Literacy Education: Giving Workers a Key Ingredient for Success

Restaurants USA, November 1997

The cost of illiteracy to restaurants has convinced many operators to provide educational opportunities for employees.
By Ira Apfel

Which of the following restaurant employees has struggled with functional illiteracy: A) a bartender who is originally from Mexico, or B) an American-born cook whose native language is English? The correct answer is C — both employees.

If you chose A, your response is understandable. When most people think of illiteracy in the workplace — including the restaurant industry — the image that typically comes to mind is that of an immigrant, brand-new to the United States, who is barely able to speak English, let alone read or write it. And in truth, there are some restaurant-industry workers who face this problem.

But there are many other restaurant employees who simply lack basic literacy skills — even though they were born and raised in the United States. Because this type of illiteracy is often more difficult to spot, restaurant operators frequently fail to recognize the problem. "If you have somebody who’s born and raised in America, you’d never think that they can’t read a menu," says Juanita Stanley, executive director of California Literacy, Inc., in San Gabriel, California. "It doesn’t dawn on people."

The fact of the matter is that the problem of adult illiteracy is very real in America. According to the 1993 National Adult Literacy Survey by the Department of Education, more than one out of five American adults — in excess of 40 million people — are functionally illiterate.

More than half of the people in America aged 16 to 65 have a reading level below the eighth grade, according to Wesley Payne McClendon Jr., director of work-force development, education and training for the National Alliance of Business (NAB) in Washington DC. Half of that group reads below the fourth-grade level; 40 percent of that half are employed in full- or part-time positions and 5 percent of that group are in senior management. Some adult illiterates may even be your co-workers and bosses.

Adult illiteracy is also an American business problem. The National Adult Literacy Survey defines workplace literacy as being competent in three areas: understanding information from text (prose); using information contained in materials, including job applications and payroll forms (document); and applying arithmetic operations, such as balancing a checkbook or completing an order form (quantitative). According to the Department of Labor, illiteracy costs the United States $225 billion a year in lost productivity.

There are some restaurateurs who are doing something about illiteracy in their workplace. Working with the NAB and other adult-literacy-training programs around the nation, these establishments have created in-house programs to teach workers the "three Rs." The cost to operators can be steep. Employees usually receive instruction on site, before, after or even during working hours. But these operators gladly pay, because they know that the cost of employing an illiterate work force — in poor customer service, higher workers’-compensation claims, poor morale and increased turnover — can be even greater.

Reading, writing and restaurants

Because restaurant owners are not in the education business, creating a workplace-literacy program doesn’t come as naturally to them as, say, creating a new menu. But it is worth the effort to create such a program, say those restaurant-industry professionals who have developed a literacy program in order to help employees as well as to stay competitive in today’s marketplace.

In most cases, the initiative needed to create a workplace-literacy program starts at the top of the corporate ladder, when a member of management notices a literacy problem among his or her employees. "Many employers don’t realize they have a basic-skills problem [with their work force] until they try to upgrade their resources or technology," says McClendon.

That was the case for Willie Blackwell of Dobbs International Services, an airline caterer based in Memphis, Tennessee. "I had noticed that some of the employees had difficulty determining the specs of our work orders," says the former in-flight kitchen supervisor. "I was a volunteer with the local literacy program and was a board member. I thought this was something I could do in the corporate world as well as in my church."

Bryan Monfort, a manager for Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills, California, also saw that his employees needed literacy training. "One of my servers had taken a co-worker into the back room, and she was teaching him," he says. "I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we had a program to help out.’ Our philosophy has always been, ‘Whatever we can do to better the worker and help him or her, the better off we are.’"

Sometimes managers and owners try to detect a literacy problem when a person applies for a job. Management at The Boca Raton Resort and Club in Florida designed a screening process for job applicants, to evaluate their literacy level so that they could allocate the appropriate amount of training after they were hired. "We wanted to get to the next level of service for our guests, so we had to maintain a competitive work force," says Claudia Parker, director of human resources for The Boca Raton. "For years, we just ignored the problem in the back of house. But they were important, as far as production, recognition and morale. It was time to recognize their contribution."

Without the support of owners or senior management, these managers knew they could never create a literacy program within their organizations. Fortunately for The Boca Raton, this wasn’t an issue. Michael Glennie, the president of the hotel, was one of the first people to realize that the resort staff could benefit from a workplace-literacy program.

Blackwell, on the other hand, did have to do a little convincing. He began his efforts by sending a proposal for a pilot literacy program to Jim Bowling, the regional vice president of Dobbs. Bowling agreed to support a literacy program and championed the cause at headquarters—ultimately winning approval to open the first Dobbs Caters to Learning program, which Blackwell now coordinates.

To promote and help the Lawry’s program grow, Monfort invites Rotary clubs and other business figures to the company’s graduation program to hear graduates tell their stories. Their eloquence has helped generate funds and publicity for the program. Maria Ramos, director of dining services for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, appealed to the public sector for help funding the university’s Dining Services Literacy Program; all of her program costs are now paid for by the state of Illinois.

Lesson plans must be specific

Classes for the University of Illinois Dining Services Literacy Program are similar to those that were taught in old frontier schoolhouses: All employees learn a generalized curriculum of math, reading and writing, and then they work one-on-one with tutors on individualized curriculum. "We provide them with their reading material and workbooks," says Ramos. "The learning materials usually have to deal with their job, such as using recipes for math."

