Having staff that possess good literacy and numeracy skills is a crucial success factor for most businesses. These pages will help you find out more about skills issues in the workplace and offer a number of sources of advice, guidance and support. 

 - For advice on addressing literacy and numeracy issues in the workplace, to find out about Government support for training, or to arrange a visit from a skills broker, call 08000 15 55 45 or visit www.traintogain.gov.uk.

 - The Skills Pledge, launched on 14 June 2007 by the Education and Skills Secretary Alan Johnson, encourages businesses to sign up to a public pledge to train their staff, ensuring they have the skills needed to compete in the global workplace. 

 - The Leitch Report, published in November 2006, sets out the ambitious goals for 2020 which, if achieved, would make the UK a world leader in skills. The report discusses the key role business and employers can play in skills development and how the Government can work with business to improve skills. For more information, please click here.

 - Links to business-focused organisations who can help you develop the skills and productivity of your workforce are available here.

Skills for Life and the workplace

 - In England 5.2m adults have literacy levels below the levels required to achieve a GCSE grade D-G, while 6.8m adults are estimated to have difficulties in adding/subtracting using 3 digit numbers (numeracy skills below Entry Level 3). A total of 15m adults have skills at the same low level and have difficulties with fractions, decimals and simple percentages

 - We estimate that at least half of those with poor basic skills are in employment and yet evidence shows that basic literacy and numeracy skills are critically important to performance at work. In line with vocational and higher level skills issues, employers have a key role to play in establishing opportunities through which employees can improve their literacy and numeracy skills.

What’s the impact in the workplace for poor Skills for Life?

 - Poor literacy, language and numeracy skills in the workplace can show themselves in a variety of ways, with employees:

• Struggling with spelling when completing forms or reports
• Understanding and compliance with Health and Safety notices
• Having difficulties with 3 digit numbers and percentages
• Have lower confidence and motivation and be more prone to errors and sickness absence.

 - There is a cost to both employers and employees. 

• On average, employees with poor skills can expect to earn 11% less than average.
• There is a cost to employers through high staff turnover and poor performance with an overall cost to the economy up to £10bn a year.

 - Evidence suggests that poor literacy and numeracy skills:

• Result in a cost to industry of around £4.8bn per year
• Firms of 51 to 100 employees could lose £86,000 per year
• Firms of 1,000 or more employees could lose £500,000 per year

What’s the benefit of tackling poor Skills for Life in the workplace?

Better literacy and numeracy will

• Equip employees with the skills the organisation needs them to have
• Contribute to the workforce feeling more valued and recognised
• Enable employees to have the confidence to take more responsibility for their work
• Help to create an environment for better team working
• Give employers greater confidence so they are better able to handle changes to working practices

A lack of literacy, language and numeracy skills can often trap people into low-skilled, poorly-paid jobs. 45% of those with literacy Level 1 or below in work earn less than £10,000 a year, this compares to only 25% with literacy skills at Level 1 or above.

Employees need to master the basics to achieve their full workplace potential.

• Improving literacy, numeracy and language skills can be the first step (and part of every step) on an individual employees  personal ‘skills escalator’, encouraging take-up of further learning, achievement and development and contributing more to employers

Government Policy Commitment

The Government Public Service Agreement target is to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of 2.25 million adults by 2010. 

So far, 1,619,000 people have improved their skills and gained a first Skills for Life qualification. Over 4.7 million adults have taken up 10.5 million basic skills courses and the Government is on target to meet its commitment to improve the skills of 2.25m people by 2010. Further reports on progress will be made at regular intervals.

Taking action to increase the number of people with improved literacy and numeracy skills is at the heart of activity to deliver the Skills strategy and is becoming embedded in the work of the new bodies set up by the strategy to improve skills nationally including Sector Skills Councils and Regional Skills Partnerships.

Background

While the Government has put in place other strategies to ensure that those leaving school will have much better literacy and numeracy skills, employers have a role to play in improving the basic skills of those who are already in the workplace. 

Work to improve basic skills in the workplace has focused on a number of key areas:

 - Stimulating demand – by working at each level with Sector Skills Councils, directly with employers, with advisory and information services and with Trade Unions.

 - Ensuring capacity and planning for delivery – working with the Learning and Skills Council and  with the Association  of Learning Providers to open access to funding for private and work-based learning providers to deliver skills for life.

 - Developing the support infrastructure so that intermediaries can play their role in supporting employers to understand the need for Skills for Life learning opportunities and how they can access provision.

 - Developing awareness and understanding of the National qualification certificates so that learners are keen to seek them as recognition of their skills and employers have confidence in them as a firm indicator of skills levels achieved.

Workplace Promotion

The Skills for Life Strategy Unit (SfLSU) is working with a range of key partners to take action to address poor workplace basic skills and drive forward the workplace basic skills agenda:

• Asset Skills have been commissioned by the Sector Skills Development Agency to lead on Skills for Life across the Skills for Business Network
• NHSU (NHSU is developing its own Skills for Life and Health Strategy)
• Employers Organisation for Local Government (Supporting Skills for Life events for Local Authorities and leading on developing a SfL Strategy)
• Unionlearn (and Trade Union Learning Reps) – (70% of supported projects include a basic skills element and developing the role of Skills for Life Union Advocates)
• Business in the Community (Planned network of 40 Skills for Life Employer Champions, a Skills for Life Business Award and engagement of large high-profile employers through work with KPMG’s consultancy service)
• IiP UK (developing a SfL Guide for employers making the link between Skills for Life and IiP to be offered through the network of IiP Advisers and Assessor who will receive mandatory training)
• Learning and Skills Council (Funding for Workplace Basic Skills Advisers is via the LSC and workplace provider pilots) 
• Small Business Service (BLU – the corporate University of the SBS) and Business Link Network – (supporting Skills for Life Events and sharing good practice) -

Frequently Asked Questions

Q If an employer wants advice on poor literacy and numeracy in the workplace – who should they approach and how much does it cost?

A – Advice is available to employers by contacting Train to Gain, a new service designed to help businesses get the training they need to succeed. Employers should phone 08000 15 55 45 for advice on addressing literacy and numeracy issues in the workplace, to find out about Government support for training, or to arrange a visit from a skills broker.

Q – If an employer identifies they have some employees who need to improve their basic skills, how much is the training likely to cost?

A – Delivery of the training to learners will be free if it’s organised through a provider funded by the local LSC for delivery of literacy and numeracy learning. There is usually a cost to the employer in terms of supporting an employee attending a course during work time in terms of covering for that member of staff. However, some employers may be able to get some help with this - contact Train to Gain for more details. if they are based in one of the Employer Training Pilot areas. Alternatively, there are examples of some creative agreements between learners and employers which enable learning to take place partly in the employee’s own time and partly during work hours.