Project: ESF Skills for Life and Work at Ford

STEPPING OFF THE LINE: LEARNING INTEGRATED WITH THE WORKING DAY

In this innovative London Development Agency (LDA) funded project based at Ford Dagenham, dedicated Tribal skills coaches deliver one-to-one literacy, numeracy and IT skills directly alongside the production line. Participants are permitted time off from the continuous moving production line for half-hour learning interventions, having one-to-one coaching sessions in ‘rest areas’ on the factory floor. In these sessions, employees are supported in preparing for National Tests at Entry level. Tailor-made individual work-based learning programmes are built around agreed work objectives. The project aims to develop a more skilled workforce that is committed to improving the business’s bottom line, while maintaining employment opportunities now and in the future. This approach to developing employees’ skills has been successful in boosting people’s confidence in reading, writing, numeracy and IT, not just at work, but also at home.

Project feature

Ford recognised the potential impact on the business bottom line of improving literacy and numeracy amongst their generally older, more stable workforce. Tribal, the provider, set about finding a way to assess, motivate and support participants wishing to improve their skills whilst working shift patterns. Utilising technology and a team of learning coaches (LCs), the project is successfully providing a programme of accessible and flexible learning opportunities direct to the factory floor. The LCs come from a variety of backgrounds, but all have teaching experience and qualifications.

Low staff turnover has resulted in a particular demographic profile of workers at the factory, which is mainly 40- to 45-year-old males (5% female) who have worked at the factory for 20 years, and who tend to be hard to engage in learning. Many potential learners, who have been employed at the Ford factory for a long time, may not have many qualifications or had the benefit of further education. Providing an opportunity to ‘brush up’ on English and maths not only gave them the chance to gain a qualification, but boosted their confidence and their skills in carrying out their jobs.

Learning coaches have access to the factory floor and work in different production sectors in the factory. Learning can take place on the side of the production line, sometimes offices, or rest areas. Buildings all vary; some are new and clean, others some are more like old fashioned factories. The LCs are easily identifiable in bright orange jackets with ‘Learning Coach’ written on the back, and they are able to speak to individuals on different product lines. Norma, who is new to the team, commented, ‘We get noticed by the jackets . . . Nobody else wears this colour and so people are curious about what you are doing if you are talking to someone. They are happy to come over and have a chat. We are seen as approachable.'

Flexibility and being able to respond to quickly to different learners is a key element to the success of the programme, as is developing a positive relationship with group leaders and supervisors. Potential learners feel confident enough to come and speak to LCs, which is due to the relationships LCs have formed – they have generated trust and respect.

Learners are motivated for different reasons. Some are doing it to improve their promotion opportunities within the factory, others to improve their skills and boost their confidence.

As well as the 30-minute one-to-one sessions during working time, learners carry out small projects in their own time. Walter has been working at the Ford factory for 30 years and is enrolled on an IT skills course. Walter explained that he recently bought a laptop, and can now access the internet to ‘keep up with technology and what’s on the internet’. Before, he could not use it and was dependent on his children to help him. One of his learning goals is to become independent and less reliant on his children’s help. Participating in the course during working hours means that he does not have to find a course outside the factory that fits in with shift working, and it gives him a break from the monotony of the line, but he feels that he is also giving something: ‘I’ve made a commitment to do the course, some of it in work time and some in my own time. Although it gets me off the line for a bit I have to do the course work in my own time. I have committed my time and that will make it work.’

