Hasbro, Inc., the oldest and last remaining game and puzzle manufacturer in North America, is committed to continuing domestic production by modernizing its facilities in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. In many cases, however, introducing advanced technologies and work processes first requires upgrading employee language skills. Like many communities, the Longmeadow/Springfield region is home to many people whose primary language is not English. Hasbro’s is a polyglot workforce, with first languages including Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Polish, Vietnamese and Chinese.

Three and a half years ago, Hasbro Games, the United Food and Commercial Workers/RWDSU, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and the University of Massachusetts launched a collaborative program of English proficiency training. The classes have enabled scores of workers to pass mechanical aptitude tests, advance into more skilled positions at the company, and to participate in the sorts of technically-difficult training needed for Hasbro to fulfill its business objectives and survive as a domestic manufacturer.

Workforce Challenge

Understanding the Demand and Meeting It

Hasbro Games, Inc. and its divisions, Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley, have deep roots in New England. The Milton Bradley Company (acquired by Hasbro in 1984) was founded in 1860 in Springfield, Massachusetts, less than 10 miles from Hasbro’s East Longmeadow facility. Parker Brothers Games (acquired by Hasbro in 1991) was founded in 1883 in Salem, Massachusetts and Hasbro, itself, was established in 1920 in Providence, Rhode Island.

Hasbro Bucks “Offshore” Trend

The U.S. is the world’s top consumer of games and toys, and imports virtually every toy and game purchased. According to the Department of Commerce, U.S. toy and game imports topped $14.2 billion in 2004, while exports totaled only $880 million.

“Toy manufacturers have shifted production away from domestic markets to subcontracted or wholly owned subsidiaries located in low wage economies, primarily Hong Kong, Taiwan and, to a larger extent, China …They also purchase components, accessories and various finished products from international sources,” according to the Department of Commerce.

In this sector, domestic employment plunged as toy and game manufacturing moved overseas. The U.S. toy and game industry employed 42,300 people in 1993. It employs only 18,600 people today, overwhelmingly in small establishments with fewer than 20 workers. Fully 57% of the industry job loss occurred since 1997, according Commerce Department figures.

Hasbro is committed to continuing toy and game production in western Massachusetts, in a unionized facility paying hourly wages of $14 - $20, and providing good health care, retirement, sick leave and vacation benefits. Working with the employees’ union and public agencies specializing in workforce and economic development, Hasbro is executing a strategic plan that includes significant investments in worker language and skills training, advanced manufacturing technologies, and high-skill/high-productivity forms of workplace organization.

“We are the largest game manufacturer left in the United States. The toy industry is gone,” says Hasbro’s Senior Vice President of Operations Pedro Caceres. “But we have found a strategy to compete: the ‘Total Value Chain’ concept that includes quick reaction to customer need, lean production and extremely high quality. Ours is the best in the industry.”

Language is Key: Union Prompts Focus on English Proficiency, and Company Agrees

In 2001, Hasbro sought the union’s help in obtaining state funds for a range of workforce training initiatives and, at the union’s urging, the company added a program for English proficiency training to the 2002 grant application.

Although Hasbro hires without regard to English proficiency, the company will typically assign a non-English proficient employee to work alongside a more experienced person who speaks the same language. This way a new hire with an English deficit can ask questions and learn the job(s). The company notes that it has no difficulty assigning these pairs because it generally hires many people from a particular language group.

According to the company, 35% of its current workforce has moderate to severe problems with English proficiency.

The Company’s Vice President acknowledges how vital language is to efficient production, and describes their overall three-pronged strategy based on people, process and technology. In order to succeed with this approach it is essential to maximize the knowledge and skills of the people in the company, so that they can use the new technologies and processes. Both management and the union understand that, in order to acquire knowledge, people must comprehend procedures and understand each other. In a multilingual plant, that means a high level of English comprehension.

“Hasbro is turning more and more to robotics and automated equipment for most manual functions. This is technical work and you need effective communications on the line, between trades, between shifts, and when you are trying to show someone something new,” explained Kevin Hand, President of the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union/United Food and Commercial Workers (RWDSU/UFCW) Local 224.

The union president believes that workers must speak English as a matter of efficiency, safety and skills, as well as to facilitate advancement for the worker. Advanced technology requires more advanced communication and Hand recognizes that “the days of people sitting on the line putting parts into boxes are pretty much gone.”

