Voicesfrom Managemen t

The National Centre for Workplace Literacy & Language2 Vermont Street, Ponsonby, Auckland. PO Box 56571, Dominion Road, AucklandTelephone: 0-9-361 3800 Facsimile: 0-9-376 3700Email: admin@workbase.org.nz Website: www.workbase.org.nz

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Contents

2 ForewordKatherine Percy, Workbase Chief Executive

3 IntroductionProfessor Rod McDonald, Director of Ithaca Group, a Brisbane-based consultancy which focuses on learning and strategy

Workplace Literacy Case Studies

7 An Amazing TransformationRotaform Plastics Limited, Auckland

12 Literacy – The Springboard for Workplace LearningJenkin Timber Limited, Auckland

17 Communicating with ConfidenceFormway Furniture Limited, Wellington

23 Foundation for ChangeSanford Limited, Auckland

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There is an important starting point in addressingthe issue of workplace literacy. Employers andmanagers must believe there will be tangible benefitsfor their companies and employees in order to investin workplace training programmes, particularlyliteracy programmes.

Voices from Management presents a number of casestudies from successful New Zealand companies.These companies – Sanford Ltd, Rotaform PlasticsLtd, Formway Furniture Ltd and Jenkin Timber Ltd –have all derived tangible benefits from havingworkplace literacy programmes and theirexperiences of these programmes is captured in thispublication.

These four companies come from diverse industrysectors but they share a number of commonfeatures. Each of them operate in competitiveindustries and most compete in demanding exportmarkets. There is a clear trend towardsincorporating a more diverse product range, with anassociated need for consistently high quality.

Perhaps, most importantly, they all share a commonconviction that the skills of their employees, includingtheir literacy skills, are vital to the long-term successof their businesses. As the case studies show, thesecompanies are convinced of the need for a learningculture in the workplace and are striving to create it.They have a clear focus on improving employeeskills and flexibility, and providing opportunities fordevelopment which benefit both the individual andthe company as a whole.

Managers and staff interviewed for this publicationcould all very clearly describe the nature of thebenefits of the literacy programmes for theirbusinesses. What is more difficult, however, is toprecisely quantify the return on investment forcompanies with established workplace literacyprogrammes. Little research has been done on thisin New Zealand.

Australia, however, has made more progress. InSeptember 2002, Workbase invited Professor RodMcDonald to be the keynote speaker at ourconference – Return on Investment – Adding VisibleValue. Rod is Special Advisor to the AustralianNational Training Authority and has carried outresearch into return on investment for the AustralianNational Centre for Vocational Education Research.

We are delighted that Rod has agreed to share hisexperience and insights in the introduction to Voicesfrom Management.

My thanks to all those people whose work hascontributed to achieving the gains that are describedin these compelling stories from New Zealandworkplaces.

Katherine PercyChief Executive

December 2002

Foreword

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By Rod McDonaldTen years ago someone noticed that German hotelsemployed half the staff compared to the averageEnglish hotel, but the guests in Germany were moresatisfied.

Run that past us again? Hiring fewer staff led togreater customer satisfaction? What was going on?

This discovery initiated one of the world’s mostsignificant studies showing the value of training.

When all the variables were analysed, making surethat ‘apples’ were compared with ‘apples’ (onlystudying mid-sized hotels and correcting for thingslike different restaurant arrangements) – the answerwas found. Or rather – the answers.

Part of the reason that German hotels were givinggreater customer satisfaction with fewer staff wasnothing more sophisticated than the use ofhousekeepers’ trolleys; the sort that we see in everyhotel in New Zealand. The use of these trolleysmeant that people cleaning rooms were notconstantly running back to the storeroom formore supplies.

Another part of the reason was that German hotelshad embraced technology more effectively thantheir English counterparts.

But most importantly, the difference stemmed fromthe superior levels of training the staff received.German hotel staff were better trained in the

specifics of the industry and had a higher level ofwhat we would call ‘key skills’ or ‘employabilityskills’, including higher levels of literacy andnumeracy. This meant they were more effective andrequired less supervision. As a result of all of theabove, the German hotels only needed half thenumber of staff.

Following the researchers’ success in the hotelindustry, the exercise was repeated in the Englishand German manufacturing industries, targetingproducts as diverse as biscuits and modularkitchens. Here the results were just as clear. Thehigher levels of training prevalent in Germanworkplaces meant there was greater efficiency,more flexibility, and less supervision of employees –in all, greater productivity.

What’s the message?

There are lessons here for those of us who seeliteracy and skill development as weapons indeveloping greater workplace productivity. The firstlesson is that literacy skill development is not theonly weapon – remember the housekeepers’trolleys? But effective skill development is often oneof the most effective weapons, and one that is verylikely to repay its investment many times over.

A colleague and I recently looked at this researchon return on investment in training (ROI) on behalfof the Australian National Training Authority. Weanalysed over fifty international research studies, anAmerican study involving over 500 ‘leading edge’

Introduction

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organisations and Australian data comparing theperformance of organisations in terms of the qualityand quantity of the training they provided. Theresults are unambiguous. Training pays off.

However, you can train people, but if theorganisation is not ready to use their improvedliteracy skills, there will be little benefit. You can trainpeople, but if they expect more satisfying work orbetter pay and don’t receive it, they may leave for abetter offer.

ROI is not all about financial calculations and it’snot all about skill development.

This is a funny thing to say. Here we are talkingabout the return on investment in skill developmentand my first message is that it’s not all about actuallymeasuring the effect on the bottom line. In fact, I

would go further. The main problem with manyapproaches to skill development is that they focusmainly on measuring the effect. This is a mistake.

Before even thinking about measuring the financialeffect of skill development, we need to understandwhy we’re doing it. This sounds simple, but manytraining managers or internal consultants don’t makeit clear whether they are:

• measuring the effect of skill development to show that ‘training pays’;

• showing how (i.e. in what ways) skill development pays;

• marketing the organisation’s training function;

• improving the quality of skill development; or

• helping to decide priorities.

Skills and training lead to improvedperformance and productivity

Companies that invest in skill developmentare more productive. Results from individualenterprises confirm that training makes thedifference.

Training improves staff retention andattracts skilled workers

Poaching is a risk all companies face, butthe risk is not increased by training withinan overall business strategy.

Skills and training produce the best resultswhen part of an overall business strategy

Like all company activities, training needsto be part of a cycle that ensures the effectiveuse of employees’ skills.

Any company can analyse the returns ontraining investment

The tools are available and manycompanies have done it already.

However…

And…

We need to define the purpose of any process toevaluate skill development before we even start.

