Language skills

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• Read and follow instructions
• Complete record sheets
• Pass messages onto others accurately
• Talk to customers and colleagues clearly
• Respond to queries and answer questions
• Fill in forms and other company documents

• Learning English as a second or additional language 
• Developing the adult literacy skills required to perform effectively
• Expanding reading, writing and speaking skills to take on new job roles

Adult literacy needs of cleaning operatives

We know that within the adult population as a whole there are some seven million people with varying kinds of literacy needs. Asset Skills has conducted its own research that indicates more than half the operatives in the cleaning industry have some form of adult literacy need.

That's not to say they all have major difficulties. Of the seven million, some have major difficulties in reading and understanding simple texts and others need to brush up on certain skills and may be operating at the equivalent of GCSE grade A-C level for most of the time.

Similarly, a new entrant worker may have a sound knowledge of their language in their mother tongue but need to be taught English in a fairly intense way in order to function at work. Developing their English skills requires a different approach to assisting a native English speaker who has not grasped the basics of reading and writing.

All of this argues for a diversity of approaches to developing language skills in the cleaning workforce and Asset Skills has developed an Employer Officer which includes:

• Conducting and organisational needs analysis of literacy needs in the workplace
• Promotion of the business case for literacy programmes in the workplace
• Assisting in the initial assessment of individuals to identify their literacy needs
• Brokering access to funding to buy in flexible literacy support in the workplace

Asset Skills takes the lead

Asset Skills has been asked by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to take the lead on identifying the "functional literacy" needs that employers expect in the workplace. This will also help influence how new vocationally-related diplomas will be delivered in schools to young people between the ages of 14-19.

One thing is for certain: as long as the cleaning industry is seen as and remains an entry point industry for those with limited academic achievements (for whatever reason) then language skill development will remain a key skills need which all in the industry have responsibility for addressing.

The Adult Literacy, Language and Numeracy project (ALLaN) is run by Asset Skills to promote key skills learning in the workplace. For more, email allan@assetskills.org