We want to develop our people

Workforce Development

— English Literacy

Globally, learning is shifting to continuous, applied development. Education systems are not keeping up with workplace needs. Graduates lack applied communication skills, and education no longer equals workplace readiness.

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🇿🇦 South African

Reality

Many learners develop Social English but struggle to transition to Workplace English. This creates a ceiling where learners can communicate socially, but cannot progress in the workplace.

This gap is even bigger than it appears: many learners exit school without functional English literacy, yet enter workplaces or learnerships.

The Training ROI Crisis
  • Baseline language varies widely
  • Training assumes a level that isn’t there

Workplace English enables progression.

Our Insight

There is a critical shift from understanding everyday language → to thinking, reasoning, and performing in English at work. Most learners get stuck in between.

Social English enables participation. Workplace English enables progression.

English literacy level of 7,365 matriculated candidates aged 18 to 30 since 2020
How the Scale Works

Language develops along a spectrum of 12 formal milestones – one for each year of formal learning. Each milestone is determined by a set of outcomes expected of a native language user at that stage.

Basic numeracy level of 7,365 matriculated candidates aged 18 to 30 since 2020

Basic numeracy implies the essential skills needed for solving problems, processing information, MAKING DECISIONS and interpreting data. Being numerate is about appreciating number relationships and interpreting answers, and not just about doing calculations.

How the Scale Works

ELSA measures Numeracy on a scale up to grade 9 outcomes. Use a maths test to determine mastery of mathematical content beyond.

What it’s

Costing

You

  • Slow progression
  • Limited promotion readiness
  • Ongoing training dependency
  • Underdeveloped workforce potential
  • Pressure to justify training spend
  • Need for measurable outcomes
  • Demand for pre-assessment before training

The Solution Pathway

We don’t know where to start

Place learners at the correct level

Learners are not progressing

Provide structured development pathways
  • Build confidence and comprehension step by step

We need workplace-ready employees

Develop reasoning and communication skills
  • Transition from social to workplace English

Your people’s potential starts here

Help your people move from basic to workplace-ready

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Tell us what matters most to you

We need to understand how our people, communication, and systems are working together

We want to develop the English comfort levels of our people

We need to eliminate low literacy levels in large numbers of applications

Explore a different pathway

Recruitment

Get a clearer picture of your candidate risk before you hire. →

Workplace Communication

Find out what’s really causing communication breakdowns →

Workforce Insight

Combine workforce data, diagnostic analysis, and industry insight to identify hidden gaps →

Reduce Training Failure

Measure readiness before the programme starts. →