Return-Path: <nifl-workplace@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id e7CEdpP22926; Sat, 12 Aug 2000 10:39:51 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2000 10:39:51 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <2B972331928CD311A76300A0C9D335B736F71F@exchmail.crec.org> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-workplace@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-workplace@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-workplace@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Ajit Gopalakrishnan <agopalak@crec.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-workplace@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WORKPLACE:3668] RE: Tom Sticht Research Note (Long) X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0) Status: O Content-Length: 1774 Lines: 38 Based on my experience with workplace education for incumbent workers in Connecticut, I second the views expressed by Alec and Gail in response to Tom's email. Specifically, I support Alec's statement: "There is a big difference between the skills needed to do a job at a minimal level versus those needed to perform at a high level of productivity." Low unemployment numbers do not mean that companies are hiring people with the skills that would best meet their need; it may also mean that companies are willing to make compromises in their hiring decisions. There is a price that companies pay for not having people with high skills who can do the job most effectively. This price can range from simple errors in filling out forms, and miscommunications within the organization, to lost customers, errors in production, and finally to even going-out-of-business. In the arena of global competition and international standards (ISO, QS, etc.) that US companies are competing in, the room for error is becoming smaller. I also support Gail’s statement. “…no one should conclude -- research and analysis notwithstanding -- that persons holding those lower level jobs should be stuck at that unrewarded and often unrewarding level.” We have worked with companies where the employees with low-level basic skills (who have worked there for years and have learned how to do their jobs) are now denied access from upward mobility because of those low-level basic skills. Gail you mentioned the following to open your email: "The research you cite seems not to take note of what many individual companies are saying about the internal realities of their own workplaces." I am not sure what "internal realities" you are referring to. Ajit Gopalakrishnan agopalak@crec.org
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