How we helped Absa to improve the quality of their business writing and produce better reports
South Africa
2-Day Programme
195 Delegates
In-Person and Virtual
99% Exceeded Expectations
The Challenge
Effective writing is one of the best ways to influence and persuade and so much of our everyday communication happens in writing, yet many people are not sufficiently empowered to create effective business documents. Poor writing risks losing the reader and not meeting its objectives.
Absa wanted to empower their internal audit team with the skills to write highly impactful reports that would inspire action and business improvements.
The Solution
Key Steps implemented a practical and experiential programme, introducing the team to style and structure techniques and ways to improve their thinking and writing based on current best practices.
Candidates underwent pre- and post-assessments to measure writing improvement, identify areas for development, and assess the programme’s success.
Our customised approach, including assignments, exercises, tools, techniques, and continuous feedback, yielded positive results.
The Results
The ultimate compliment was when the client expressed that they…
“Could immediately see who had attended the training and who had not yet been through the programme without even looking at a training register.”
The increase in the quality of their writing was immediately visible.
During the Covid lockdown, the programme rollout was paused at 60% completion, with around 30 learners having only finished half of it. Three weeks into lockdown, the client requested online delivery, which proved to be highly successful. This success led to the repetition of the intervention in various divisions, such as Financial Crime Assurance, Corporate Investment Banking, and the Model Risk Team.
The Feedback
Across 195 survey responses, Absa participants rated their Key Steps learning experiences extremely favourably.
Facilitator’s knowledge
Content relevant and practical
Engaging climate of participation
Applied the tools and feel more confident writing
Technical Pre- and Post-Assessment Results
The assignment was scored out of 100. The chart shows improvements, with an average pre-assessment score of 43.9 and a post-assessment score of 75.6. The overall improvement was 72.3% after two to three weeks of practice. Formatting improved by 105.7%, and Overall Reading Ease increased by 72.5%, addressing significant skill gaps.
Highlights
Within 2 weeks of practice, writing improved by 73% across 10 core criteria.
Reviewer time was significantly decreased across all divisions.
Key stakeholders quickly noticed improved writing quality.
Delegates grew confidence, consistently improving through interrogation and refinement.
Made a visible difference to my teams’ report writing!
Sharon’s training has made a visible difference to the impact of my teams’ report writing. I could see an immediate improvement, following her workshops. I have had similar positive feedback from my peers and have a high regard for her abilities and professionalism. Having seen her work prior to and during the COVID-19 lockdown, I know Sharon to be a resilient service provider, who finds innovative ways to address her clients’ needs, despite any challenges at hand.
Pieter Roos
PORTFOLIO HEAD – TECHNOLOGY AND CHANGE ASSURANCE