We also need to understand what I call the ‘mentalstate’ of the organisation. Does the skilldevelopment have an operational focus? (Forexample, all four companies in the stories thatfollow saw dramatic improvements in their basicoperations.) Or is the skill development aiming tohelp rescue a disaster or address an organisationalthreat (e.g. a safety problem)? Or is the investmentin skill development being made to strategicallyposition the organisation for the longer term? (Toquote from the Rotaform story, they need to“produce more sophisticated high-value productssuch as spa pools”.)

The answer to this question – whether the company’smain focus is on operations, firefighting or strategy– will affect how we would think about measuringreturn on investment.

Strictly speaking, ROI is never about the skilldevelopment itself. The course or qualification itselfis merely a cost. The ROI needs to be measuringthe increased literacy skills, the newly acquiredtechnical skills and the new learning. These are thevaluable ‘returns’.

And finally, ROI is very much about deciding,informing and persuading. It is not a process to beundertaken lightly, and it is not a process to beundertaken without a very clear idea of the

audience. For ROI is always done for an audience.How the data is used and presented to specificaudiences is crucial to highlighting the returns.

So how do you actually do it?

We need to focus on, as I like to describe it,‘making the value of skill development clear’.

There are many ways of doing this, but one that Ifind useful is to distinguish between benefits to theindividual and the value to the organisation. Inpractice this means drawing up a simple table likethe one below for each substantial training outcome.

It’s a simple approach, but a powerful one.

The first two columns represent the way manytrainers think. It’s certainly the way educators aretrained to think; we measure success by the benefitswe bring to individuals in terms of knowledge, skillsand attitudes.

The last column (‘value to the company’) representsthe way organisations need to think if they are tospend wisely on skill development. The power ofthis simple table is that it puts the two together.

So what does this approach do? The first thing itdoes is to get those responsible for skill developmentand those responsible for overall companymanagement around the same table looking at thesame piece of paper. No longer are the trainersfocused only on benefits to individuals and

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Beneficiary Value to the companyBenefit

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management thinking only of their bottom line. Italso provides a structure for identifying the financialoutcomes of skill development and linking this to theorganisational value.

And in cases where it is not possible to calculate afinancial return, it can at least describe the benefitsthat link directly to the organisational valueachieved. So within some of the cells in the finalcolumn we might enter the results of financial return-on-investment calculations; within others there mightbe focused statements explaining the organisationalvalue achieved. Either way, by using a simple tableas illustrated, the returns can be communicatedeffectively.

A final word

Recently I met representatives of a large companywhich operates nationally in Australia. Thiscompany invests large amounts of money in stafftraining. They wanted me to teach them how to ‘do’ROI calculations.

Several hours later, we emerged battered andbruised having experienced incredulity, worry,despair, hope and finally resolution. And thankfullywe knew that there was a way forward.

Why is it often so hard? A lot of it has to do withthe approach that training personnel take in order todemonstrate the value of skill development. Theyoften too readily assume that they need to calculatethe financial benefits of all skill development, ratherthan focusing on finding the best ways of analysingthe benefits. Often this also happens inorganisations that don’t have a long history ofanalysing the benefits of skill development andtherefore, don’t have a culture of figuring out howskill development works best for them.

We need to make it easier and more fruitful. Forme there are three touchstones that need to be inour minds if we are to make the value of skilldevelopment clear:

• ROI gives us a way of communicating the value ofskill development.

• ROI does this by changing people’s frame of reference from ‘skill development’ to ‘performance’ and by then linking this to the performance of the organisation.

• And finally, although many of the most valuable effects of skill development cannot be measured, their effects can still be communicated effectively.

Even when we can’t do a calculation that makessense, we can still find ways of making the value ofskill development clear. Ten years ago it was clear thatthe Germans were doing something right. Now weknow exactly what that was – we need to follow suit.And perhaps that’s the most important message.

Rod McDonald

Rod McDonald is Director and Principal of IthacaGroup, a Brisbane-based consultancy whichfocuses on learning and strategy. He has helpedmany firms and agencies think about how theinvestment in their workforce is of value to theorganisation, and how the return on theinvestment can be maximised. He was Australia’sfirst Professor of Adult Education and has recentlybeen made an Emeritus Professor of the Universityof Technology, Sydney.

This introduction is based on a presentation whichRod gave at Workbase’s National Conference,Adding Visible Value, in September 2002.

1Case Study

A workplace literacy case study from Rotaform Plastics Ltd, anAuckland plastics manufacturer.

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An Amazing Transformation

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A major transformation is underway at Auckland plastics manufacturer, RotaformPlastics Ltd. Over the last year sales have risen 34%, profits 31%, and reject rateshave fallen by 55%. The company has introduced quality assurance measures andnew systems to improve efficiency. It is planning even bigger changes inprocedures, factory layout and stock control.

David Brumby (above left), Chief Executive, explains how this dramaticimprovement in company performance is underpinned by a very successfulworkplace literacy programme.

The Company

Rotaform Plastics Ltd is an Auckland plasticsmanufacturer which specialises in rotationalmoulding. Rotational moulding is used for themanufacture of large items, such as water tanks,bins, road barriers, spa pools and a wide range ofplastic packaging.

Rotaform is a 20-year-old family-owned companyemploying about 20 people. It is one of NewZealand’s largest rotational moulders. It operates ina very competitive industry with New Zealandhaving more rotational moulders per head ofpopulation than anywhere else in the world.America has 200 moulders and a population of 300million; New Zealand has 150 moulders for just fourmillion people.

Why a workplace literacy programme?

The rotational moulding process is very labour-intensive. In an industry where the machinery is nothighly automated, I estimate that the quality ofproducts produced are 70% the result of the skill ofthe workers. So we live and die by the way ourguys manufacture and work. That’s why we got intothis literacy programme.

We started literacy training as part of a pilotscheme in 1998 and I must say we had a fairdegree of scepticism about it. We weren’t sure therewould be any benefit for the company but ratherreluctantly agreed to be part of it. We decided togive it a go and quickly realised it was a goodthing.

One of the first things we realised as a result of theliteracy programme was that our guys didn’t

understand the difference between a kilo and agram. And yet these were the same guys whoweigh out all our raw material by hand. The valueof a year’s raw material is enormous so even gettinga tiny percentage of measurings wrong makes anenormous difference to us.

What is your vision for the future development ofyour business?

Our vision is to be the best at what we do in termsof innovation and quality. We want to be one stepahead, generating new ideas and deliveringconsistently high quality. To achieve this, our staffhave to be able to read and write, followprocedures, fill in documentation accurately andtake pride in what they’re doing.

The literacy programme, therefore, is a buildingblock to our future and the kind of company wewant to become.

How is the market in which you operate changing?

Our customers are demanding more and moreprofessionalism and planning. They need to knowwhen things are going to be ready – even five yearsago when I began here, things were fairly laissez-faire, but now a lot of companies are becomingmore professional and expecting their suppliers tobe more professional too.

So the information coming through from the factoryis vital in this regard. We need goodcommunication and reliable information for ourplanning; literacy skills are a vital part of that.

