Recent research ( *AD, 11 june 2019) ) shows that in certain sectors, including production and agriculture, about 40% of the employees have difficulties with reading and writing. As a result, they make more mistakes, work more slowly and are less productive.

Changing activities
All quality systems require it, trained employees who are familiar with the company rules and also have to record what they have done. But how do you ensure that your employees understand and execute the instructions and initial them in the right place? A lot of work is being digitized and more and more reporting is required, making basic skills such as reading and writing increasingly important. In view of the aforementioned research, it is good to take stock in your organization of the extent to which you need to respond to this.

Training methods
It turns out that it is not always enough to have the employee read and sign a work instruction to make sure that they understand it. Sometimes it helps to offer instructions in another language so that things become clearer. In any case, it is good to use visual aids, such as films and/or photographs with spoken text, for complex actions. In addition, the occurrence of actions by experienced employees is a good way to learn new skills. The latter can be applied in process environments where employees often have to perform standardized actions.

Fun factor
Adults learn in different ways than young people. This means that the form, content and duration must be adapted to the target group. Of course it is important that the training is in line with the organization's objectives, but it should also be fun to do, this increases the effectiveness of a training. For example, the fun factor can be promoted by making the training fit in well with the work environment by using company-specific examples or by introducing competitions and games. Group learning also promotes effectiveness.

How to test?
The quality systems ask for an assessment of whether a training has been effective. The most popular and simple way is to take a written test with questions after the training. But is this useful and effective when employees have difficulty reading and writing? Other ways are for example documented observations during internal audits, or digital drag and drop assignments in an e-learning. In addition, KPI's are of course as % waste, % complaints or production efficiency indicators for effectiveness.

Would you like to know more or would you like to have a tailor-made training solution?
Please contact Eurofins Food Safety Solutions for the possibilities. For an impression, see www.eurofinsfoodtesting.nl/academy