How do you build business writing capability across a large, sprawling organisation – without blowing the budget?
That was the challenge GHD brought to us.
So we designed a two-tiered training approach that paired depth with reach. The impact? Managers are mentoring teams. New hires are writing emails with confidence. And GHD has built a self-sustaining learning culture.
Read on to learn more!
The client
GHD is a global professional services company that delivers engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services.
With a large and diverse workforce, GHD recognises that strong communication – particularly business writing – is essential for credibility, clarity and influence across client-facing and internal contexts.
The challenge
GHD was committed to lifting business writing capability company-wide – but faced a classic constraint: budget.
With hundreds of staff across varying roles and locations, a ‘train-everyone’ model simply wasn’t feasible.
At the same time, the team had a critical cultural issue to solve: Their entry-level hires all came straight out of university and wrote accordingly – using dense, technical language that didn’t work in a fast-paced business environment.
Our scalable, two-tiered solution
Partnering with Communication Skills Academy (CSA), GHD adopted a two-tiered approach to maximise impact, while staying within budget.
Here’s how we designed our solution:
1. Intensive training for leaders and managers
Key people leaders and mid-level managers were enrolled in CSA’s intensive one-day Business Writing Essentials workshop. This course empowered leaders to:
- Write clearly, simply and succinctly
- Achieve a consistent and unified brand voice
- Structure their writing for busy, distracted audiences
- Communicate persuasively for impact, influence and action
GHD’s leaders are now positioned to become internal champions – mentoring their teams and modelling best-practice professional writing.
2. Short-form learning for juniors and graduates
At the same time, CSA delivered a 2-hour Business Writing Masterclass to large cohorts of graduates and junior staff. This scaled approach ensured they got:
- A clear introduction to business writing basics
- A crucial mindset shift: ‘This isn’t uni anymore’
- Practical tools to communicate clearly and credibly in business settings
Early wins, deep learnings
- Managers are now actively coaching their teams – reducing the need for external trainers long-term.
- New grads report feeling more confident writing emails, reports and documents after the high-impact 2-hour session.
- GHD has built a scalable, budget-friendly learning ecosystem – without compromising on quality or reach.
Client praise
‘Feedback from attendees has been overwhelmingly positive. Vikki is an engaging facilitator and the workshop’s practical content and interactive format made it easy for participants to apply their learnings immediately.’
KAT CHOO
GHD People Business Partner
3 key takeaways
- You don’t need a huge training budget to make a huge impact.
- A tiered approach allows you to train at scale, while still giving high-touch support where it matters.
- Teaching the difference between academic and business writing early changes the culture from the ground up.
Want to build business writing capability at scale across your organisation – without blowing the budget? Business Writing Essentials will transform how your teams write. Immediately and forever.