This study, by a well-known student of the subject, presents a comparison of the readability changes in employee handbooks since Flescli first heightened interest in the subject in 1949. It appears that there has been some improvement in the read ability of employee handbooks, although much is still left to be desired. Interestingly, the firms which had the most read able handbooks in 1949 also had the most readable ones in 1964.
This article is printed with the permission of Personnel
Psychology, in which it will appear this Winter.
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References
1.
Cosimo Carlucci and William J. E. Crissy , "How Readable Are Employee Handbooks?" Personnel Psychology, IV, 1951, 383-395.
2.
Keith Davis and James O. Hopkins , "Readability of Employee Handbooks," Personnel Psychology, III, 1950 , 317-326.
3.
Rudolph Flesch, The Art of Beadable Writing, New York, Harper and Brothers, 1949.
4.
Robert Gunning, The Technique of Clear Writing, New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1952.
5.
Jeanne Lauer and Donald G. Paterson , "Readability of Union Contracts," Personnel, XXVIII, 1951 , 36-40.
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Walter Dill Scott, Robert C. Clothier, and William R. Spriegel , Personnel Management, Principles, Practices, and Point of View, (Sixth Edition), New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1961.
7.
United States Bureau of the Census, Long Term Economic Growth 1860-1965, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1966.
