Plain English Champion —
Best Organisation 2011
Judges' comments
Winner: Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand has made an impressive and tenacious effort to instill a plain English culture in an organisation full of highly complex, technical information. The organisation has a very clear purpose statement for its plain English initiative, and has tied its activities to that purpose.
The Statistics New Zealand entry showed a high level of focus, activity, and support from the top across a huge range of plain English projects. The Awards entry presented strong evidence of improvement including an audit, and a survey that investigated the effect of plain English within the organisation.
One of the things we found most impressive is that the organisation is not afraid of criticism and willingly makes changes toward achieving better results. Running internal plain English awards is another novel initiative that shows how well plain English is becoming embedded across this large organisation.
Finalist: Cancer Society of New Zealand
The Cancer Society has a clear plain English strategy that fits well with the wider strategy of the organisation. The Awards entry showed excellent work in making plain English part of the Society’s culture. We were particularly impressed that plain English is included in the budget. This, along with key indicators, measures, and milestones, shows real commitment to communicate as effectively and genuinely as possible.
Maybe most impressive was their commitment to continuous improvement, creating feedback cards in the back of each book. And more importantly, it’s clear that they made changes based on their readers' feedback.
Finalist: Commerce Commission
The Commerce Commission has made great strides since winning their 'Brainstrain' award last year. In fact, the organisation has embraced plain English with fervour, making excellent progress in a short time. We felt that they had done everything right, starting with strong support from the CEO and a well-planned set of initiatives. Examples of plain English activities included extensive training, revised templates, new fact sheets, and work on a style guide. There are many things just getting started, but the most powerful may be including plain English in employees’ performance indicators.
Although the Commerce Commission is perhaps not quite ready to win the Best Organisation award, its progress to date is impressive. The Commission is proof that establishing a plain English culture change doesn’t have to be a long, slow haul.