Planning A Workplace Literacy Program

Workplace Planning Profiles CENTER FOR LITERACY Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Date of Interview:1996 Sandy Choukroun is the director of CFL's workplace education programs. She reports that businesses that are partnering with CFL have experienced decreased paperwork errors and increased savings in personnel and material cost. Businesses with fewer than 500 employees have been able to receive CFL;s training free through a grant from the The Pew Charitable Trusts' Small Business Workforce Education Initiative. Worker-student have gained skills and self-confidence. In the first two years of the Pew Grant, 100% of employees who participated for more than 30 hours showed gains in reading, writing, and math skills. Now they can accurately fill out company forms; calculate decimals, fractions, and percents; and communicate effectively with coworkers and supervisors. Beginning in 1993, all of CFL's workplace programs became job-related (vs. generic). Also, because of needs that CFL has observed over time, its workforce education programs now incorporate reading, writing, and math instruction with communication, leadership training, and team-building to meet clients' goals. In the past, most of CFL's clients were recruited through mailings and presentations. Recently, on the advice of business leaders, CFL initiated a successful telemarketing campaign targeted at potential clients for their small business grant. Reaching busy training and production managers directly seems to work best. Since 1991 CFL has become more convinced than ever of the importance of conducting a collaborative planning process. Advisory Committee meetings that include all stakeholders-management, supervisors, training personnel, workers, and CFL staff- have proven very effective in securing agreement concerning program goals and implementation. The results of this process are stronger commitment and ownership on the part of all involved; development of trust, which directly affects recruitment and retention; and more precise customization of curriculums. Another development has been a realization that in addition to traditional literacy teaching expertise, workforce education staff must demonstrate solid communication and problem-solving skills as well as an understanding of the challenges involved in running a for-profit enterprise. They must bridge the gap between a traditional educational model, in which learning goals are seen as primary, and the business world, in which concrete, measurable results are critical. Mrs. Choukroiun says that for councils starting new programs, it is helpful to have a working relationship with members of the local business community, including small and medium-sized companies as well as large corporations. A task force composed of council board and staff members as well as business representative can be useful in setting goals and determining markets. She especially recommends the following print resources (full citations are found in the workplace literacy resource list): "Workplace Literacy Resource Notebook" developed by the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy, State College, PA for its "Worknet" workshop. Extensive on-line resources are listed here. "Choosing the Right Training Program: A Guidebook for Small Businesses" published jointly by the U.S. Dept. of Education and Dept. of Labor. Describes what businesses are looking for when they consider workplace literacy programs. Workforce Basics-published by CFL. A workforce education curriculum which features seven topics and includes an instructor's book and learner's book for each. Order from CFL. Mrs. Choukroun reports that the National Alliance for Business is very active in supporting effective workforce education with published materials. Contact then at 1201 New York Ave. NW, Suite 700 Washington, D.C.20005; (202)289-2888. next page