Grammar Mistakes & Ambiguities

Question

Hello Teachers,Would you please verify the grammar mistakes in the following para? Are there any ambiguous references? Especially, can you verify if the highlighted words have been properly used?It is interesting that your employer measures performance based on the number of phones and call tickets. I often wondered how such a measurement would really evaluate the real performance of employees. In a typical call center or customer service center, a top performer might attend only fewer phone calls, but would talk with customers over phone for a long time to resolve the complicated issues. On the other hand, an average performer might get many phone calls, but would talk with customers for few minutes and wouldn’t handle any complicated issues. In such a situation, how does your company measure the real performance? I am just curious here to understand the performance appraisal system.

Danyoo · Accepted Answer

RishonlyHello Teachers,

Would you please verify the grammar mistakes in the following para? Are there any ambiguous references? Especially, can you verify if the highlighted words have been properly used?

Well I am not a teacher...but here is my version.

It is interesting that your employer measures performance based on the number of phone calls and call tickets. I often wonder how such a measurement would accurately evaluate the true performance of employees. In a typical call center or customer service center, a top performer may attend to only a few phone calls, but would talk with the customer (over phone is redundant...better to skip) for a long time to resolve (the not needed) complicated issues. On the other hand, an average performer might get a lot more calls, but he may not handle any complicated cases; thus, his calls will not last any long. Considering these differences, how does your company measure the real performance? I am just curious to find out more about how the performance appraisal system works at your company.

Rishonly · Answer

Hi Danyoo,

Thanks for the correction. Would you mind explaining the reason for following mistakes?

(1) Is 'often wondered' a wrong construction?

(2) Reason for 'might attend only fewer phone calls' being wrong?

(3) Reason for using 'may attend' in the first sentence and 'might get' in the second sentence?

(4) Is 'many phone calls' grammatically wrong , or is it a preference?

(5) "but he may not handle any complicated cases". I think changing the subject from 'Customer' to 'he' carries an implication of gender bias. Doesn't it?

Davkett · Answer

Here is another possible revision:

It is interesting that your employer measures performance by the number of phone calls and call tickets. I often wonder how such a basis for measurement could indicate real performance. In a typical call center or customer service center, a top performer might attend to fewer phone calls than do other employees, but only because he/she takes more time to resolve each customer's issues. On the other hand, an average performer might take a greater number of phone calls, but only because he/she does not spend sufficient time and effort to fully resolve each caller's concerns. How does your company measure real performance? I am just curious here to understand performance appraisal systems.

Rishonly · Answer

Thanks, Davkett.

Danyoo · Answer

Good questions Rishonly...

(1) Is 'often wondered' a wrong construction?
It's not wrong but it implies that 'wondering' was in the past and now you no longer 'wonder.'

(2) Reason for 'might attend only fewer phone calls' being wrong?
Actually there is only a very subtle difference, if at all. A person may or may not get to do an assigned task because of a circumstance beyond his/her control. Whereas a person might or might not do the same task, possibly due to his/her laziness or forgetfulness. More significant correction is attend --> attend to. It's a phrasal verb meaning to deal with something or help someone.

(3) Reason for using 'may attend' in the first sentence and 'might get' in the second sentence?
If your follow up argument is negative, it's better to say "....might...but he will only handle easy calls." If your follow up argument is positive, it's better to say "...may..but he will deal with a lot more complex issues requiring longer times to resolve."

(4) Is 'many phone calls' grammatically wrong , or is it a preference?
It's grammatically correct. Just a preference.

(5) "but he may not handle any complicated cases". I think changing the subject from 'Customer' to 'he' carries an implication of gender bias. Doesn't it?
Traditionally it has been acceptable to use 'he' in these situations to mean both genders. But lately it has become more common place to see the usage of he/she. But I think the correct way to say it is he and/or she, which then gets to be too long and cumbersome. Personally I think picking either 'he' or 'she' is fine...so is saying 'customer.' Your call.

Rishonly · Answer

Hi Danyoo,

Thanks for a nice explanation. It is interesting to learn that 'may' and 'might' carry different meanings-~~positive and negative nuances~~-depending upon the sentences or arguments that follow them. Besides, can you elaborate your explanation for #2, may be with one or two examples?

Grammar Mistakes & Ambiguities

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