Employees also need English proficiency to read job postings and to be promoted inside Hasbro, to qualify for rapid recall after seasonal layoffs and, if they choose, to leave Hasbro and seek education or employment elsewhere.

In the Human Resources (HR) Department at Hasbro, which coordinates the Company’s English Proficiency Training, management sees a link between job security and communications skills. From the company’s point of view, the more technical a job, the more valuable the worker who performs it, and the more rapidly he or she is recalled from layoffs that are part of the landscape in a company with seasonal products. And from the worker’s perspective, an employee with the skills to handle technical challenges can also choose to go to another company and make a career there.

Program Partners

The English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) training program is a collaborative effort involving:

A Planning and Evaluation Team, consisting of Hasbro executives, the union and the training provider meets at least twice a month to assess and manage the program.

The Massachusetts AFL-CIO’s Workforce Development Program has also been instrumental in helping the parties formulate their plans, in writing and submitting the initial grant, as well as a second grant recently awarded by the state to broaden training at Hasbro to include Adult Basic Education (ABE).

Program Activities and Methods

Sequential Strategy

These elements represent a sequential process, from the basic training at step one, to more advanced language capability linked to production, and finally to mastering skilled work.

Both Employees and the Company Share Responsibility for Training

English proficiency classes (basic and advanced) are offered at the Local 224 union hall twice a week, in two-hour sessions: 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. for first and second shift employees, and 6 a.m. – 8 a.m. for third shift employees. One hour of each session takes place “on company time”; employees are excused from work and paid at their normal hourly rate. The other hour of each session occurs on the employees’ personal time and is uncompensated.

Everyone wishing to enroll in ESOL is encouraged to do so and is accepted in the first available class. No conditions or questions asked. Since the ESOL program at Hasbro stresses spoken English proficiency, there are no literacy tests for entry, although the coursework does include some writing and computer literacy content.

Employees are recruited to the program through postings and notices in the shop and by word-of- mouth recommendations from line supervisors and union stewards. Postings and notices appear on specially-created letterhead displaying the logos of both Hasbro Games and RWDSU/UFCW Local 224. They stress the importance of English language proficiency throughout the workplace.

Contextualized, Personalized Learning

To create useful, relevant course materials and curricula, Hasbro and Local 224 provided the educators with a “lexicon of terms” and descriptions of common work-related tasks and situations. Because the training is designed to be immediately useful and applicable, the trainers used by Hasbro first meet with management and the union at every worksite they visit. According to Joe Connolly, EdD, program director for the UMass/LMWEP (see sidebar), they ask for materials related to the workplace, and encourage company and union representatives to sit in on the classes.

The programs are participatory in nature, with an empowerment focus so that training sessions may include a simulated workplace situation, such as a safety meeting. Instructors may then ask trainees to talk about it or write about the experience.

Trainers make use of techniques such as role play, in which a participant might role-play a conversation with a supervisor, a meeting between a learner and her children’s teachers or a doctors’ visit. These scenes must meet the learner’s needs and strengthen language skills outside the work environment, thus strengthening them inside the work environment. Role-play may also be used to simulate filling out different factory forms or new reports.

University-based Program Aids Private and Public Sector Worksites

An innovative program based at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst serves the economic development and worker training needs of Western Massachusetts. Founded in 1987, the Labor-Management Workplace Education Program is a collaborative effort by the University and two of its largest employee unions, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the University Staff Association/Massachusetts Teachers Association.

Since its inception the program has received more than 100 grant awards and initiated more than 25 major programs to provide workplace training to a diverse range of public and private employers throughout the region, including:

Amherst, Westfield and other town and city governments
The Massachusetts Department of Public Works and other state agencies
Smith & Wesson, Hasbro and other manufacturers, large and small
Smith College, Mount Holyoke College and other universities, colleges and community colleges

The program helps managers and unions reach consensus around workplace training needs and helps the partners develop appropriate curricula, course materials, schedules and budgets. The program also provides instructors and administrative oversight.

