Prepositions At the End

As the legend goes, Winston Churchill once said, in response to someone telling him to not end sentences with a preposition: "It is something up with which we must put."

Comments

If You Clarify, There's No Need to Explain

Clarifying is not the same as explaining. Let me explain. No, wait: let me clarify that...which is it? When I hear the word 'explain', I envision multiple paragraphs of additional text that may not be necessary. Whereas the word 'clarify' evokes a beautiful landscape of writing where every word means something and no word can be left out. In the meantime, yes, 'clarify' and 'explain' are synonyms, which means they are similar, not exactly alike. In the context of writing well and writing to engage, I recommend clarity over too much explanation; perhaps that's a better way to put it. If anyone needs me to clarify that, let me know.

Say hi, no matter how busy you are.

When you visit other areas of the business, operational units or the field, actively connect with everyone you can. Blowing by other business units in a hurry in your suit and tie with your Blackberry buzzing, but not talking to employees on the way, sends the message that your current business is much more important than they are and that they do not matter. People understand when leaders and managers are busy; when this happens all the time and you never stop, they start to think you don’t care. When you visit other business units and especially units in the field, try to avoid being too important to talk to them, or only talking to the other managers because you don’t have time. Stopping for a few minutes from time to time, or regularly would be even better, to say hello, shake someone’s hand, or thank them for doing a great job can: boost an employee’s morale increase engagement and send a powerful and positive message from you to employees t...

Tell employees your value proposition.

Identify and explain your employee value proposition (EVP). An employee value proposition (EVP) is the employment deal or promise that you make to employees the moment they start to work for you. Every organization has one, whether they know it or not. Some EVPs are better than others. By identifying what that promise is, and assuming that it’s good stuff, you can then begin to share it regularly to remind employees of the great things to promise to provide for them. For example, what are the benefits of working at your organization? Maybe you’re a small organization and don’t have the revenue to provide big-corporate-style employee benefit programs, but you can offer flexibility in scheduling and recognition programs that provide dividends when you earn them or maybe you can allow employees to bring their dogs to work. Every part of the employment deal counts, but if they don’t know all about it, you’re missing a vital opportunity. Explaining you...

iClarify | Simplify | Engage

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