Why Should Business Care About Workplace Literacy?
“Employers gain higher profits and a host of other
bottom-line benefits from improving employees’ literacy and basic
skills. More skillful employees save employers time and money, and improve
performance and productivity. Other benefits include:
- Reduced error
rates
- A better health
and safety record
- Reduced waste
in production of goods and services
- Increased customer
and employee retention
“These benefits
translate into financial savings, productivity gains and higher profits.
On top of all that, employees with better basic skills tend to learn
more and faster when they take job-specific and technical training.”
-- Conference
Board of Canada, www.workplacebasicskills.com/non_frame/wep/employer_benefits.htm
“With the currently difficult economic and business climate, employers
must seek new ways to remain competitive. This includes having a highly
literate workforce … While there is some attention being paid
by large employers to Workforce Literacy, not enough employers are involved.
Over the longer term and as the economy rebounds, the issue of a literate
workforce will not go away.”
-- Raising
the Bar: Advancing Workforce Literacy in BC, Business
Council of BC, November 2003
“Employers often gain because more skillful employees are more
confident employees. Confidence translates into creativity and initiative
that, in turn, contributes to the overall performance of the organization.”
-- Conference
Board of Canada, www.workplacebasicskills.com/non_frame/wep/employer_benefits.htm
“We all know that … small-sized and medium-sized enterprises
are the major creators of jobs in Canada today. As such their success
is going to be essential to the well-being of Canada’s economy.
If these businesses are to survive and to increase productivity, employers
must ensure that their employees have the necessary basic workplace
skills to learn new technology and the high performance work processes
of modern society.”
--
Gerald Brown, President, Association of Canadian Community
Colleges, April 2003
“Employers who support literacy and basic skills development enjoy
a more conscientious, resourceful, loyal and dependable workforce as
a result. When employers learn that high-quality work is crucial to
the success of the organization and to their own job security, they
often become more conscientious. Once they become fully aware of what
is expected from them and how their efforts fit into the big picture,
and then gain the skills to meet those demands, the quality of their
work generally rises.”
-- Conference
Board of Canada, www.workplacebasicskills.com/non_frame/wep/employer_benefits.htm
“Higher income generated through improved labour force participation
contributes to higher government revenues. Even a small increase in
national productivity through improved literacy will have a relatively
large impact on public revenues. For example, a 2 percent increase in
wages and earnings from improvements in national literacy would provide
approximately a 1.8 percent increase in revenue in a country that is
dependent primarily on value-added tax.”
-- The
Economic Benefits of Improving Literacy in the Workplace,
Conference Board of Canada, 1997
“Some people believe employers are not aware of the need because
employers are under the impression they only hire people with literacy
skills so there should be no need to upgrade. Employers are aware of
the issue but are not committed enough because they do not realize it
impacts their bottom line.”
-- Raising
the Bar: Advancing Workforce Literacy in BC, Business
Council of BC, November 2003
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