About a year ago, we identified a lot of shortfalls inthe way we were doing business. We had to

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“Our future lies with high-value,quality products and in becomingmore and more professional andorganised in everything we do.”

improve our quality control systems and focus onareas such as health and safety – we needed toactively identify risks rather than just stick up a fewsigns around the place.

Since then, we’ve introduced new IT systems anddocumented our processes – the guys themselveshave written up the procedures because they are theones who know how to do it best.

So overall there have been two drivers underlyingthe literacy programme – a more demandingexternal environment and the introduction of internalprocesses and procedures which have requiredgreater literacy skills from our workers.

What benefits are you seeing as a result of theprogramme?

We’ve seen a sharp rise in employee skills,confidence and morale. Our procedures andprocesses are properly documented which hasresulted in higher quality and efficiency, and theability to tackle more sophisticated products.Improved literacy skills have been a key contributorto all this – we have proper lines of communication,we can organise our business better and we haveprocedures for everything. You’re really talkingabout a major change in culture.

We definitely have fewer problems – in terms ofrejects and late deliveries. Reject rates have fallenby more than 50% and at least half of that is due toimproved skills of staff, including literacy skills.

Just a couple of years ago, I spent all my timedealing with problems. Now I work on thebusiness. A key reason I can do that is that theguys take a greater pride in what they are doing,and communication has improved in the factoryresulting in fewer problems.

I have no doubt that the literacy programme hasenabled the company to raise its overall performance.We wouldn’t have been able to act strategically if wedidn’t have the back-up from staff in the factory. Wewouldn’t have had the confidence to go away andwrite a business plan, identifying our strengths andmarket opportunities. We would have been too busydealing with the problems.

Without an improvement in our staff’s literacy skills,we wouldn’t have been able to produce moresophisticated high-value products such as spa pools.For us to have tried to manufacture spa pools just afew years ago would have been a disaster. Now weare the second biggest producer of spa pools in thecountry and we’re doing it with the same people.

We can produce a high-class product because ourskill levels are up there and literacy skills are a keypart of that. In addition, there’s been a massiveimprovement in the general quality and effort fromour staff, and that comes back to pride in thecompany and pride in themselves. The quality isbeing checked, problems are being identified andaddressed quicker. Effective communication iscritical to all this – it has enabled our staff to takemore responsibility for what they do.

In the future the companies at the high-value end ofthe market will be successful. There must be ahundred people in New Zealand making cheapwater tanks out the back of a dairy shed and wecan’t compete on price with that.

Our future lies with high-value, quality products andin becoming more and more professional andorganised in everything we do. A couple of monthsago we were aiming to do three spas a day; overthe last month we’ve been doing four spas a dayand today we decided we would step it up to five.Meanwhile we’re improving our systems andprocedures as we go.

The staff’s ability and willingness to communicateeffectively is critical to this growth. Their motivationand pride in what they do is fundamental but alsovital are their contributions and feedback in staffmeetings and to supervisors.

As a company we have put KPIs (key performanceindicators) in place which are linked to a company-wide rewards system. Everyone understands thatthey will benefit individually from the companydoing well.

How is the programme organised?

It’s a voluntary scheme but all our factory workerssigned up for it. We began with a six-month pilotinitially and we are now on our second 12-month

stint since then. Everyone’s literacy skills wereassessed and people were grouped according totheir literacy levels. They receive tuition for onehour a week with the Workbase literacy tutor andthere is homework to be done as well.

All staff are studying towards a National Certificatein Plastics, a qualification recognised nationally inthe plastics industry. The literacy course is basedon Rotaform’s work procedures, so learning isdirectly relevant to the work situation. Genericcommunication areas, such as the writing ofreports, health and safety issues and generalcommunication within the workplace, are coveredas part of the qualification. Industry-specific unitstandards make up the rest of the qualification.

As the programme evolves, literacy training reallybecomes industry training. The courses are builtaround trade skill requirements and there areopportunities for staff to go on learning to levelstwo or three and advance their careers.

There aren’t many difficulties associated withrunning the programme. There’s the financialinvestment, which might deter some, and you haveto find the space for effective learning to takeplace. You also require some flexibility to coverwhen workers are doing literacy training.

Would you recommend the programme to others?

The programme has been particularly well suited tous and that’s why we are such a champion of it.Ours is a labour-intensive industry and we are verydependent on the skills of our staff. And so for usit’s been absolutely fantastic. It’s made such a bigdifference to our bottom line and our ability to makehuge changes. We’ve changed our culture from aworkshop situation where people didn’t really careas much as they should have at times, to one whereeverybody takes real pride in what they are doing.We’ve been very successful as a result of that.

I spend much more time now thinking about howwe can grow the business. Last year sales rose34% and profits 31%. In the last three monthswe’ve doubled our turnover. This last month we’veachieved the biggest turnover ever and, as well asthat, our rejects are down by more than 50%. It’sbeen an amazing transformation and the rise ofliteracy skills has been an integral part of that.

Key learnings

• The literacy programme has resulted in greatly improved skills, confidence and motivation in the workforce.

• Greater efficiencies and dramatic growth across the company have also resulted from the programme.

• Improved literacy skills have the potential to impact hugely on overall company performance.

• The company has been involved in the programme over three years – the gains have taken time.

• The reduction in day-to-day problems has freed up management to focus on being innovative and growing the business.

• Improved literacy skills have been essential in ensuring the company meets more stringent health and safety regulations.

• A more literate and skilled workforce is the precondition for a company operating at the high-value, more sophisticated end of the market where the greatest opportunities lie.

• Introducing a literacy programme into the workplace has not placed major demands on the company, in practical terms. Committing to the programme and giving it full support within the company is, however, essential for its success.

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“For us it’s been absolutelyfantastic. It’s made such a bigdifference to our bottom lineand our ability to make huge changes.”

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“I spend much more time now thinking about how we cangrow the business. Last year sales rose 34% and profits31%. In the last three months we’ve doubled our turnover.This last month we’ve achieved the biggest turnover everand, as well as that, our rejects are down by more than50%. It’s been an amazing transformation and the rise ofliteracy skills has been an integral part of that.”

Rotaform – Return on Investment

Employees

Beneficiary

Capacity to be involved indevelopment of new products

Increased motivation and pridein their work, leading to bettercontributions by staff todiscussions

Ability to work more flexibly

Production of sophisticated high-value products such as spa pools

The company captures theexpertise of those ‘on the ground’

Company can become moreeffective by introducing newsystems, confident in employees’ability to adapt to them

Value to the company

Management is freed up to spendmore time on being innovativeand growing the business

Ability to communicate moreeffectively with customers

Employees have less need to referto managers

Managers

Customers see a moreprofessional approach fromthe company

Customers

Benefit

2Case Study

Literacy – The Springboardfor Workplace Learning

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A workplace literacy case study from Jenkin Timber Ltd,Henderson, Auckland.

