Reach

REACH aims to raise organisational awareness of and commitment to equality in access to staff development opportunities working closely with SMEs in socially disadvantaged areas in Scotland. The project will raise awareness of the importance of literacies in the development of individual employees and organisational sustainability; identify the type of learning materials, mode and time of delivery to maximize the effectiveness of equalities and literacies training in different types of SME; and finally to identify ways of transforming learning cultures in different types of SME.

The project will promote an understanding of the equality and diversity agenda as well as enhance understanding of the benefits of literacies for employers and employees. It will develop learning materials in line with the actual literacies needed in different workplaces and produce learning materials which comply with and enhance understanding of equality and diversity legislation.

REACH will identify the modes of delivery (e.g. on-line, individual tuition, weekend group work) which are likely to sustain interest and commitment, and analyse the success of different approaches in relation to type and learning culture of the SME and individual characteristics of learner.

The aim is to develop materials to pilot them using a range of approaches with 40 SMEs within four geographic areas in Scotland.

The project will undertake action research in parallel with the development work to understand and document diverse learning cultures and organisational learning requirements of SMEs, as well as the learning experiences and needs of employees in different organisational settings.

The most effective materials and strategies to engage employees in learning in order to achieve organisational and individual goals will be identified. REACH will also examine how people with literacy and numeracy skills deficits manage their working lives, and also how they can improve their skills in order to achieve their work and personal goals.

This will result in a research report and dissemination materials to communicate wider lessons to a range of stakeholders, including: owners, managers and employees of SMEs; the policy community (Scottish Executive, Scottish Enterprise, SIPs, Communities Scotland); and adult education and employment support practitioners, including those on university training programmes.