30 August 2013
Award-winning companies highlight the thinking behind a step change in productivity
Everyone running an organisation in New Zealand faces the same challenge: how to get more output from the same (or less)
resources. It’s our national productivity problem. Until we can crack it, we’ll be stuck with moderate performance
levels across the breadth of our workforce and limited in our ability to generate higher returns.
But now there’s a body of evidence from the Equal Employment Opportunities Trust Diversity Awards that shows Kiwi
companies tackling the root causes of low productivity. For four years running, one learning provider has supported
Companies in the Finalists or Highly Commended section – and on 29 August 2013, it was behind this year’s winning entry
in the Skills Highway category.
The Learning Wave was proud to share in the accolades collected by the Skills Highway Award winner, the Pacific Homecare
Trust. With 92% of its employees having English as a second language, the Trust provides home-based healthcare services
primarily to elderly and disabled clients throughout South Auckland. Since early 2011 the Trust has worked with The
Learning Wave to lift the capability of its staff and improve their ability to do their jobs effectively which leads to
a lift in workplace productivity. .
One of Pacific Homecare’s key business drivers is for 75% of its workforce to have a minimum Level 2 qualification by
September 2013. It’s on track to have 100 Support Workers certified in Health, Disability and Aged Support (Foundation
Skills) Level 2 by this deadline. During 2012, 55 workers completed The Learning Wave programme and 26 of these then
completed their Level 2 qualification. The remaining 29 learners are currently midway through the qualification. These
learners would not have been able to attempt or achieve Level 2 qualifications without the foundation learning from the
literacy and numeracy programme.
A Pacific Homecare manager says, “We saw significant improvements in the pre and post literacy and numeracy results
across the progressions and have achieved an 86% progression from the literacy programme to enrolment in a Level 2 or
higher qualification. Qualifying our staff through this National Certificate means we are developing a more professional
workforce to lead the way in our industry.”
This multi-layered approach to organisational change – by embedding a literacy and numeracy within industry-relevant
training – is a feature of all four Learning Wave success stories within the EEO Trust Work & Life Awards over the last four years.
Four different companies, four outstanding successes
The Learning Wave first featured in the EEO Trust Work & Life Awards in 2009, when its client Downer won the Skills Highway Award for their Way2Work learning programme. Downer
achieved groundbreaking results lifting the literacy and numeracy skills of over 1,000 employees, 71% of who had no
educational qualifications. The need for today’s workers to control sophisticated machinery and manage serious risks on
site made this an achievement that directly translated to productivity on site.
In 2011, it was the turn of another Learning Wave client. Highly Commended in the Skills Highway category, Stevenson
Group won acclaim for its Stepping Up Together programme, which embedded literacy and numeracy skills in a series of
learning modules aimed at lifting productivity by addressing the communication and problem solving skills needed at the
frontline.
South Island Gold mining company Oceana Gold also won recognition as a 2012 finalist in the Skills Highway category. The
company’s operator and supervisor skill development initiatives were designed and delivered by The Learning Wave. The
Core skills programme and the First line Management level 3 programme were embedded with rich Literacy skill development
and gave improvements across a broad range of fields including communication, health and safety reporting, IT skills and
succession planning and a range productivity improvement projects.
These three companies are operating in the earthmoving and heavy machinery sector of the New Zealand economy. However,
this year’s success with Pacific Homecare proves that workplace literacy is not just an issue for burly blokes in hard
hats. Pacific Homecare mostly female and Pasifika workforce operates in the homes of its South Auckland clients,
providing healthcare and practical support. Low levels of literacy and poor foundation skills, can be just as damaging
to productivity and safe work practice here
So what are some of the performance-enhancing insights that have emerged over the last four years?
1. Technical training is not enough
Downer, Stevenson, Oceana Gold and Pacific Homecare might have looked at issues such as low compliance with on-the-job
instruction and decided to equip employees with training in the particular systems the company used. However, this would
not have addressed the root cause of poor compliance, which was low levels of literacy compounded by poor communication
skills. To lift productivity on a broad front, an organisation needs to engage learners where they really need help.
2. Teach practical literacy, not just how to pass the test
A common trap in literacy programmes is buying an off-the-shelf package. The problem is that this is disconnected from
the priorities of the learners and the mission of the organisation. A smart tutor can get staff to jump through the
hoops of a standardised test, but real learning only takes place when the learners fully engage with the learning For
this, they need customised materials that relate to their role at work, make the learning accessible to all levels and
learning styles and for the learners to know where they can apply these new skills
With this in mind, each of the four award-winning companies embedded literacy and numeracy exercises within specially
created modules about leadership, safety at work, understanding paperwork and other relevant topics. In each case the
learning was aligned to the organisation’s goals and relevant to the individual’s job. This approach not only avoids the
stigma of ‘remedial reading’ but has also led to measurable gains in literacy across reading, writing and numeracy and
has given learners the skills and confidence to apply their learning back on the job.
3. Reading, writing, and number are only the beginning
Below-par productivity is typically not a single failing. It’s a cluster of problems that can include absenteeism, high
staff turnover, poor record-keeping, risky health and safety behaviours, inability to learn new systems, and much more.
It can be a lack of willingness to suggest good ideas as well as a failure to follow correct protocols.
All these symptoms have their roots in low educational attainment. When otherwise capable workers lack confidence in
reading and writing, they may think of themselves as under-qualified. The result is a lack of engagement with
operational requirements and an inability to progress.
Address the root cause, however, and the story is reversed. Employees who feel supported to gain new skills are then
empowered to step up. In the case of Oceana Gold, one worker in the programme produced a plan for a new road to shorten
the route that trucks took every day from the mine. The productivity gains from this project alone amounted to millions
of dollars.
4. It takes a village (or a company)
Pacific Homecare, Stevenson, Oceana Gold and Downer all made learning a company-wide priority. Their workforce learning
initiatives were aligned with organisational strategies and had driven by the companies’ executive teams.
For this sort of initiative to be sustainable long term it needs to be owned by the senior team, and linked to key
productivity drivers such as a decrease in the cost of rework or an increase in HS reporting.
When employees and executives at all levels receive the right tools, and understand their development is a priority,
transformational change becomes a reality. In the case of Pacific Homecare, the literacy skills programme has lifted the
capability of a group of largely unqualified workers and set them on the path to becoming skilled caregivers.
If this approach can work for caregivers in South Auckland – or goldmine operators in Otago – it can work for any
company looking to take productivity to the next level.
ends