Easiyo Employees Complete Literacy & Numeracy Qualification

Easiyo Employees Complete Literacy & Numeracy Qualification

More than 20 staff at yogurt maker EasiYo factory have graduated from a literacy and numeracy programme - the first course of its kind to be offered to staff at the North Shore-based factory.

The course, provided by training provider, Skills4Work, was taught to many employees who have never learnt basic English or numeracy because they are either immigrants from a country where English is not their first language or they simply did not have the opportunity to learn it at school.

EasiYo chief executive Paul O’Brien, who took over the reins from the company last year, says he felt it was imperative staff at EasiYo had basic competency skill levels in English literacy and numeracy.

“We quickly identified that many of our staff needed to learn basic English literacy and now feel that the course has helped improve workplace confidence, wellbeing and safety levels on the factory floor.

“We are delighted with the result as many staff are now keen to progress to other courses including OSH, food safety, product quality, management and competitive manufacturing courses on offer. This is an outstanding result for us and our staff.”

The Workplace Literacy programme, provided by local company Skills4Work, includes core functions including speaking, reading, listening, writing and numeracy in English.

Skills4Work Literacy and Numeracy programme manager Desirée Gelbart says addressing workplace literacy helps businesses develop a more competent workforce, improve productivity and give a competitive edge over companies operating in a similar environment.

Gelbart says our experience shows that: “Workplaces who take part in literacy and numeracy programmes can expect improved staff retention, improved attendance rates and higher standards of customer service,” she says. “It also helps equip staff to participate fully in workplace communication and cope with rapidly changing workplace demands.”

EasiYo employee Sione Tavake Leaaepei, aged 34, came to New Zealand from Tonga in 2003 and says while he learnt a little bit of English he missed out on a lot of reading and writing education. “Most of us on the course learnt a lot from the reading and writing part of the course, and we had a really good teacher so we really enjoyed it.”

Sesilia Fisilau, aged 23 who has always lived in Auckland says a lot of what she learnt in the health and safety part of the course was applicable to her everyday life. “The tutor was awesome and she helped us a lot because we have a lot of staff who don’t understand English but she taught us slowly which was great.”

Staff have been offered the opportunity to progress their workplace education through further funding with Competenz (ITO), who arranged for the workplace literacy course to be included in the EasiYo education pathway curriculum.

As a result EasiYo expects many staff to take the opportunity to progress to further food and related products processing and first line management courses in 2011.

ENDS

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