Single-minded success - Settlement Support

Skills Highway Award
The Department of Labour is sponsoring the Skills
Highway Award for the third year.
The Skills Highway Award is part of the Equal Employment
Opportunities Trust Work and Life Awards. It recognises
and celebrates Kiwi companies who’ve successfully
improved business with workplace literacy training.
In 2009, Longveld Engineering entered the awards,
receiving a highly commended for its high-quality literacy
training. This year’s Skills Highway Award winner will be
announced on August 25.
Find out more by visiting www.eeotrust.org.nz
Indian Machinist Team Leader Sukhdev Singh, 39, says
Longveld’s literacy training has made a huge difference to
his work life.
Mr Singh, whose first language is Punjabi, immigrated to New
Zealand from India in 2009. He says training built up his vocabulary,
improved his confidence and helped him get to grips with
New Zealand’s health and safety requirements.
“I do a lot of reading, writing, maths and communication. I
interpret drawings and measurements, work out angles and
communicate with the rest of my team. Literacy training’s
helped with all of that. It’s even helped me better understand
the Kiwi accent,” he says.
Mr Roa says workplace literacy training has had an enormous
impact on company performance too.
“Before introducing literacy training, we found it difficult to
build more than three milk tankers a week.
www.immigration.govt.nz
More on skills training
Read more about skills training at Longveld Engineering
by visiting the Department of Labour’s Skills Highway
website. It has plenty of free advice, tools, case studies
and tips on workplace literacy training. Check out:
www.skillshighway.govt.nz/ind
Research shows about four in every 10 New Zealand
employees have difficulties with reading, maths and
communication.
Longveld Engineering
Machinist Team Leader
Sukhdev Singh
“In the past year, we’ve built seven per week – an improvement
I attribute to better communication among staff and improved
literacy and numeracy skills.”
Not only do staff communicate more effectively, they have more
fun at work and are more engaged. They work through issues
more calmly, reach outcomes that work and are going on to
complete more training, he says.
“As company owner, I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved.
I really believe in literacy training. It’s part of our company
culture. We take it very seriously.”
“I’d encourage other business leaders to look at it, too. You just
need to get your head around it as a business and make it work.
I believe businesses can’t afford not to do it. They need to see
it as an investment, not a cost. That’s because the payback is
enormous,” says Mr Roa. ■
LINKZ | ISSUE 48 | 2011
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