Product vs Process

The didactic concept of emphasizing the process is intriguing to me.  I would argue that if we are seeing poor essays, this may be a function of the student's ability to grasp the writing process.  The problem, however, is rewarding the process with enough motivation to be concerned with the process, and instilling the fact that the process is needed for a polished product.  When was the last time we had a due date for brainstorming, clustering, and other process oriented assignments.  I do believe in escalated attention on embracing the process of writing.  My question, then, is when, how, and to what degree do we as teachers champion the process when only the product is evaluated.