Corporate Employees Average 61% on Grammar Survey Conducted by TD Consulting Group

White Plains, NY (PRWEB) July 11, 2007 -- TD Consulting Group [TD, an award-winning provider of performance solution, organizational development, and business training services, reported its findings today on a June 2007 writing skills survey of client companies.

The TD Grammar Challenge (http://www.tdgroupusa.com/Grammar_Challenge.aspx) consists of 10 multiple choice questions on proper grammar usage in business writing. Using a test group of 612 business and non-profit employees, the firm received 130 responses from participants across the United States. Respondents comprised management and staff level employees from organizations in financial services, not-for-profit, education, and others.

The average score was 61 percent. Fifty-five respondents scored 70 percent or better, while 75 scored 60 percent or less. Only eight respondents achieved 100 percent. The two most frequently incorrect questions were the lack of agreement between a possessive and a gerund -- as in the sentence "I object to your [not you making those remarks" (only 40 percent answered this correctly) and misuse of the phrase "more importantly" instead of the proper phrase "more important" (only 48 percent got this correct). As for the most frequently correct answers, 84 percent correctly chose the phrase "We hope" over the commonly-misused "Hopefully" and 78 percent correctly opted for "between you and me" [rather than the incorrect "between you and I".

"Look at these results as two sides of a coin," says William T. Buckley, Director of Editorial Services for the White Plains, NY, consulting firm. "On the down side, the figures confirm what many senior executives know only too well: That the business writing skills of typical employees in corporate America need improvement."

"But on the up side," Buckley points out, "the substantial level of response to this survey suggests that a lot of these same employees recognize they have writing problems -- and are reaching out for help. This view is strengthened by the significant number of respondents - 20 percent - who, Buckley notes, "had the interest -- and took the time and effort -- to follow up on the survey and find out why their grammar answers were right or wrong." Respondents had the opportunity to sign up for the TD Grammar Challenge EXPLAINED (a quick explanation of the correct answers to the 10 questions) and TiDbits on Writing (http://www.tdgroupusa.com/Contact_TD_Consulting_Group_Training.aspx), a free 12-month e-mail subscription on a variety of business writing topics, available on July 9.

"We were delighted with the response to the TD Grammar Challenge. It confirms why our business writing training programs have been so popular with our clients," states Laura Winterroth, Partner and Managing Director at TD Consulting Group. "Once people feel more comfortable with their grammar, we can then turn our attention to improving their writing style and organization. All together, these tools and techniques help our clients to write like pros."

TD Consulting Group is an award-winning provider of performance solution, organizational development, and business training services. TD Consulting Group's business writing specialty includes training programs that help employees overcome common stumbling blocks in grammar, style, and organization, and also provide individualized coaching. Beyond training, TD Consulting Group delivers custom writing services through the development of policy manuals, corporate style guides, and other business writing projects.

For further information, please contact Anne Vasile at (914)-948-8065.

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