Equality & Human Rights Commission – report copywriting

The Commission asked us to write a short and punchy campaign report on sexual harassment at work. The report was based on a large-scale survey of both employees and employers on the issue of sexual harassment. The report aimed to draw together the key findings of this research. It needed to be short, concise and direct, intended as both practical advice for the workplace as well as a ‘news peg’ for media and social media. As well as showing how widespread sexual harassment at work was, it also aimed to showcase best practice and to offer practical recommendations for both employers and employees.

Our writer and project manager put together a skeleton plan for this publication. This document outlined how we thought the content of the report should be structured; what the main messages were; and stated an outline word count for each paragraph.

Once this was approved, we wrote the first draft of the report. The copy needed to be compelling and engaging but – at the same time – authoritative and trustworthy. We also had to ensure that the draft conformed to plain English standards, so that all audiences and stakeholders including employees (at all levels) could read, follow and digest the report’s content.

After our first draft was submitted, we incorporated changes and amendments put forward by EHRC’s policy and communications teams. The report received considerable media attention in the UK when it was launched, including coverage on the BBC TV news.