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Over the last year, Jenkin Timber Ltd has put in place a workplace literacyprogramme for eight of its employees. It’s the beginning of a long-term commitmentto literacy training, which the company sees as an important part of its humanresource strategy for future growth.

Karl Pointon, (above left) Human Resources Manager at Jenkin Timber, talks aboutthe learning journey the company has embarked on.

A recognised leader

Jenkin Timber Ltd is a large, family-owned NewZealand company, recognised as a leadinginnovator, manufacturer and exporter of value-added, finger-jointed and solid wood radiata pineproducts.

The company was founded by Harry Jenkin and itsfirst factory was established in 1929. Threegenerations later there have been impressivepioneering developments and the company nowoperates from a six acre site in West Auckland onthe edge of the western motorway, 20 minutes fromthe Port of Auckland.

The company has flourished from a smallconstruction company to become an innovator,manufacturer and international marketer of itsproducts. Jenkin Timber operates in a verycompetitive international market with about 70% ofits products being exported to Australia, Asia andthe United States. Last year the companyexperienced significant growth and it is predictedthat this will continue for the coming year.

The company has often been the first to venture intonew technology and has pioneered new finger-jointing techniques for many years. There is acommitment at Jenkin Timber to constantly upgradeequipment and software as a necessary strategicinvestment in satisfying customer demand.

The company is also committed to developing theskills of its people. Moving ahead as a companyrequires staff to develop the skills and attitudes togain efficiencies, handle new technology andcontinually improve the quality of service. JenkinTimber has a staff of 87 permanent employees andaround 10 temporary workers.

Jenkin Timber specialises in the manufacture offinger-jointed and solid wood radiata pine products.The company buys radiata pine, a high percentageof which has defects such as knots. The defects areremoved from the timber, resulting in short pieces ofa high quality and through a process of finger-jointing, the shorter lengths are joined back togetheragain to the required specification of the customer.

The company produces a range of mainly exteriorproduct areas such as weatherboards, mouldings,architraves, fascia boards and joinery profiles.

Why a workplace literacy programme?

As a company we are not just competing with otherNew Zealand companies but also internationally.We are competing on the quality of our productsand service. We need to buy the latest equipment tobe able to deliver the quality our customers arelooking for and to make the manufacturing processeconomical.

This is the starting point – the global marketplacewhich sets the standards we must meet. Incompeting successfully in this marketplace one of thekey things we are looking for is to be able to trainour people. We must have people who are ready tolearn.

Although you can train most people, there really is alimit to how quickly you can train them if there areliteracy issues to overcome. As a company, we arelooking to have our people do the relevant NationalCertificate industry qualifications, but they need tohave the confidence to do that training. They needto participate in classes, read resource materials andunderstand what they are being taught. Wesuspected that there were literacy issues for anumber of our employees that would make thatlearning process very difficult.

The nicheThe company

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They are very good employees, however, and wewant to take them with us into the future. We havelow staff turnover, with the average length of servicenearly 10 years. So as we introduce new processesand equipment, it is vital that we can train ourpeople and take them with us. Literacy skillsprovide the foundation for that to happen.

Our equipment and our systems are becoming moreand more computerised. It’s been a big shock forpeople who are very good trades people to seeothers who they thought were below them overtakethem because their reading and writing is good.That’s blown them away.

Our inventory system is fully computerised now –there’s no more manual recording. All ouremployees are expected to be able to use it.

How did you get started?

We assessed our workforce in 1999, using a fairlybasic assessment based on the everyday resourcesand materials that we use here in the workplace –training materials, company forms and newsletters.That provided us with a snapshot of where ourpotential problems might be, revealing a picture thatwas pretty consistent with the general workforcestatistics that you read about.

The assessment showed that around 30% of ourworkforce had some literacy difficulties. Thatequated to 16 out of 50. I approached themindividually to see if they were interested in literacyclasses and eight joined up. Taking on this trainingwas quite a challenge and for some it meantswallowing their pride. It took courage. My hopewas that once it was up and running, others wouldsee the benefits and want to come on board.

We explained to all staff why literacy was importantand the insecurity for people if they were not able totrain and move forward with the company. As acompany we are keen for our people to have theNational Certificate industry qualifications and thosequalifications would be beyond people who lackedadequate literacy skills. Their future would be a lotless secure if they needed literacy training but chosenot to be involved.

How is the programme arranged?

There are three hours of training each week, paid forand done in work time. Training is not done at theend of a shift when people are tired. It’s worked outwell for us – the maximum number away from anyone production area is two people. We have oneclass of six people and one of two and the classesare taken by a literacy tutor from Workbase.

Where appropriate, classes are structured around unitstandards so that participants can gain credit andrecognition for what they are achieving. Allparticipants are Pasifika people who have noqualifications or may not even have attended highschool.

The 12-month course covers a number of areas –basic reading, writing, maths, computing and keyskills such as how to read a tape measure or a ruler.These skills are vital when you’re working totolerances in width and thickness of 0.2 millimetresand when you consider the value of timber that ourpeople are working with each day.

What benefits has the programme brought?What has been the return on investment?

While it is difficult to quantify the return oninvestment exactly, there have been a number ofvery significant benefits that impact directly on thebottom line.

• There has been major growth in participants’ confidence which is reflected in the accuracy of their work and related documentation. Improved literacy skills have enabled them to clarify issues if they don’t understand something, or source information when they need it. Previously they wouldn’t have asked, or they may have just nodded without understanding what was required.

• Participants generally have a better understandingof what needs to be done when they set out to complete a task. Supervisors report that they are comfortable letting these employees take on increased responsibility.

“Literacy skills are the essentialfoundation for training. Byinvesting in those skills, we aresending a clear message aboutthe worth of our employees tothe company.”

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• There have been definite efficiency gains as a result of their improved understanding of instructions and work systems. Having staff with the skills to utilise company systems and processes properly is what enables the company to move forward.

• Programme participants are faster and more accurate on the computer; there are obvious efficiencies in not having to interrupt colleagues to help them complete computer tasks.

• These staff are participating more in meetings and team leaders now have more confidence in them tomake informed decisions. Their improved verbal communications skills allow them to contribute more, and to put forward their ideas without fear of being misunderstood. It has also improved relationships between staff and contributed to improved morale in the company.

• There has been a marked reduction in error rates among these workers, as a result of improved literacy skills. For some employees we have noticed error rates in activities such as data entry for inventory transactions and calculation of timberdetails dropping from approximately 20% down toaround 5%. The accuracy of inventory transactions is critical in a business like ours, where cash flow is very tight. If our stock records are not correct, that can be the difference between us making a profit or a loss.

What is the biggest challenge in running aprogramme of this sort?

