Literacy: The Missing Link For Productivity

You have invested in the latest manufacturing technology and pride yourself on the

training you offer your management team but productivity remains sluggish. The missing link may be workforce literacy. The best technology and management skills in the world will not improve productivity unless literacy where it matters is also addressed.

Despite a workforce where almost everyone can read and write, low levels of workplace literacy and numeracy are a major but under recognised problem. This is because literacy is not simply about being able to read and write. Workplace literacy is the ability to participate effectively in workplace practices and to communicate, critically analyse and do maths at a level relevant to continually changing demands at work.

The gap between the level of literacy skills required for productivity and performance improvement and the actual skills of many in the workplace is far larger than Government or business action to date would suggest. Over 40% of our workforce has levels of literacy and numeracy that in many cases are insufficient to allow them to do their job properly or to keep up with changing workplace tasks. Improbable as the 40% figure may seem it comes from in- depth surveys of adult literacy, language and numeracy skills conducted in New Zealand and 11 other OECD countries.

Workplace demands are rising as technology and complex quality and accountability processes become common place. Productivity and competitive manufacturing practices increase the literacy demands of jobs and require higher levels of numeracy and literacy.

Employees in a position to contribute ideas to improve processes and to see at first hand when systems are failing often do not have the specific technical vocabulary and confidence to be able to communicate and make themselves understood. So they prefer not to try. New Zealands workforce literacy inhibits our ability to increase productivity, innovate and meet changing customer and market demands. We are less able to compete and succeed in the global economy.

Every one agrees that productivity improvements and a highly skilled workforce are crucial for New Zealand business. Much more needs to be done. We need to clearly identify the literary skills needed in different work roles and industries. Often the literary and numeracy skills needed are not identified as crucial work skills and the gap between the job and the employees skills is never clarified. Importantly the literacy training undertaken to address that gap needs to be job specific. Adults are best able to develop literacy skills in a meaningful authentic context. For the workforce, that context is the workplace or industry.

by: Workbase

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