Addressing low literacy and numeracy in the workforce

Building on current statistics which indicate that almost four million Australians or 40 percent of the workforce do not have adequate literacy, numeracy or problem solving skills, the Australian Industry Group (AiGroup) have released a new study to explore this critical issue for employers.

When Words Fail, The National Workforce Literacy Project, outlines employers and business leaders perspective on the low workplace literacy and numeracy levels and a range of strategies and solutions to combat this problem.

Ai Group Chief Executive designate, Innes Willox says that the report demonstrates that with appropriate support employers are willing and able to improve the literacy skills of their workforce, but insufficient assistance is currently available.

"Employers are also beginning to link literacy and numeracy training to productivity and Return on Investment. Evidence from this project indicates that enterprises are ready to apply Return on Investment measures to this area. More work is needed to further explore and formalise this." said Mr Willox.

Key Findings:

• Employers are concerned about this issue with more than 75% of respondents reporting that their business was affected by low levels of literacy and numeracy.
• Survey respondents reported a wide range of impacts resulting from a lack of literacy and numeracy skills, most frequently cited were: poor completion of workplace documents and time-wasting through repeated work.
• A diversity of training approaches is required to match the diversity of workplace needs including the introduction of short, sharp and intensive programs.
• There is a need to link workplace literacy and numeracy training to productivity through the adoption of Return on Investment measures.
• There are benefits from the more widespread use of the Australian Core Skills Framework to assist employers to better understand the literacy and numeracy issues within their workforces.
• The involvement of managers is critical. Through exposure they see the benefits of this training. More needs to be done to raise their awareness and capacity in this arena.
• The participation of supervisors in literacy and numeracy programs provides improved outcomes for workplaces. The introduction of programs to increase their understanding of these issues would be a positive step.
• Participation in literacy and numeracy programs increases the capacity of enterprises to deal with these issues. There is a need for measures to raise the capacity of enterprises in this area.

Click here to read the full report: When Words Fail, National Workforce Literacy Project, February 2012

Source: Australian Industry Group, www.aigroup.asn.au