The biggest challenge is getting the buy-in from teamleaders, managers and senior people in thecompany. It would be fair to say that initially theidea was greeted with considerable scepticism. Butthat has changed as managers and team leadershave seen some of the benefits. I see theprogramme contributing to a significant culturechange in the company.

I think the challenge for those organising aprogramme like this is to structure it in a way thatprovides maximum benefits at the workplace level.

It’s also important to provide managers and teamleaders with regular reports on the programme –that helps them take ownership.

It’s really important for a company to show itscommitment to the programme. There’s no excusefor managers and team leaders not to releasepeople. The classes are scheduled in advance soit’s the responsibility of team leaders to organisethemselves in advance.

I’ve taken a firm line on this. You’re eithercommitted or you aren’t. When you start makingexcuses as to why people can’t be there, you areshowing you are not committed to the programme.

Are there any factors in particular that havecontributed to the programme’s success?

A major factor has been the formal structure of theprogramme and the professionalism of the serviceand follow-up from Workbase. The support andfollow-up, including detailed reports, have builtconfidence in the programme across the company.

The Workbase tutor, Kathryn Ngapo, hascontributed hugely to the success of the programme.She has developed an excellent rapport withparticipants and made them feel very comfortablewith the learning process.

What are your plans from here?

Two of the graduates will be going on to NationalCertificate programmes and there will be furtherliteracy assistance tailored to the individual levels ofthe other participants. I’m now approaching otherstaff that we didn’t pick up first time round.

But I won’t be forcing anybody to take part. Theyhave to want to be part of it. If you’re going to getvalue out of it for the company, you need willingparticipants.

Would you recommend literacy programmes toother companies?

Definitely, provided they have established the needfor it. Don’t get straight into the programme.Clearly establish the problem first and how thatproblem impacts on the future needs of the company.

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You also need to keep in mind that there is anoverall skills shortage in our industry. It’s hard torecruit people with the relevant Trade Certificates orNational Certificates. So we have to train our own.

Literacy skills are the essential foundation for thattraining. By investing in those skills, we are sendinga clear message about the worth of our employeesto the company.

Workplace literacy programmes – key learnings

• Be clear about what you want to achieve from a workplace literacy programme.

• Establish the need clearly and identify how literacyproblems impact on the future needs of the company.

• Offer staff the choice to be involved. Don’t make it compulsory.

• View it as a long-term commitment. You can’t expect major progress after one training programme. The programme is a starting point.

• Brief all the staff about the programme and reinforce its value to the company. Explain why the company is introducing the programme.

• Have one person who is responsible for the programme and drives it. This person needs to sell it in, deal with any difficulties and be proactive in ensuring it runs well.

• Fully commit to it. Go in boots and all, don’t just dip your toe in the water.

• Be prepared to let staff do the classes in company time. Don’t expect them to do it on Saturdays or after work. Many of these people are family-orientated and the conflict caused between social and career time can impact negatively on the success of a programme.

• Be firm with accepting excuses from managers orteam leaders for not releasing people.

“In competing successfully in thismarketplace one of the key thingswe are looking for is to be able totrain our people. We must havepeople who are ready to learn.”

Jenkin – Return on Investment

Employees

Supervisors

Improved literacy skills leadingto fewer errors

Growth in employees’confidence

Improved levels of participationin team meetings

Employees are willing to askwhen they don’t understand

Faster and more accuratecomputer work

Less need for employees tointerrupt supervisors

Error rates decreased fromaround 20% to around 5%

More accurate work and relateddocumentation

Improved relationships betweenstaff, improved morale

Employees take extraresponsibility, which frees upsupervisors

Beneficiary Value to the companyBenefit

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Case Study

Communicating with Confidence

A workplace literacy case study from Formway Furniture Ltd, Lower Hutt, Wellington.

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The company

Formway is a privately-owned New Zealand groupof companies that designs, manufactures and sellscommercial furniture.

There are two main components to the business –design of product for Formway itself and otheroffshore commercial furniture companies, and themanufacture, marketing and sale of that productwithin the Australasian market.

An additional growth area for the business is thesale of component furniture parts to Formway’sstrategic partners overseas. This aspect has thepotential for major growth in the future.

Formway has 240 staff in Australasia, 160 of whomare in New Zealand. This workforce covers design,support, sales and manufacturing, with 80 to 90 full-time staff involved in manufacturing.

Formway is an award-winning company with astrong reputation for creativity and innovation infurniture design. The company is positioned at themiddle to upper end of the commercial furnituremarket, and has a 20-year history of designingproduct that has set new standards both inAustralasia and internationally.

Increasingly Formway competes with leadinginternational furniture companies rather than justAustralasian companies. Over the last three yearsthe company has experienced exponential growthand a major shift in its business direction. It hasgone from being predominantly a chairmanufacturer, to a position where 60% of itsbusiness is work stations and just 40% chairs. Thisrepresents a major change in terms of thecomplexity and sophistication of its product and thetype of technologies and skill requirements that areneeded.

Why did you introduce a workplace literacyprogramme?

The need to improve literacy skills among some ofour workforce was brought on by the change in theproduct we are producing, as well as increaseddemand for quality and higher standards of healthand safety. These changes and pressures requirepeople to have greater technical skills, to be able tocommunicate effectively, fill in forms appropriatelyand understand instructions.

Innovation is the key to our competitive advantageas a company. We saw the need to unlock all theinnovation skills within the company and to do thatyou need people to have a certain level ofcommunication and problem-solving skills.

There was an immediate need in terms of technicalskills but the longer-term driver was the innovationframework that we were establishing at thecompany.

We had a very loyal, committed workforce and wewanted to provide the opportunity for them to lifttheir existing numeracy and literacy levels, includingcomputer literacy, so they could participate in thenew environment we were moving into. At the sametime, we wanted to involve them in achievingfurniture industry unit standards but they had tohave the literacy and numeracy skills to handle that.

Many of our staff would have left school at a youngage, probably about Form 4, and haven’t beeninvolved in formal learning since then. Their attitudewas positive but it could be easily dented. Wewanted to optimise their opportunities to succeed –you only get one shot at this.

Formway Furniture Ltd competes with the world’s best in the international commercialfurniture market. The New Zealand-based company has staked its future on itsability to be a learning organisation from top to bottom, and to be continuallyinnovative.

Paul Mather, (above left) Group Development Officer at Formway Furniture Ltd, talksabout the learning challenge facing Formway and the company’s response to that challenge.

The Company

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How did you select staff for the programme?

We invited all our first-line manufacturing staff toparticipate in a needs assessment, run by Workbase.The assessment was based on what they did in theworkplace and the processes they were familiarwith, and we also undertook that no manager atFormway would know their personal results.

The report we received from the facilitator gave usliteracy and numeracy profiles of the teams, but noindividual profiles. Individuals were free to talk withthe literacy tutor about individual programmes tomeet their needs.

