1. EMPLOYERS’ GUIDE to the Learning Progressions
Read with understanding

2. To support your understanding of the Literacy and Numeracy demands in your workplace and how they relate to the ability and efficiency of your employees to…
get the job done!

3. Introduction: Read with understanding
This set of guides will support you to see what your employees are able to cope with in terms of their ability to:
Read with understanding
Write to communicate
Listen with understanding
Speak to communicate
Make sense of numbers
In relation to the demands in the workplace, for example:
Documentation, e.g., Payslips
Forms, e.g., Hazard Reporting
Tasks, e.g., SOPs

4. How to use the guides
Each guide is ‘subject’ based and gives an example of a workplace task/document.
The guides show you what your employees will currently be able to cope with, at each level of the Learning Progressons, and explain why.
You can work through each level or go straight to the slide that relates to the literacy and numeracy levels of your employees (results from the Assessment Tool).
Please refer to the Skills Highway website for FAQs.

5. Skill levels of your staff
Your employees will do an initial assessment.
Their levels appear in a report like this example.
The results show their skills range from Step 1 (the lowest) to Step 6 (the highest).

6. READING WITH UNDERSTANDING GUIDE
The following slides detail and explain to you what someone can cope with, from Step 1 right through to Step 6, when it comes to:
using common workplace documents
READING WITH UNDERSTANDING

7. Understand a workplace poster.
STEP 1
Understand a workplace poster.
WHAT
EXAMPLE
Identify familiar words
Locate words in familiar everyday texts
The employee is able to:
follow short simple text supported by pictures.

8. Understand a calendar with NZ statutory holidays
STEP 2
Understand a calendar with NZ statutory holidays
WHAT
EXAMPLES
Interpret information from a familiar text
Associate words with dates
The employee is:
familiar with calendar layout
recognises days of the week; months of the year; public holidays.

9. Understand a work order follow-up sheet
STEP 3
Understand a work order follow-up sheet
WHAT
EXAMPLE
Understand everyday and less common words.
Locate specific information in documents
Identify sources for information or select the information to complete the form
Evaluate information across documents
The employee is able to:
take information from various sources to complete a form.

10. Understand a job specification
STEP 4
Understand a job specification
WHAT
EXAMPLE
Understand specialised words and longer and more complex documents
Draw pieces of information together
Make connections between pieces of information
The employee knows the meaning of words such as:
legislation
installation
efficiently
compliance
standards.

11. Understand a Company Rules and Disciplinary Process
STEP 5
Understand a Company Rules and Disciplinary Process
WHAT
EXAMPLES
Locate and summarise important information in longer, unfamiliar documents
Understand specialised words
The employee is able to read and understand:
multi-page documents
specialised words, e.g.,
misconduct
prescribed
consumption
‘…deemed necessary…’.

12. Understand a Job Description for a General Labourer
STEP 6
Understand a Job Description for a General Labourer
WHAT
EXAMPLES
Understand all specialised words and terms
Think critically
Understand how this document works compared to others
The employee is able to:
understand the meaning of, e.g., compromising quality, within budget, compliance.
recognise whether they have the required skills and knowledge to apply for the job.

13. Education Unlimited in developing this resource.
The Skills Highway team and the Industry Training Federation gratefully acknowledge the work of
Education Unlimited in developing this resource.