My staff can’t spell. Does it matter?

Dear Aunty B,

I have just hired a PA who seems very capable and enthusiastic except for the fact she can’t spell. I didn’t pick it up in the interview because she obviously got her resume proof read.

We are a communications company and it is so embarrassing when she sends things out with mistakes. The other day she stuffed up a computer program because she spelt calendar with an ‘a’!

I have pointed out to her a number of times that she is making mistakes and she cannot see it.

My business partners think I am overreacting, that the good outweighs the bad (our first PA was a disaster and the memories are still raw) and that internet standards have dropped and most of the time no one even notices spelling mistakes. We do have a few other staff members who can’t spell either but they are not on the front line.

I am a woman of a particular age that grew up with a ruler across the knuckles for bad grammar. But I am quite sure that spelling still matters.

Aunty, I am sure you will agree.

Please spell correctly,
Adelaide

Dear please spell correctly,

No one notices spelling mistakes? Your business partners are nuts! If a spelling mistake ever slides by our vigilant sub editor Emma and makes it onto SmartCompany, half the world emails in. Subbing, we often comment, is the next crowd sourcing activity.

Of course spelling matters. I was reading a survey from a recruiting firm in the US, which questioned 150 senior executives from 1,000 large companies about job applications. 40% said that coming across just one typo on a resume means it goes straight in the bin. Another 30% said they will discard a resume if they see two typos. I must confess that I too will throw a resume in the bin if there is even one spelling mistake.

I also want to confess here that while I excelled in times tables (until about grade four), I never won the crown in the class spelling bee. But I learnt to check. And I think that’s the problem. While poor spelling is annoying, it points to other things, including a lack of attention to detail and a carelessness that might manifest itself in other areas.

I am afraid you’ll have to spell it out: your PA must put procedures into place to check everything she does. Does she always use spell check? Can she run all communication past someone sitting next to her?

Does she really understand this is a crucial part of her job?

Good luck!
Your Aunty B

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