We had a 99.9% take-up of the assessment by ourstaff and that was indicative of their commitment totheir own development. Based on the results, we setup a 12-month pilot involving 15 people in threeteams from the assembly and dispatch area. Theseteams were critical to getting the right products ontime to our customers. These were areas wherethere had been some performance difficulties andwe felt they would be a good indicator of whetherthis type of programme really could make adifference.

Twelve of the 15 participants were Samoan and 14of the learners were men. English was the secondlanguage for 13 of the learners.

How was the programme structured?

The learning programme was structured so that theywere achieving furniture industry unit standards atthe same time as they were improving their literacyand numeracy skills. The driver was the skills theyrequired in the workplace, so learning extending farbeyond the outcomes contained in the unitstandards. Stregthening language and literacy skillsunderpinned all the learning.

This approach proved a very powerful mechanismfor skills development. Staff with no record offormal learning and no qualification to their namecould get a Formskills Certificate and a Record ofLearning from NZQA, recognising the unit standardsthey had achieved. Achieving those standards

allowed them to progress towards the NationalCertificate qualification relevant to their area.

Over the 12 months of the pilot, 278 credits wereachieved towards the National Certificate inFurniture Making, which was 18 credits per learneron average.

How do you schedule the programme atFormway?

It’s always a challenge, particularly when you’rebusy. Each participant had one hour face-to-facewith the tutor each week, in work-time. The tutoralso did additional work with participants in theirwork teams on the shop floor.

Our experience was that the majority of people inthe pilot had the confidence to progress well anddrive their own learning. After the initial phase,learning was able to take place in a group situationand they are then in a position to be part of amainstream skills development programme atFormway.

Another much smaller group had very significantlearning challenges, and the learning continued tobe on a one-on-one basis.

What were your main challenges in running theprogramme?

There were two practical challenges – findingadequate space and making allowances forvariation in workload. The nature of the furnitureindustry is that you go from being quiet to very busyin a short space of time.

So we had to be mindful of that but at the same timewe were quite forceful with line managers in sayingthey had to manage workloads in ways that didn’taffect the learning. You do have to be flexiblethough. There has to be some ‘give’. Certainly,having a tutor on site allowed us to be flexible inhow we made the learning happen.

We’ve been very fortunate at Formway; one of ourgroup goals is to develop a learning organisationacross all our operations because learning is socritical to our competitiveness. The literacy

“I would estimate there have been50% fewer difficulties or problemsassociated with the assembly anddispatch of new product, as a resultof the literacy initiative.”

programme gets a lot of support from all levels ofmanagement, but particularly from Colin Campbell,General Manager of Formway Furniture NZ.

Why is it so important for everyone at Formway tobe literate and able to learn new things? They arenot all designers.

But everyone is an innovator. Everyone’s problem-solving. If you’re talking about improvements inquality and productivity, how do you drive that?You drive that through the ability to continually lookat problems, look for new ways to do things. Noweverybody needs to have that as part of their skillsbase.

Our designers also need to be able to access allkinds of different input and viewpoints to continuallychallenge their perception of the world. Most of ourmanufacturing staff are from the Pacific Islands anda small number are Maori and they have differentcultural views of the world from Pakeha. As westart designing for international markets, challengingour eurocentric designer teams is actually verycritical, to get them to see through different eyes.

You have this huge resource sitting inside thecompany which can give you exposure to differentcultures. You have to unleash that resource andmake use of it.

You start doing that by getting people confident incommunicating and feeling that their perceptionsare valuable. New Zealand is only going tosucceed globally by having very smart people andthat means everybody.

What benefits are you seeing as a result of theworkplace literacy programme?

There has been a huge increase in the self-confidence of participants, and there has been amarked increase in the interaction of those staff withother discipline areas within Formway.

This new confidence is reflected in greater staffparticipation in meetings, improved levels ofcommunication with workmates and other staff.Staff are no longer prepared to accept glib answersfrom designers and managers – they are now readyto challenge them if they think it’s necessary. This is

important because it lifts the overall level ofperformance.

It’s difficult to measure benefits exactly within such arapidly-changing environment but certainly we haveseen improvements. For example, the introductionof new products has gone much more smoothly andrapidly than was the case with previous productlaunches. I would estimate there have been 50%fewer difficulties or problems associated with theassembly and dispatch of new product, as a resultof the literacy initiative. Staff knew what theproduct was, they could pick up when the wrongcode had been entered, they could match the rightcode with the right product, rather than just respondto an order.

They could also take proactive action to addressissues in their area. For example, one of the teamscreated a spreadsheet to record when they receivedproduct. One of their big issues was that they werealways blamed for late deliveries, but with the helpof the spreadsheet they had hard data to showwhen they received product and often the problemwasn’t with them. To me that’s certainly anindication of success.

More broadly, the literacy programme has resultedin the improved use of documentation in theworkplace. Documentation requirements atFormway have evolved as more and more processeshave moved to the new computer system; workershave become familiar with the new systems, theyknow where to find information and they know howto fill in documentation on the computer.

Another indication of success has been the pressurefrom other staff to join the programme. The steelfurniture industry has never had any formalstructured training up until now and staff haveresponded very positively to a systematic approachto skills development, with literacy and numeracyskills embedded in that learning process.

Evaluations have shown that programme benefitsextend beyond the company to family andcommunity life. Participants are now more involvedin their children’s learning and a number havebought computers for the home. If you believe that

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companies have a social role, and we do, thenthese spin-offs are part of our contribution to thecommunity.

In measuring the return from a programme like this,you have to take the long-term view. We want tomake it possible for our staff to continue to be partof Formway’s long-term development. Unless thesestaff develop new skills and acquire the ability tocontinue to learn, there is a real risk that at sometime in the future, the relationship will come to anatural end.

It’s very difficult to buy the sort of loyalty andcommitment that we have from our currentworkforce. Many of them have been committed tous for 15 to 20 years. That’s hugely valuable toFormway. They have a wealth of knowledge andunderstanding about how Formway operates, wherewe’ve come from, what our culture is, what ourstrategic goals are. Someone new has to learn allthat.

If it’s at all possible, I think it’s far better to putresources into your existing workforce because youare building on all those intangibles that arealready there. Often we undervalue that becauseit’s so difficult to put a monetary value on it.

Have there been improvements in the health andsafety area?

We expect individuals to take responsibility forhealth and safety issues, as appropriate for the levelat which they are engaged in the organisation. It isvital, however, that they have the skills andknowledge to take on that responsibility.

As a result of this programme, we can definitely saythey have acquired the skills to apply health andsafety principles to the work they do every day. It isno longer a question of knowledge, but ofperformance.

Would you recommend this kind of programme toother employers?

