Literacy skill development

The brief

New Zealand’s leading producer of chicken products, Tegel Foods Ltd, had recently acquired a competitor. The process of bedding in new staff prompted a review of the company’s entire safety and production culture. Maintaining continuous production on two separate lines (raw and cooked) required constant vigilance to avoid breakdowns, errors and quality problems.

It was recognised that the company’s safety first and critical thinking culture was more reactive than proactive, leading to sub-optimal processes. The Learning Wave was tasked with designing a literacy skills programme to address the issues.

The solution

We created a 40-hour skill development programme with embedded Literacy and Numeracy (LN). The F.I.T. (Fitness In Tegel) programme was built around being fitter for the role.

The solution involved the creation of an innovative learning activity “Tegelopoly” which wove elements of LN teaching into the game. Embedding the LN skills within the activity ensured that workers were able to absorb the learning without being placed in a situation that might evoke resistance or bad memories of previous educational experiences. As well as teaching fundamental literacy skills, Tegelopoly included workplace vocabulary and problem solving specific to the Tegel workplace.

F.I.T. was launched as a pilot programme involving 28 learners from Tegel’s Henderson site in 2010.

The result

Pre and post-assessment of learners’ skills showed tangible gains in core LN skills. Reading scores rose from 2.0 to 2.5 on average, and there was a leap from 1.6 to 2.6 on the ability to measure. Critical thinking has also improved significantly.

As with other LN projects, there has been strong feedback from learners who appreciate the chance to develop their skills and confidence. Team members have remarked that the F.I.T. programme has made them more confident to fill out Health & Safety paperwork and Corrective Action forms.

Tegel is reaping the benefits of a more engaged workforce – and one that is now empowered to lift its productivity to new levels.

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