ELL ELL Workforce

Reading Improvement Can Increase Employee Involvement in the Life of the Company

Employees who don’t read well or speak English as well as they would like, often lack the self-confidence to fully participate in the activities of their workplace. Read Right Reading program can give English Language Learners in the workplace the help with reading they need to be productive employees.

If an employee needs help with reading or learning English, they may be concerned about their job security or the potential for ridicule from co-workers. Even though these employees have good ideas and are industrious and loyal workers, their lack of confidence and low self-esteem are disempowering. Helping them eliminate their reading and English communication problems gives a powerful boost to their self-esteem and self-confidence with a consequent dramatic increase in participation in improvement teams. Eliminating reading problems and improving English language skills also helps employees do their job assignments better. They can correctly read customer orders, safety instructions, procedural changes, and policy updates, and they begin to speak up and ask questions when they don’t understand.

Letter to an ESL student in response to the student’s letter to the manager thanking him for bringing in the Read Right program:

“I have seen the difference in you. When you first started working in the Lab, you were indeed very quiet. Since that time, you have begun participating in meetings and at other gatherings. You volunteered to take on the role of BBS Champion for our team, giving presentations at our department meetings and actively participating in the BBS meetings. The Read Right program was brought in just for this reason, to help people improve their skills and gain self-confidence.”

— Production Manager, Hewlett Packard (from a letter to one of his direct reports)

Control Group Study Conducted by Procter & Gamble, Guangzho, China

Measurement Instrument: Test of International English Communication (TOEIC)

Comparison Group #1: Full-time intensive language study in small groups using company-sponsored conventional English classes

Conclusion: Read Right students, who attended class 4 times per week for one hour, improved proficiency 2.65 times faster

Comparison Group #2: Part-time one-on-one language study using company-sponsored conventional English class

Conclusion: Read Right students, who attended class 4 times per week, improved proficiency 3 times faster