
from easy and it requires a new type of leader who
possesses high levels of emotional intelligence and
exceptional cognitive ability.
What we did
Starting with why
We’ve started with the most interesting point from
the research: an insight about how successful
companies work.
Insightful
We said what we think about the research and why we
think it (because it’s based on our survey results).
Committed
We told readers where they can find the full results.
Courageous
We cut down the content. And we used a short sentence
as a question to vary the pace.
Helpful
We used bullet points. And added more everyday
language, like ‘know-how’, instead of ‘cognitive ability’.
Empathetic
We used contractions like ‘don’t’ and ‘it’s’ rather than ‘do
not’ and ‘it is’.
Example 4 – writing thought leadership
Our Best Companies for Leadership survey is one of our flagship pieces of research. Our
rewrite in the new tone of voice shows how it might look with the new principles in mind.

Glossary:
good words
to use
No words are banned. But we’d like you
to use more natural language instead of
formal words and consultant-speak.
On the next pages
the words in black
will make your
writing sound
better.

Try not to use: Instead, say:
(Human) resources People
Human capital People
Accompanying
or attached Here’s
Accordingly So
Acquire Get/buy
Action Do
Additional Extra
Aim Try to
Aligned Agreed/in line with
Amongst Among
Apologies Sorry
Apologize Say sorry
Approximately Around or about
As a result of Because of
ASAP As soon as you can
Ascertain Find out
Assist Help
Authorize Let
Avail Take advantage of
B2B Business to business
B2C Businesstoconsumer
BAU Business as usual
Beneficial Useful
Capabilities Potential, or people
Cease Stop
Commence Start or begin
Complete Whole or finish
Comply Do
Comprehend Understand
Conduct Do
Consequently So
Consider Think
Construct Build or make
Converse Talk
Correct Right
Current Latest
Currently At the moment
Discussion Chat
Discontinue Stop
Efficient Working well
Enable Allow/let or help
Enclosed With (as in ‘the form
with this letter’)
Enhance Improve
Ensure Make sure
Enquire Ask
Enquiry Question
Error Problem or mistake
Estimate Guess
Execute Do
Expand Grow
Formerly Used to
Function Work

Gauge Measure
Generate Make
Grant Give
Holding Waiting
Inform Tell
Impact (as a verb) Change
Implement Do
In advance Before
In order that So
In the event of If
Inquire Ask
Inquiry Question
Intended Meant
Large Big
Legally By law
Leverage (as a noun) Influence or power
Leverage (as a verb) Use/make the
most of
Liable Responsible
Location Place
Maximize Make the most of
Methodology Way of working/how
Multiple Lots/many
Negligible Not important/not a
lot or hardly any
Notify Tell
Numerous Lots
Observe See
Obtain Get
Occupation Job
Operational Working
Optimize Make the most of
Outcome What will happen
Overage Extra
Pass comment Say
Per annum A year
Perceive See
Performance How it’s going
Persons People
Precedent Example
Presently Soon
Previous Last
Primary First or most
important
Principal Main
Prior to Before
Proceed Go or carry on
Produce Make
Prohibit Stop
Profession Job or career
Provide Give
Provided that If
Purchase Buy

Qualify for Can get
Quantity Amount
Redeem Use or spend
Refer See/look at
Regarding About
Remain Stay
Request Ask
Require Need
Revert Go back to previous
version/date
Select Choose
Such as Like
Signify Show
Substantive Substantial or
meaningful
Take effect Start
Terminate End
Therefore So
Transfer Move
Thus So
Upon On
Unable Can’t
Usage Use
Utilize Use
Variation Change
Visit Go to
Whilst While

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