Business Case

Can your staff…

• Read and understand health and safety information
• Complete Accident Report forms
• Read information on how to assemble and store equipment
• Write messages accurately
• Communicate articulately to customers and colleagues
• Calculate measurements, ratios, percentages
• Handle large and small sums of money?

Do you want you employees to:

• Be skilled enough to do their job now and in the future
• To stay with you and value the place in which they work
• Feel engaged and involved in the workplace.

What are the implications of poor literacy, language and numeracy skills on your workforce?

• Poor adherence to health and safety procedures
• Inaccurate/poor quality paperwork e.g. health and safety documents, reports
• Poor communication with customers and colleagues
• Staff reluctant to take on extra tasks/ transfer skills and be responsive to the needs of the environment
• Poor time management and planning skills
• High absenteeism and staff turnover
• Staff do not benefit from training/ chance to develop their skills
• Inability to read and understand written instructions
• Poor team working skills.

Benefits of improving literacy, language and numeracy skills in the workplace

• Improved performance
• Improved quality assurance
• Improved communication
• Improved compliance with regulations
• Improved customer relations
• Improved recruitment
• Improved retention
• Realising existing potential
• Increased profits.

The Facts

• 23% of adults in work in England struggle with maths or English
• 49 out of 50 jobs are closed to people with low literacy and numeracy skills
• 4 out of 5 jobs created now will require skill levels above A-level and only one third of Britons have these
• 30% of graduates have literacy levels below level 2
• 15 million people in the workforce have poor numeracy skills.