If an employer has the right attitude, they can’t doanything but start to look very seriously atprogrammes of this nature. New Zealand is onlygoing to succeed internationally by being smarter.We’re competing against companies with turnoversof more than a billion dollars a year.

We’re never going to have the dollars they have,we’re never going to be bigger; the only way we’rereally going to score is by being smarter. Whichmeans we do it quicker, faster, better, more cost-effectively; it means we’re ready to take on newtechnologies. That means the skill level of the wholeworkforce has to rise.

If you believe in this and you believe in the potentialof your workforce to contribute, you don’t have anoption. I’ve always believed that given the rightopportunities, people will maximise their potentialbut the really gratifying thing is seeing that latentpotential being unlocked.

Critical success factors

•Having a skilled literacy tutor from Workbase on-site has built rapport and trust with staff and been critical to the success of the programme.

• The programme has been built around the regular systems and processes that we use and the everyday things we do.

•The passion of the learners themselves has been staggering. They have worked on this both in-house and in their own time. Some participants have spent many hours at home to succeed.

• Formway has a long-term commitment to the programme and has created an environment where people feel supported in their learning.

“New Zealand is only going tosucceed globally by havingvery smart people and thatmeans everybody.”

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Key learnings

• It has been vital to have someone to select the right learning methods for each learner.

•Many first-line manufacturing workers have become competent at using computers and the internet in their work and readily take to using this technology.

•An on-site tutor has been a great help for distancelearners who are reluctant to trouble distancetutors.

• There has been a huge growth in self-confidence and pride among programme participants.

• The success of the pilot has increased demand from others for similar opportunities.

• The general environment and the ability of others to communicate effectively has had as much

impact on the learners’ ability to perform as their own literacy, communications and numeracy levels.

•Many learners had skills and abilities that were not being utilised by the company.

Future challenges

•Prepare the company for the impact of more highly skilled, confident and articulate front-line manufacturing staff.

•Help staff on the Formskills programme to gain the self-confidence to take up the opportunities that emerge, both within Formway and outside, as they acquire skills.

• Create an environment where all staff can make a creative and innovative contribution to the company.

Formway – Return on Investment

Employees 50% fewer difficulties associatedwith assembly and dispatch

Unlocking of innovation skillswithin the company

Company able to use loyalexisting employees rather thanneed to recruit for newoperating environment

Higher overall performance andsmoother introduction of newproducts

Improved communication andtechnical skills leading toimproved use of documentation

As above

As above, plus computer literacy

Increase in self-confidence inemployees, leading toemployees questioning moreand not accepting glib answers

Beneficiary Value to the companyBenefit

4Case Study

Foundation for Change

A workplace literacy case study at Sanford Limited, a verysuccessful and long-established New Zealand fishing company.

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The Company

A challenging external environment in the international seafood industry has resultedin Sanford Limited taking steps to raise the skill levels of its Auckland staff. Thefoundation for this ongoing commitment to skills training is improved literacy skills.

Shane Walsh, (above right) Sanford Limited Inshore Fishing and Processing DivisionManager and Margaret Hall, (above left) Auckland Production Manager, discussSanford’s workplace literacy initiative and the benefits the company and employeeshave gained as a result of the initial 12-month programme.

Sanford Limited is New Zealand’s oldest publiccompany, having been established by AlbertSanford when he commenced commercial fishing inthe Hauraki Gulf in 1881. Its operations focus onthe harvesting, farming, processing, storage andmarketing of New Zealand seafood. It has anannual turnover approaching $400 million.

Sanford owns and operates a diverse fleet of vesselsfor inshore and deepwater fishing. The fleet ofvessels is supported by a sophisticated shore-basedsupport network designed to ensure that Sanfordcontinues to supply sustainable seafood produced tothe highest international standards.

In New Zealand Sanford operates a fleet of sixvessels that freeze and pack the catch on board,immediately it is landed. This fleet is supplementedby a small number of chartered vessels as required.The company has extensive aquaculture operationsand a range of processing plants throughout NewZealand.

New Zealand has one of the most advanced systemsin the world for ensuring the sustainablemanagement of wild fisheries. Sanford Limited isfully committed to careful resource stewardship andfull compliance with New Zealand’s QuotaManagement System. Sanford contributes toresearch programmes that underpin the sustainablemanagement of our marine resources.

Sanford’s byline is ‘Sustainable Seafood’ which itunderpins with a range of economic, environmentaland social initiatives. As part of its membershipcommitment to the New Zealand Business Councilfor Sustainable Development, it publishes a triplebottom line report each year. The literacy andnumeracy programme is a social initiative inAuckland.

The company complies with ISO 14000 standardswhich are aimed at environmental performanceimprovement. Sanford is seeking to improveperformance standards in all its operations andthrough active participation in industryenvironmental initiatives and forums.

What is your Auckland staff profile?

We have 68 staff at our Auckland site where theliteracy programme is in place, with 52 of thesepermanent staff. It’s a very multicultural workforcewith the largest groups being Tongan and Samoan.English is a second language for 94% of ourworkforce.

The average age is 38 and we have very low staffturnover, which contributes positively to staff loyaltybut lessens our ability to increase skill levels throughrecruitment.

Why did you introduce a workplace literacyprogramme at Sanford?

A couple of years ago we reviewed how we weregoing. We didn’t think we were getting the resultsfrom training that we should have been getting – wewere putting staff through courses but were oftendisappointed with the outcomes achieved.

We thought the lack of English skills might be theproblem so we involved interpreters for our Samoanand Tongan staff but the results were stilldisappointing. We now understand why.Interpreters don’t really understand the subjectmatter, and they’re not trainers, so a simpletranslation of what’s being taught has limitedbenefits.

We knew we had to do something. Workbasecarried out an education needs analysis with our

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staff (at the Auckland Jellicoe Street site) and wewere astonished to find just how big a problem wehad with literacy and numeracy, extending throughto the supervisor level as well.

There were other signs of literacy and numeracyproblems – a high error rate in documentation, anotable lack of feedback and contribution at staffmeetings, and an inflexibility in regard to jobsundertaken. People very much stayed in their ownarea and were not prepared to move outside theircomfort zone. We put quite a lot of effort intoproducing a staff newsletter but then realised thatthey couldn’t read it.

How is the business environment changing? Whydoes it require greater literacy skills than in thepast?

A lot of things are changing in the seafood industry;really it’s an environment of constant change.

For example, we are involved with the ACCPartnership Programme which offers significantfinancial benefits to the company but requires theactive participation of staff. An ACC auditor needsto be able to engage with staff and get their inputon health and safety issues.

Recently we went through the process of gettingaccredited for ISO 14000, which is an internationalenvironmental management programme. That toorequires staff to show they fully understand theprogramme and their responsibilities. They need tobe aware of how their work affects the environmenton a day-to-day basis. The company’s successfulparticipation in these programmes required greaterliteracy skills than our staff had.