The LCs have five hours’ contact per day and two and a half hours’ paperwork, adding feedback online, usually on the same day while it is still fresh. Even the shortest gap of five minutes between participants is used for recording information. They aim to contact ten learners a day – a total of 50 per week. Individual sessions started at 15 minutes and then grow to half hour. The biggest complaint is – not enough time! LCs also recognise that they need to be able to slot in very quickly, decide at what level to deliver, who can be released from which production line, thinking ahead to fit around learners, shifts and the needs of the production line. Units generally take two months per unit and six months to complete whole qualifications, but the timeframe, like the programme, has to be flexible as the LC respond to the daily circumstances: ‘We go to an area, say I am here, who can I see – flexibility is the key. Thinking on my feet, what can I teach?. (Norma)

Learning coaches have a set procedure for the half-hour and work from individual learning plans (ILPs) and agreed outcomes. LCs recap from the last session, work through new input, issuing participants with practice exercises, homework and feedback. Initial assessment is carried out, as well as diagnostic assessments if required. The assessments are paper-based, which allows the learners to complete it over a few sessions. Tony, one of the learning coaches, made the analogy of an A&E department in a hospital: ‘Its all going on, jobs have to be done while a person is released. There is frenetic activity, you can’t interfere, you’ve got to work with it, because the assembly line has to keep going.’

This flexible model is proving effective. Learners are very positive about learning and the Ford liaison manager reports that feedback gathered through a focus groups set up with employees has been positive. Employees believe the service is very accessible, and that the coaches have delivered relevant materials and understandable language.

The Learning Coaches have been very successful at building participants’ confidence. Potential participants may be frightened and too embarrassed to admit that their skills may be poor, but discreet one-to-one coaching is gratefully accepted and appreciated: participants know that they would not get this in college.
In their daily working life, staff are surrounded by charts and information, including health and safety notices and company statistics on the walls; it is important that all can access and interpret these. Many adopt coping strategies for what they need to know, but it is important to help them understand what they mean. Importantly, they need to be able to read and understand health and safety instructions.
Slinder has worked at Ford for 22 years and wanted to improve her reading and comprehension. She values the importance of learning for self-improvement, but pointed out that attending evening class on a regular basis is difficult whilst working full time on shift patterns. The project offers her the flexibility to learn during working hours and she feels that there will be practical benefits to her work: ‘We need to be able to read health and safety notices, quality and safe handling information. To do this you need to have a good level of reading skills.’

One-to-one coaching in the workplace is very unusual with adults, but in this successful model it is the norm. Sessions are carried out in work time. While the LCs are high profile, the learning is done (under the radar) quietly, focusing on quality, and success. The LCs always make a point of asking potential participants if they would like to ‘brush up on their skills’ It is important that this is not perceived as a deficit model, but about selling the benefits of learning both in the workplace and at home. There are three shift patterns to cover 6.30–2.30, 2.30–10.30, and the night shift. Sessions are usually held between 8.30 and 4.30, which fits in very well as it gets the changeover of shifts. The learning team does not routinely cover nights – but it has been done!

Working on site means that managers are really engaged and the team get called in by management whenever there is an opportunity for training to take place. Respect and credibility is evident – without this environment the project would not succeed. When the project first started, the culture was not like this and it has taken time and effort to develop.

The programme enables learners to prepare for National Tests at Entry, Level 1 and 2; progression from the non-accredited programme is offered through another company within Ford, which takes learners to NVQ Business Improvement Techniques.

The LCs have taken a year to adapt and refine materials to match Ford’s work processes and meet the needs of learners and managers, leading to a bespoke resource contextualised to Ford itself.

The e-ILP and use of laptops and wireless connections means learner information can be accessed anywhere. This is very important as the LCs need to be mobile and look for opportunities to deliver sessions whenever they can, such as taking advantage of any unexpected ‘down time’ to provide a session. All of the data collected is loaded onto a shared database, which all of the team can access. In a company like Ford, there is a lot of data, so when learning coaches are talking to production line managers, they can bring up data about participants to demonstrate progress. They can also run specific management information reports. The database is also used for contacting learners, monitoring contacts, and chasing up enquiries.
The unions have input and are key stakeholders, which smoothes the path for learning coaches as the underlying relationship is good.

Future developments:

The use of mobiles and PDAs to maintain contact with learners is being developed. The company is looking to replicate the success of Ford Dagenham at Ford Bridgend and Southampton, but funding will be required.

Contact details

Carolyn Roberts, Skills Coordinator
Tribal Education Ltd
Ford G Building, Dagenham South Estate, RM9 6SA

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