Proposal for a Writing Workshop

Proposal for a Writing Workshop

Government Employees Credit Union was charted in 1932; since then our membership has expanded. As one of El Paso's largest financial institutions (Burge, 2004, F1) we must maintain certain professionalism. We are complimented by our many members, on a daily basis, on what professionalism we do uphold in our service and dress. It is rare occasions that we have members complain about any of our GECU services; unfortunately a problem has arisen. In the last few weeks we have had a number of visits and calls from our membership demanding an explanation about a letter received. The letter received was a "1st Notice- Payment Past Due" correspondence. This letter is used as a reminder to our members that their payment is now seven days past due and if not paid within 15 days a late charge will be assessed. Unfortunately, the letter was so poorly written, members were feeling harassed. They felt as though GECU was demanding the payment be made that very instant or they would face a certain repercussion. Now GECU is faced with a dilemma; its employees' writing skills must be updated. As a result of this poorly written communication, management has a responsibility to its members to send all GECU employees to a writing workshop.

GECU has many employees, and we are discovering that some of our employees are displaying poor or rusty writing skills. As a member-owned financial institution we must give our members the professionalism and courtesy we so proudly base our principles on. We are taught from the date of hire, our members are what keep GECU running and without them GECU would not exist. If this problem continues to be unaddressed, many of our long time members will retreat to other financial institutions that may display better correspondence. We have all heard and seen how easily an unsatisfied member will close and transfer all accounts to other financial institutions. We cannot afford to let our membership disintegrate based on poor

writing skills. This will neither benefit our membership nor GECU.

GECU is competing with many financial institutions; some local while others are known nation-wide. We must improve our communication skills or we will lose our members. "The ability to write well is an important professional skill. Effective writing skills will help students advance in their careers and poor writing skills may hinder their chances for success" (Barker & Stowers, 2003). In order for GECU to be successful, its employees must be successful. We can take the first step in being successful by sending our employees to a writing workshop.

Effective writing skills will pay off in letters, and soon emails, to members; instead of members coming in upset that past due notices sound rude and harassing, they will be coming in to clear up the problem. GECU has made its move toward the future by implementing Smartbranch. With Smartbranch our members can now access their accounts, make loan payments, and much more. We will soon be able to e-mail our members' past due notices. "Advancements in technology have fueled perceptions that writing skills are not essential, the skill is perhaps more important than ever" Manoz (9/1/2004). We are under the impression sometimes that our software is so modern we do not need to know who to write; the software will correct it for us. However, Appleman (2004) states that even for e-mail users, exceptional writing skills are still crucial. We must remain above and beyond our competition and give our members the service they know and rely on. Writing workshops will give us the knowledge we need to sound professional both in letters and e-mails.

The only difficulty that may arise is the scheduling. GECU has so many employees it may be hard to get everyone to a workshop at once. I suggest that we start with those employees that have contact with our members through correspondence. Gradually we will work out schedules for all other employees, and we should definitely send all new employees to a

writing workshop before starting their new position.

Sending employees to writing workshops