I want to improve my business
Why should literacy be important to me?
Organisations which embrace an initiative to support staff who have literacy difficulties and understand how literacy difficulties can impact on their customers or clients will benefit from:
- improved service to clients;
- improved loyalty, performance and productivity of staff; and
- an enhanced image of your business.
A British survey* estimated that lack of basic skills cost the UK economy more than £4.8 billion a year. The survey suggested that, on average, employees with poor basic skills cost a company with over 50 employees £165,000 every year in lost revenue.
*(The Cost to Industry: Basic Skills and the UK Workforce, The Basic Skills Unit, 1993.)
What can I do?
A whole organisation approach to literacy is one in which organisations identify any unnecessary literacy-related barriers for employees, customers and other stakeholders and develop and implement appropriate policies and practices to overcome these.
The underlying principle is that by addressing any barriers to adults with literacy difficulties in recruitment and training, customer services, communications and so on, organisations will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their work. They will improve their relations with their existing customers, improve their reputation and enable staff to use their skills to their best abilities.
We offer the following services to develop whole-organisation approaches to literacy.
- Plain English editing and training
- Literacy awareness training
- Support on integrating literacy into policies and practices
- Information and referral on workplace basic education
Please click on the relevant area in the menu bar on the left for more information.
