Can anyone direct me to current research on the benefits (esp. financial) to an employer/business of offering/profiding ESL classes to employees?
From LiteracyTentWiki
Have a look at a publication we developed that has a model for discussing ROI with employers http://www.workbase.org.nz/Document.aspx?Doc=VoicesfromManagementJan2003Final.pdf Also there is some Australian research - the only piece done there specifically on benefits of literacy programmes called More Than Money Can Say - we have the Executive Summary on our website - the rest of the research is not available online. http://www.workbase.org.nz/Document.aspx?Doc=1996-mtmcs.pdf
The UK NRDC Website that someone else mentioned does have an earlier publication - a literature review- looking at business benefits of workplace literacy which was inconclusive but it didn't look at the stuff we had done And now they have printed something showing the productivity benefits of workplace literacy projects Both reports are on this page http://www.nrdc.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=424
Check out ScoreCardForSkills.comwhich is a website to be used by employers to see what the ROI might be. Alison Campbell, of the Conference Board of Canada, says this about the site (via NIFL-Workplace list):
"The site contains a host of tools and templates as well as information and advice on measuring the return on investing in skills development initiatives. A strong message throughout is to align the measures of effective learning with key organizational goals and strategies. Case studies are provided along the way to stimulate creative thinking and to illustrate how to make use of the tools and information provided."
Check out the article Onsite EWL classes: a win-win situation, located in Resources for a concise article on benefits to employers engaging in a workplace based ESOL program -- this might be good to give to a prospect, for example.
