2010 Skills Highway award winner announced

The Department of Labour congratulates Greymouth engineering and civil construction company Liddell Contracting – winner of this year’s Skills Highway Award.

The Department-sponsored award recognises employers who successfully boosted employees’ reading, writing, maths and communications skills with training.

“Liddell Contracting are deserving winners. They show us how a small, innovative Kiwi company is using workplace literacy training to punch well above its weight,” says Shenagh Gleisner, Head of Labour Market Information for the Department of Labour.

“The company lifted its annual income by 64% over three difficult recessionary years. We heard at the awards dinner last night that workplace literacy training had a big part to play,” she says.

The Department would also like to congratulate Millennium Hotels and Resorts, the New Zealand Army and Canterbury Spinners who were runners up.

Millennium’s in-house programme called Business Basics has increased the number of staff promotions. Today staff are better at writing documents, doing shift handovers, completing rosters and making mini bar calculations.

New Zealand Army is using its literacy strategy and training to help soldiers achieve promotion and pass trade qualifications. Ultimately they are using it to achieve their aim of becoming a world-class army.

At Canterbury Spinners, workplace literacy training has improved productivity and teamwork.

The carpet manufacturer implemented a literacy programme called LEAP for shift workers two years ago. Managers found when they improved an employee’s ability to read, write and do maths, they also improved the ability of the teams they worked in.

Liddell Contracting picked up the first place award at last night’s annual EEO Trust Work & Life Awards dinner last in Auckland.

Millennium Hotels and Resorts, the New Zealand Army and Canterbury Spinners picked up highly commended awards.

“I encourage more organisations to follow the lead of Liddell Contracting, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, the New Zealand Army and Canterbury Spinners. A good place to start is the Department’s Skills Highway website www.skillshighway.govt.nz/eeo.” Ms Gleisner says.

Background
Visit the Department of Labour’s website www.skillshighway.govt.nz/eeo

The number of organisations entering the Skills Highway Award was up from 10 in 2009 to 14 this year. Organisations enter the Skills Highway Award by documenting how they successfully boosted their employees’ workplace literacy and numeracy skills with training and the impact training made on their business.  They then submit their entry to the EEO Trust.

Organisations interested in entering next year’s Skills Highway Award will need to do so by May, 2011. Winners will be announced on 25 August, 2011. The EEO Trust Work & Life Awards celebrate employers who lead the way in making the most of New Zealand’s increasingly diverse workforce. For more information about the EEO Trust Work & Life Awards, as well as the Skills Highway Award, go to: www.eeotrust.org.nz/awards