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Workplace
Planning Profiles
EMPLOYEES
TEACHING EMPLOYEES
AlliedSignal Aerospace Company
Kansas City, Missouri
Date
of Interview: 1991
Employees
Teaching Employees is a volunteer literacy program developed
and conducted by the Kansas City, Missouri, division of AlliedSignal
Aerospace Company. The plant has about 6,500 employees. About
half are on salary and the other half are hourly workers.
The
company's literacy program provides one-to-one tutoring in basic
literacy skills to 65 employees. Tutor training is provided
by trainers from Laubach Literacy of Kansas City.
AlliedSignal's
training staff and its employee-volunteers carry out most of
the functions of a community-based volunteer literacy program.
Staff members recruit and match learners and tutors, provide
tutor support, monitor learner progress, and maintain records.
The
plant's senior management is highly supportive of the program.
They want literacy instruction to benefit employees both on
and off the job. Literacy instruction is offered on company
time to show management's strong support for the program.
The
program has improved job performance and morale. Impressed with
their program's results, senior managers have been active in
promoting literacy programming to other members of the corporate
sector.
Program
Development
In
1988 the training staff of the manufacturing division began
meeting weekly to develop a training team and to identify employee
needs. Literacy instruction soon emerged as a top priority.
The
training team discovered that some employees couldn't read course
materials for technical courses like statistical process control
and advanced production techniques. They found that supervisors
who wanted to protect literacy-handicapped employees commonly
placed them in noncritical assignments. Some employees were
relying on coworkers to read job instructions to them.
The
team needed an idea of the extent of the literacy problem in
the workplace. Reading and writing tests were not part of the
plant's job application process, and such testing on the job
was not permitted. Depending on their own observations and general
literature about adult literacy needs in general, the trainers
estimated that as many as several hundred of the plant's employees
could benefit from literacy instruction.
After
the training team identified literacy as a priority, the team
coordinator went to work. One of the coordinator's most important
tasks was to build employee support and enthusiasm throughout
the plant. The coordinator also needed to research literacy
program models, clear policy decisions with superiors, and make
sure that systems were in place for administering a program.
Senior
managers gave the coordinator the authority she needed to develop
and implement a program plan. Senior managers also gained the
cooperation of lower and middle managers when it was needed
and served as "cheerleaders" for the program.
One
of the coordinator's first tasks was to find an effective program
that would fit the training department's budget. An employee
was sent to the tutor training workshop offered by Laubach Literacy
of Kansas City. The employee's experience at the workshop convinced
the coordinator that it was reasonable to expect that literacy
services could be provided effectively through trained volunteer
tutors.
Another task was to find a way to encourage employees with literacy
problems to identify themselves. The training team offered a
10-hour course titled "Efficient Reading." The course
was built around a set of videotapes and included comprehension
and speed reading. The course leader told the 300 attendees
that basic reading instruction would be available for those
who wanted it.
The
first employee to request basic skills instruction came forward
only when a member of the training team, who had observed his
struggle to read in technology training courses, suggested that
he contact the training coordinator. The employee was placed
with the Laubach-trained employee-tutor. After four months of
tutoring, his progress showed the training staff that employee-tutors
could be effective in helping their coworkers acquire literacy
skills.
Tutor
trainers from Laubach Literacy of Kansas City agreed to train
company volunteer tutors at the worksite and to schedule the
training workshop during the workday. They also consulted with
AlliedSignal staff on other aspects of program development.
A
breakthrough came when that first employee-student agreed to
tell his story. He and his tutor were videotaped for broadcast
over the company's in-house network. The student, who was shown
on the job and at a tutoring session, talked about his literacy-related
problems and his experiences with learning.
The
tutor described the program, explaining that it took place on
company time. He promised that confidentiality would be maintained
and asked those interested in volunteering as tutors or learners
to call the training coordinator. As soon as the video was over,
the phone began to ring.
The
first workshop was not designed for tutor training only. It
was also an opportunity to build understanding about the program.
Both managers and union leaders were specifically encouraged
to participate. The support of union leaders and others who
had direct contact with potential students was essential. These
people could provide reassurance that the program was not intended
to penalize anyone for their literacy deficiencies.
Several
employees who attended the first tutor workshop offered to rehabilitate
a long-unused area of the plant for the program's use. They
were joined by other volunteers, both tutors and students. When
they had finished, the new literacy program had two classrooms,
eight tutoring cubicles, and a combined library and computer
learning center, all freshly painted and carpeted. An open house
attracted 1,000 employees, and senior management declared the
day Reading Awareness Day.
Program
format
Instructional
materials used in AlliedSignal's program include the Laubach
Way to Reading series and the Challenger Adult Reading Series.
Volunteers are trained in a 12-hour workshop developed by Laubach
Literacy Action. Employees attend the workshop on company time.
Tutor
trainers from Laubach Literacy of Kansas City are still under
contract. However, several AlliedSignal employees who have assisted
with the training workshops are developing their own expertise
and meeting the requirements to become certified tutor trainers.
Once the program develops enough volunteer trainers of its own,
funds will no longer need to be spent for outside trainers.
Employee-tutors
come from 37 different departments throughout the plant. About
half the tutors are salaried and half are hourly employees.
Tutors include engineers, secretaries, supervisors, and laborers.
Although
tutors use a core series of students at the lower levels, they
also devise their own instructional activities, like writing
personal checks or reading workplace signs. They have developed
other company-related materials as well. For example, each manufacturing
operation at the plant is described in a separate set of written
instructions called a traveller. A tutor-developed traveller
on how to make a hot dog familiarizes students with the basic
format of one of the company's most common job-related documents.