There are at least 12 employees per class, although Ramos says class enrollment usually runs higher than that. Employees attend two 90-minute classes each week during two 16-week semesters. The Urbana Adult Education program provides teachers and tutors who work with students in one of the university’s computer classrooms. Employees who attend the classes are paid for their time. Ramos estimates that at least 150 workers have attended the program since it was founded in 1981.

At the end of each academic year, the Dining Services Literacy Program holds commencement exercises to mark employees’ progress. "Some employees progress very rapidly and jump one or two grades a year," says Ramos. "Some will only jump a half grade, but we honor everybody."

This literacy-education program has worked well for the University of Illinois Dining Services’ employees, but no two foodservice staffs have identical skill requirements. One operation might require employees to read menus frequently, another might expect workers to understand highly technical documents and guidelines. This means that no two establishments have identical literacy needs to address. Operators must ask themselves what their organizations need as far as educational training, as well as what employees would find most beneficial.

For example, before establishing her program, Ramos decided that her employees needed help with basic reading and — most important — math skills. "We provided them with workbooks and materials that have to deal with the job, such as recipes," says Ramos. "For example, they would learn how to make a recipe smaller."

Workers at The Boca Raton learn to read and write, and are also taught communication skills so that, for example, they know how to call in and tell supervisors they are sick or will be in late. "I wanted the reading level to be at least eighth grade," says Parker.

As a basic literacy guideline, most business forms require an eighth-grade reading level, according to Juanita Stanley. "Most people do know the letters of the alphabet," she says. "Most people can even read the most common 200 words. But past that, one-quarter of the population probably can’t handle any more difficult material."

Educating employees about literacy

One obstacle restaurateurs may face is getting employees to buy into a workplace-literacy program. After all, employees are the ones who have to admit they have a problem, and many of them are reluctant to come forward because they are embarrassed. Stanley knows of one wine steward who hid his lack of reading skills by memorizing the wine list. "People try to hide the fact that they can’t read," she says. "They’ll do anything not to have to reveal to their employer that they can’t read."

Operators and managers must also focus their efforts on encouraging employees to join literacy programs. "Our program participation started slowly, because people are naturally afraid to admit they can’t read very well and in some other jobs they’ve been fired because of it," says Bryan Monfort. "But once we got a few key people involved, others got excited about it."

"If we notice somebody is having trouble at work, we’ll talk to them very positively — that [improved literacy] might help them in their jobs and in their personal lives," says Ramos.

Restaurant-industry professionals who have established literacy programs for their workers agree that making classes as small as possible is critical to winning acceptance from employees. Most operators advocate small-group or one-on-one tutoring, because smaller classes make employees feel more comfortable and improve their ability to learn. "There are general topics that they all work on, then they work by themselves or with a tutor on a specialized curriculum," says Ramos.

Another crucial step is to hold the programs on site and during working hours — if possible. "Do not expect them to come after work," says Claudia Parker. "They have second jobs, children to take care of, etc."

Offering emotional and financial incentives also motivates employees. Dobbs and the University of Illinois hold graduation classes at the end of each school year to celebrate the accomplishments of all workers, no matter what grade level they have reached. Dobbs also pays special attention to Graduate Equivalent Diploma (GED) recipients by awarding them $500 grants toward attending college.

There are plenty of adult-literacy programs — on a national and community level — to help operators establish programs. In fact, the first step The Boca Raton took was to hire Parker, who was a specialist in adult education for the Palm Beach County School Board. Blackwell sought out the Georgia Literacy Coalition in Atlanta, while Maria Ramos received help from the state of Illinois and the Urbana Adult Education program. "The resources are available in the community; businesses should use this to their advantage," says Parker.

Grading literacy programs

The benefits of creating literacy-education programs may be hard to quantify. But restaurant-industry professionals who have established such programs report heightened morale, better teamwork and improved overall performance as three positive effects of their literacy programs. "It’s probably lowered my workers’-compensation problems, because I have a safer environment," says Monfort. "Everyone understands the memos more clearly and they ask more questions." Blackwell adds, "People feel good about coming to work and about themselves."

Ricardo Diaz, a bartender at Lawry’s, and Addie Abernathy, a cook at the University of Illinois, are two workers who have benefited from in-house workplace-literacy programs. Understanding English was not the problem for Diaz, who has worked for Lawry’s for 15 years and has lived in the United States for more than 20 years. He simply needed to improve on what he already knew. "Today, I have better communication with the customers, so I’m not intimidated," he says. "I’ll be able to answer more customer questions than before. Sometimes they’ll want to know more about Lawry’s history, and I’ll be able to answer them." Diaz has also become a tutor in Lawry’s program.

Abernathy, a cook with the University of Illinois for 17 years, has progressed from a fifth-grade to a ninth-grade reading level with help from the university’s literacy program. "It really helps," she says of her workplace education. "Now, I’m able to read recipes with no problem. I want to continue until I get my GED."

A learning experience

Whether they are held in small classes or offered one-on-one, created by a national organization or a local grassroots project, held during work or after hours, one thing is certain: Workplace-literacy programs benefit both the employer and the employee. The restaurateur gets a better work force, but the worker gets something much more precious: an education. "Our work environment says, ‘This is not just a place to punch your timecard,’" says Monfort. "It can also be a learning experience."

Source: http://www.restaurant.org/rusa/magArticle.cfm?ArticleID=460