It's been a great benefit to the business in improving productivity and performance, and crucially has also increased the confidence of the employees.
Steve Barthaud, Cory Environmental
The company sent 12 of its workers from its Southend contract on a series of skills development workshops run by the Waste Management Industry Training and Advisory Board, WAMITAB.
The literacy course aimed to improve skills in areas that would directly benefit the employees, such as the writing skills needed to fill in report sheets. The staff attended sessions on one afternoon each week from May until August, and have all successfully completed the programme.
Following the its success, funding body Energy and Utility Skills is now planning to roll out the programme across the waste management sector.
“Great benefit”
Steve Barthaud, Cory's contract manager in Southend, commented: “This course has made a real difference as the guys who struggled before with basic reading and writing have learnt so much in a short space of time that they are now able to complete their own paperwork, rather than asking their partners to do it for them.
“It's been a great benefit to the business in improving productivity and performance, and crucially has also increased the confidence of the employees who took part,” Mr Barthaud added.
Southend-on-Sea council praised Cory for tackling the literacy problem among its workers. Cllr Ian Robertson, portfolio holder for public protection and waste said: “One in five adults in the UK experience difficulties with reading, writing and basic maths and I am delighted that Cory Environmental, one of Southend's major employers, is tackling this problem head on.”
Cory's learning and development adviser, Fiona Cummins, added that the company would now be offering the programme to the rest of its sites within its Environmental Municipal Services division.
Subscribe for free