WORKPLACE LITERACY
Businesses and workplaces all around the country are experiencing ongoing literacy issues with their employees. the skills and expertise required in the workforce today are very different than they were 20 years ago. Common concerns in todays workplaces are poor levels of communication, loss of productivity, accidents and poor customer service. These can be symptoms of low workplace literacy. Staff may not have the literacy and numeracy skills they need to operate effectively and efficiently in the workplace, especially if there is new technology.
Workbase, the national centre for workplace literacy and language, considers literacy a tool toward communicating effectively and "improving the communicative culture and skills of workplaces." (Moore, 2000b) It defines literacy as:
The complex web of skills we call literacy is central to effective communication. The threads of this web are not just reading and writing, but speaking, listening, creative thinking, problem solving and numeracy. (Workbase, 2000:1)
Central Otago REAP is committed to working with businesses, employers, ITO's, community organisations and individuals to provide a literacy service that effectively addresses these goals.