Then there are changes in the factory itself. Wehave a new factory and with that has come a rangeof system changes and greater automation.Documentation requirements are growing, we’remaking greater use of computers and staff turnoveris very low, so there is a constant need to upskillstaff. It’s important in this new environment that staffare multi-skilled, that they are flexible enough tohandle a range of job requirements.

Increasingly, accuracy and accountability areessential in all aspects of the business. With the

Quota Management System, heavy fines can beimposed if errors are made, and documentationrequirements in regard to overseas markets arebecoming more complex. Improving staff literacyskills, therefore, is essential in minimising errors andreducing risk.

Sanford is committed to upskilling our staff. Theyhave been loyal to us. We know that things aregoing to go on changing and we want them to bethere with us when they do change. Literacy skillsare the foundation they will need to gain the newskills they will require in the future.

What did the programme you implementedconsist of?

We devised the 12-month programme together withWorkbase and the Seafood Industry TrainingOrganisation (SITO). The course comprised modulesin health and safety, workplace documentation,maths at work, quality at work, giving instructions atwork and compliance.

The literacy programme was very closely related tojob requirements and participation was voluntary.More than 90% of staff volunteered, which was asurprise to us, especially given the older age profileof our staff.

We presented the programme in a very positive lightand addressed any fears they had about it. Eachlearner had one hour’s tuition a week in a speciallydesignated area away from the workplace, using acomputer. There was also a homework componentto the course. Two Workbase tutors were at the sitefour days a week.

There were some hassles, especially over the busysummer months. Twenty-five percent of our staffcould be working off-site at any one time, so therewere practical issues to work around. With the rightattitude these things could be addressed.

Assessments were carried out by registeredassessors throughout the year and staff werepresented with certificates at a special function atthe end of the programme. At that function itwas announced that the programme wouldcontinue for another year, incorporating someseafood unit standards.

“The company’s successfulparticipation in these programmes(ACC Partnership programme andISO 14000) requires greaterliteracy skills than our staff had.”

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There’s a lot of support for the programme and staffare keen to keep moving forward.

What tangible changes have you observed as aresult of the programme?

Overall the programme has been very successful.Staff have became more flexible in their work andthere is a willingness to take on new tasks asrequired, some of which involve computer skills.Staff participation in meetings has improvedsignificantly and they are much more ready to givefeedback.

Staff now have the skills to be more attentive todetail and to provide more accurate documentation,which is very important to company performance.They report workplace hazards and log them in thehazard register which is a new development. Theyalso show a greater awareness of hygienerequirements.

Overall, employee morale has been boosted by theliteracy programme and teamwork has improved asa result. Their experience of the programme hasbeen a positive one – they now have an enthusiasmfor training that wasn’t there previously.

It feels now like they own the factory, it’s their place.That’s a great development because it shows not justthat their confidence has grown but they understanda lot more about what’s happening. They realisethey have a real effect on the end result.

The programme has been significant too in terms ofmanagement starting to do things differently.Managers are conscious of the need to improve theircommunications with staff and we are looking atfurther training to help them in this area.

The programme has also had major benefits for ourstaff in their personal lives. There are numerousstories of how improved literacy has built people’sconfidence and transformed aspects of their lives.For example, there are reports of individuals nowhaving the confidence and ability to sit a drivingtest, or access an ATM machine, or go shopping ontheir own. Some have bought computers for the

family and for the first time they are able to helptheir children with their homework. Here at workthey are now able to answer the phone and dealwith customers in a way that would have been verydaunting for some of them in the past.

How would you assess the impact of the literacyprogramme on overall company performance?

Essentially, the programme means we are getting thefoundations right so that, as a company, we canmove forward in the directions where our future lies.We’re building the skill base that will allow us to goon competing successfully in the internationalseafood market.

A key area, for example, is staff flexibility. Beforethe training, if our production manager neededsomeone to do data entry into a computer, or onto akeypad in the factory, she would have had to getsomeone in from outside. But now staff have theskills to take up those roles and that kind of flexibilityis really valuable.

Overall we have no doubt that the programme has avery significant impact on overall performance, butit’s not easy to quantify those benefits in dollar terms.Ideally one would measure performance before andafter the literacy training, and quantify the benefitsbut with many other changes underway here aswell, it’s impossible to isolate the impact of literacytraining in that way. We have a completely newfactory, and we’ve changed our process lines so it’shard to compare apples with apples.

We can, however, clearly identify changes in staffbehaviour that benefit company performance.Those changes include:

• Increased feedback from staff

• Willingness to try new tasks

• Improved teamwork

• More attention to detail

• Enthusiasm for training.

We see these benefits coming under two categories– risk reduction and performance improvement.

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Specifically we have assessed the return on ourliteracy training investment in the following areas:ACC Partnership Programme, injury prevention, ISO14000 accreditation, MAF compliance, customercomplaints, fisheries compliance, yield, low staffturnover, productivity, ISO 14001, reduced resourceusage and increased staff flexibility.

In summary, we see the literacy programme bringingmany positive outcomes for the company and foremployees. Most importantly, it has helped to usherin a new learning culture at Sanford which isindispensable for our success in a highly-competitive and carefully-regulated industry.

Sanford – Return on Investment

“We have a new factory and with that has come a range ofsystem changes and greater automation. Documentationrequirements are growing, we’re making greater use ofcomputers, and staff turnover is very low, meaning there isa constant need to upskill staff.”

Employees

More effective manager-employee structures

Managers have become awareof the need to adapt theirapproach

Staff are more flexible, morewilling to take on new tasks

Decrease in documentation errorrates

Improved levels of participationin team meetings

Company able to use loyalexisting employees rather thanneed to recruit for new operatingenvironment

Ensuring strict compliance withQuota Management System forwild fisheries

Improved relationships betweenstaff, improved morale

Managers

Beneficiary Value to the companyBenefit

Less need to employ additionaloutside staff

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The National Centre for Workplace Literacy & Language2 Vermont Street, Ponsonby, Auckland. PO Box 56571, Dominion Road, AucklandTelephone: 0-9-361 3800 Facsimile: 0-9-376 3700Email: admin@workbase.org.nz Website: www.workbase.org.nz

Publication date: December 2002Interviews, writing and design: Fitzsimons Beckford Communications and Design LtdISBN: 0-9583627-6-9

Workbase is the National Centre for

Workplace Literacy & Language

providing information, advice,

research, resources and innovative

solutions to low workplace literacy.

Voicesfrom Managemen t

The National Centre for Workplace Literacy & Language2 Vermont Street, Ponsonby, Auckland. PO Box 56571, Dominion Road, AucklandTelephone: 0-9-361 3800 Facsimile: 0-9-376 3700Email: admin@workbase.org.nz Website: www.workbase.org.nz