More Details on the Commitment

You have two options to complete this commitment:

Option 1 (paid service): Have your employee handbook reviewed for plain language considerations by Alberta Workforce Essential Skills (AWES).

• Note: AWES offers plain language work on a fee-for-service basis. You will have options to audit and rewrite your document(s).

Option 2 (self directed, no cost): Attend or stream (on demand) the Alberta Workforce Essential Skills (AWES) workshop on Creating a Plain Language Employee Handbook and complete the provided resources:

• Checklist for Creating a Plain Language Handbook

• Creating a Plain Language Handbook Next Steps Activity

Why This Commitment?

26% of Adult Albertans have difficulty reading and writing (Source: 2003 IALSS - International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey). Plain language writing and document designs help all employees understand what they need to know about your organization.

Plain language writing and document design sounds easy, but involves special knowledge and skills.

Because it touches on all areas of work life in your organization, an employee handbook is the perfect place to begin using plain language.

As a non-profit organization with expertise in essential skills and workplace training, Alberta Workforce Essential Skills (AWES) is the perfect organization to help your team develop new skills and knowledge while ensuring your employee handbook is easy to understand.

Evaluation Plan

In January 2024, we’ll ask Alberta Workforce Essentials Skills (AWES) for a list of organizations that have:

1. Hired AWES to review their employee handbook or

2. Enrolled a representative in the Creating a Plain Language Employee Handbook workshop and

   1. Sent a completed copy of the Plain Language Next Steps Activity to AWES

   2. Sent a completed copy of the Plain Language Checklist to AWES

If your organization completed this commitment in 2021-2022, you can complete it again for any additions you’ve made to your employee handbook or any other onboarding document you would like to revise.

Resources

1. Option 1: To hire AWES for a plain language review of your employee handbook, contact Alberta Workforce Essential Skills (AWES)

   • Cindy Messaros, Executive Director, AWES: cindy@awes.ca
     

2. Option 2: Register for Creating a Plain Language Employee Handbook Workshop (we held this workshop in October 2021, but you can still register to watch the webinar recording)

   • After watching the workshop recording, complete and send in an email to AWES:

     • Plain Language Checklist

     • Plain Language Next Steps Activity
       

Go beyond! More plain language resources:

• A Clear Message: Plain Language Writing and Design (Webinar [1:11:50] Source: Literacy in Kamloops)

• Plain Language Checklist: 27 Tips For For Clearer Documents (Bow Valley Immigration Partnership)

• A Plain Language Handbook: Write for your reader (PDF) (Northwest Territories Literacy Council​)

• A Plain Language Audit Tool (PDF) (Northwest Territories Literacy Council​)

• Putting Plain Language Into Practice (PDF)​ (Northwest Territories Literacy Council​)

• Fact Sheet – Clear Writing (Government of Ontario​)

• Centre for Plain Language​ (USA-Based Resource)

• How to Use the Microsoft Readability Tool (For more help using this feature, contact AWES)

Supporting Organization: Alberta Workforce Essential Skills (AWES)

For support with this commitment, please contact:

Cindy Messaros, Executive Director
Alberta Workforce Essential Skills
cindy@awes.ca