Everybody in this company can read and write, right?

By Belinda Evans, Communications Content Manager, Melcrum

In my former role as a communications practitioner I spent many a happy (and often not-so-happy) hour crafting the perfect message, hoping to both engage and inform with my paragraph-perfect constructions. I may not have always achieved the desired effect, but I always took my ability to construct a sentence and the ability of my audience to read and comprehend that sentence for granted.

With around 40 percent of the Australian workforce not reaching the minimum literacy level needed to meet the demands of everyday life*, it appears that I should have worried less that people wouldn’t bother to read my carefully-crafted messages, and more that they actually couldn’t.

In a report published by the Australian Industry Group yesterday, more than 75 per cent of Australian companies reported that their business was affected by low levels of literacy and numeracy among their employees. The report is based on the results of a survey completed by 338 Australian organizations representing 56,000 employees in total.

Employers reported that the impact of low levels of literacy was broad, affecting productivity; workplace communications and relationships; workforce planning and training; and safety and compliance. Although labourers and process workers were the occupational groups most affected, the report indicated that poor literacy affected relationships at all levels in the workplace, from management to the shop floor. Unsurprisingly, employers also identified communication difficulties between different occupational groups, such as between engineers and customer service departments.

Of the employers surveyed, 38 percent believe they have a role to play in improving workplace literacy and numeracy skills among their workers, however, only eight percent of employers reported they had the capacity to assist their employees to improve these skills.

So, how best to connect with and support a workforce lacking in literacy? Should organizations invest in programs to improve their employees' literacy and numeracy skills, or concentrate on creating an internal communications strategy and channels that meet the challenges of communicating with employees struggling with literacy?

Have you created internal communication channels designed specifically to commuicate with employees with limited literacy skills, or has your organization run any programs to assist employees to improve their skills? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Email me at Belinda.evans@melcrum.com

* In a 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics survey 40 percent of employed Australians achieved prose literacy scores at level one or level two of a five-point level scale, with level three regarded as the minimum level required to meet the demands of everyday life.

Comments

[Lise Hutcheon]

Belinda

How true are your words. Here in NZ we also have that 40% workforce statistic for low literacy levels as well. That is the area I am working in with business and getting to see how this affects their business and the productivity of not only their organisation but the country as well.

I will have to source the report.

[Belinda Evans]

Thanks for your comment Lise.

I was quite shocked by the statistics when I started looking into the issue, but is encouraging to see that many employers recognize they can play an important role in tackling the problem.

Here is a link to the full report:
http://bit.ly/chWwM5