Monthly meeting provide tutors with an opportunity to discuss
issues raised by the tutoring process and share success stories.
A periodic written update keeps tutors informed of meetings,
new developments within the program., and the availability of
new instructional materials. Staff members assigned to the volunteer
program are also available to consult individually with tutors.
Tutors
and students are paired according to their work shifts. If matches
are not successful, learners are free to request another tutor.
Because the plant is so large, it is not difficult to match
learners and tutors who do not know each other if learners prefer
this approach.
Steps
have been taken to keep the identity of literacy students confidential.
The training coordinator assigns each learner a number, and
all files and progress records are kept by number. Learners
and tutors carry their tutoring materials in identical folders.
If the learner does not wish to work in the learning center,
the tutoring pair is free to find an alternative site. Because
the plant's employees are involved in many different kinds of
training programs, regular absences from the workstation do
not identify employees as basic literacy students. Thus only
the program coordinator and the tutor need be aware of an employee's
participation in the program.
After
the basic reading and writing program was launched, a math program
was developed using the Breakthrough to Math series (New Readers
Press). The math program, which enrolls several hundred learners,
provides instruction ranging from basic addition and subtraction
to algebra and geometry. Volunteer math tutors, many of whom
are drawn from the plant's engineering staff, work with four
to seven learners in small-group sessions.
The
company is also adding a GED component, which will reach a new
employee audience and also provide more advanced instruction
for employees who finish the basic literacy program. Plans call
for hiring experienced GED staff to offer three-hour classes
four days a week. GED classes are scheduled to overlap both
the first and second shifts by and hour-and-a-half. GED students
will attend six of the twelve class hours on company time and
six on their own time.
Cost
and Benefits
The
start-up costs of the volunteer literacy program included $7,200
for instructional materials for 100 basic literacy tutors and
learners. The services of the literacy trainers, who spend four
days preparing and presenting each tutor workshop, are compensated
at a rate comparable to that received by professional trainers
working in industry.
The
company's biggest investment in the program is in the paid time
employees devote to tutoring and learning. (Program participants
are expected to perform their regular jobs without collecting
overtime pay, however.)
In
the company's view, the program's benefits are well worth its
costs. Supervisors note that learners have more positive attitudes
towards their work. Learners refer to their ability to use their
new skills both on the job and in their personal lives.
Employee-tutors
welcome the satisfaction that comes from helping others. Senior
managers are pleased by the new organization, leadership, listening,
communication, and time management skills that tutors develop.
The program has the effect of dissolving the boundary between
hourly and salaried employees, and has also generated a new
sense of employee pride in the company.
Losses
from manufacturing products that do not meet specifications
are also declining. Although this cannot be directly traced
to the literacy effort, program leaders believe there is a correlation.
The
media in the Kansa City area have given the program and AlliedSignal
favorable publicity for offering literacy services, and other
area employers view the program with respect.
Outreach
The
staff at AlliedSignal has presented the program at several national
trade conferences and responds to frequent inquiries about the
program from other corporations. A second Allied division has
implemented its own employee volunteer tutoring program. Laubach
Literacy of Kansas City trainers have also met with other local
corporations to describe how to organize a workplace literacy
program.
Date
of Interview: 1996
More
than six years have passed since the inception of AlliedSignal's
workplace literacy program. Peg Otten, an LLA-certified trainer
employed by Allied, is the program's current coordinator. Mrs.
Otten reports that although the company has been downsized by
nearly 3,000 employees, the program has grown and remained effective.
Management support and employee participation are high.
To
date, the program has served more than 125 reading students
and 1,000 math students. These workers' new skills have benefited
them both on the job and in other areas of their lives. At present,
the program includes 13 volunteer trainers (and apprentice trainers)
and 50 volunteer tutors, all Allied employees. Trainers from
Laubach Literacy of Kansas are no longer needed because the
company has developed its own training capacity. The program
is serving about 30 students at any given time.
Mrs.
Otten has some helpful suggestions for council wanting to begin
a workplace literacy program:
Stay
low-cost. Don't order a wealth of materials in a burst of initial
enthusiasm. First find out what your learners actually need.
And don't feel that effective literacy work requires an elaborate
setting or expensive equipment. One or two small cubicles big
enough for two people is all you need. If you stay low-cost,
your program is more likely to be around next year.
Don't
train more tutors than you need at any given time. Let actual
student demand drive the number of tutors you train. Otherwise,
trained tutors may languish for months without a student-and
lose interest in the process.
Strive
for effective training. Some hallmarks of effective workplace
training are: respect for employees' time limits, high degree
of organization, use of current statistics, minimal socialization,
and highly skilled (and well-practiced) trainers with diverse
perspectives of the organization in which they work.
Don't
feel you need to stick with one core curriculum. Not all learners
will benefit from the same curriculum. Let the learner's skill
levels and needs be your guide when you are choosing a curriculum
for that learner. Be diverse enough in the training of tutors
to include "hands-on" involvement with several different
types of materials.
Use
appropriate materials. Beyond the basic level, use materials
that are topical, well organized and adult. Students who are
above the fourth or fifth reading level are often drawn to materials
that are fact oriented rather than story or "people"
oriented.
Let
the policy makers of the program be the control for the program.
A healthy program listens to and makes decisions based on: the
needs of the students, the needs of management, the views of
trainers and tutors, and (if applicable) the needs of the union.
A governing board make up of people from all areas of the company
who are related to the program (especially students) is in the
best position to work effectively to overcome obstacles the
program might meet.
Go
to conferences. Ongoing networking and learning by those involved
in a workplace literacy program are essential.
If
you would like to be in touch with Mrs. Otten to discuss workplace
literacy issues, she would welcome your call at (816) 997-2618.
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