Executives’ Communication Advice

Here are a few reasons why your students should understand that communication skills are important in the real business world:

Amusement - Poorly written communication allows the reader to think that you are dumb. Perhaps your undergraduates knew that. What they may not know is how greatly we enjoy sharing such communication with other managers for our own amusement. If you enjoy being the subject of the management teams inside jokes, you don't need to worry about your ability to write well.
Brand protection - we actually have "Brand Standards" for communication to outside sources. Written communication reflects on the image of the brand. The image of the brand reflects on stock prices of publicly traded companies. Publicly traded companies offer stock grants and options as part of your graduates total compensation package. Do the math. (Also, while this may not seem important to a young graduate, it's a safe bet that it's important to their manager. Word of advice - don't mess with your managers compensation.)
Costs - the law department reviews sales and marketing collateral material prior to presentation to prospects and customers. They do this for legal content, not to establish clear messages. Please don't send us graduates who make our legal charges go up because the lawyers can't understand what they are saying.
Liability - Your students must understand that when a written communication goes out with the company letterhead, it is not their communication, it is ours. What they "meant to say" may sometimes be interesting, but is always irrelevant. What they wrote could create liability for their company (or former company).
Credibility - Credibility is easily granted to our new associates, and just as easily lost. It's really very time consuming to regain. How much time do your new graduates want to take to get to the next step on the career ladder? Do they want their children to visit them in their cubicle? Protect your credibility, it's precious.
New management style - management used to be "control over", and now it's all about "power with". Teams don't work with you because you command them. They work with you because they trust and respect you. You earn trust and respect by "getting things done". You get things done by communicating well with others. This is not a case for form over substance, it takes both. What they may not recognize is that it takes a very great deal of consistent and never faltering substance, to overcome a lack of good form.