Literacy in the workplace

The brief

As a leading employer in civil infrastructure, Downer needs people who are competent in handling sophisticated machinery, with the ability to follow safety procedures and work in the most productive way. It’s a high-risk industry where safety is critical not only to employees operating heavy machinery but to the travelling public moving through “live” worksites.

Downer knew it had to lift the Literacy and Numeracy (LN) skills of its frontline workers. It called on The Learning Wave to develop a programme that addressed this pressing need.

The solution

Way2Work was developed for employees who would otherwise have struggled to achieve their Bronze Card or gain a Level 2 qualification. By bringing these qualifications within reach, Way2Work was providing a very large group of employees with a career pathway while boosting their LN skills.

We knew learner engagement would be enhanced with custom-designed materials that the learner could recognise as relevant to their job. So considerable time and effort were spent developing modules relating to real-life challenges on the job. These included sessions on such subjects as Communication Styles, Nutrition, Hazard Hierarchy, and Doing the Paperwork.

Way2Work was run as a four-day programme during 2008 and 2009. We took the programme to the workers, which meant facilitating sessions in 27 locations from Kaitaia to Invercargill. The logistics were challenging, but we felt that learning would take root if it were close to the workplace, to encourage maximum participation and follow-through.

The result

1,000 employees were selected to take part. Of these, 71% had no school qualifications and were identified as having low levels of literacy and numeracy.

Learners achieved a measurable increase in LN)skills, plus the status of Bronze Card holder and also 21 credits towards a Level 2 General Introductory Skills Certificate in Civil Infrastructure. Quantitative shifts in LN skills were identified among the Downer employees who took part. These were captured in an independent report that showed that participants’ reading scores increased by 17.5% on average, with 32% moving up an English reading level after completing the course.

Read other case studies:

Business leadership
Coaching
Communication skills for front line workers
Corporate social responsibility
Culture change
Customer relationship management
Front line leadership
Inspiring leaders programme
Learning
Learning Design
Leadership
Literacy and numeracy at work
Literacy at work
Literacy skill development
Negotiation skills
Performance management
Sales