Breaching the Barriers to Workplace Literacy

Literacy is a key factor in ensuring corporate competitiveness and personal success. This report explores the question: What are the principal barriers to increasing workplace literacy and learning in Canada’s workplaces and how can we overcome them?

Document Highlights:

This report is the first phase in a research project being undertaken with financial support from the National Literacy Secretariat, Human Resources Development Canada.

This project has six broad objectives:

1. demonstrate how literacy strategies are currently being supported and used in workplaces;
2. determine employers’ objectives, motives and level of commitment to programs and activities;
3. compare and contrast management perspectives and approaches;
4. determine employees’ objectives, motives and level of commitment to programs and activities;
5. identify the barriers and solutions to broadening employer and employee use of literacy strategies and replicating effective programs on a pan-Canadian scale; and
6. develop a self-diagnostic process and implementation checklist that will help employers, managers, employees and union representatives take action to use learning strategies in their workplace.