Use of a Unique Training Provider

While the Hasbro ESOL program serves a single employer, it benefits from the shared capacity provided by a unique, union-sponsored training program serving western Massachusetts – the Labor Management Workforce Education Program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

The program originated as a joint venture between the University and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). In 1991, the program gained a third partner, the University Staff Association/Massachusetts Teachers Association (USA/MTA).

Needs assessments, development of instructional materials and curricula, instruction and oversight are provided by the UMass program, which has served the region since 1987.

Connections to Public Workforce and Economic Development Systems

The collaborative training efforts of Hasbro Games and RWDSU/UFCW Local 224 were made possible by a sophisticated network of services supported by two principal agencies of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The initial $250,000 grant (and the subsequent $10,800 grant to add Adult Basic Education (see next steps) are funded through the state’s Unemployment Insurance Fund under the auspices of the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund (WTF), a department of the Division of Unemployment Assistance. The basic WTF grant also supports training in Advanced Skills (general machine and technology-specific training) and Strategic Projects (high productivity and environmentally-responsible workplace organization).

In FY 2004, the WFT awarded 1,203 training grants with a total value of $81.4 million to train 125,811 employees at private sector firms across Massachusetts, ranging from banks and biomedical research companies to machine shops and warehouses. The number of employees targeted for training at individual companies ranged from as few as four to as many as 1,364 (at Hasbro).

The WTF also awarded 87 Technical Assistance grants, with a total value of more than $1.8 million, to assist Workforce Investment Boards, community colleges and other training providers across the state in assessing needs and developing programs.

Hasbro’s senior management identifies the intense involvement of the public sector as crucial to the success of the program, together with the commitment of the education providers, the union and the company.

Program Funding Sources

Program costs, including instructor salaries, instructional materials and curriculum development, are paid for out of the $248, 635 WTF training grant, which, in turn, is financed by the state of Massachusetts Unemployment Insurance Fund.

Hasbro Games, Inc. pays participating employees one hour’s regular wages per session (i.e. two hours per week) while they are in training.

The Massachusetts AFL-CIO Workforce Development Program, financed by its affiliated unions, researched and wrote the grant applications and contributed many hours of staff time helping the stakeholders clarify their goals and create the program.

RWDSU/UFCW Local 224 stewards and officers contribute time to recruit participants and to oversee the program, and contribute the use of the local union hall. Union funds come from membership dues.

Barriers Overcome

The stakeholders report that the main barrier the program has had to overcome involves the employees’ reluctance to admit difficulties understanding English. For workers, this admission can be intimidating, as they are essentially confessing that they may not have adequately understood job instructions or forms that must be filled out at work. They do not want to embarrass themselves in front of their coworkers by stepping forward for help, and they do not want to do anything that could jeopardize their jobs.

Local 224 President Hand said part of the solution involves the manner in which the training is presented to employees: It should not seem too basic or too simple because people might feel patronized. At the same time, however, the training must not seem so high-level and advanced that potential learners are reluctant to enroll for fear of failure.

Hasbro’s Program Coordinator says that the company makes it very clear to both employees and supervisors that participation is encouraged and that Hasbro’s management stands 100 percent behind this effort.

Program Results and Returns to the Stakeholders

Quantitative results demonstrate clear, measurable gains from the ESOL training at Hasbro Games.

Benefits to the Company:

Hasbro is quite explicit: The success of its strategic business plan rests on the expanded English language proficiency of its workforce. The steady gains outlined above are allowing Hasbro to unfold the “sequential strategy” on which the Company depends.

Senior management is committed to its workforce and sees its employees as a strategic tool for operational success. According to V.P. of Operation Caceres, “With this program, people who never had the opportunity to advance can now do so, and we are able to continually increase our efficiency, productivity and quality.”

Benefits to Employees:

ESOL training enables Hasbro employees to raise their skill levels and job performance, equipping them to advance inside the company, to be recalled from layoff more quickly, to more easily convert from seasonal to full-time employees, and, if they wish, to find work outside Hasbro.

Testimonies from Hasbro production workers show ESOL training has enhanced participants’ abilities and value to the company by allowing them to communicate clearly with supervisors, coworkers and other shifts. As a result of the training, they can quickly and accurately understand production schedules, written instructions and job-related paperwork.

Workers also report greater feelings of confidence in dealing with their English-speaking children and people in the wider community, and their feelings of excitement and self-confidence spill over into their feelings of self-worth on the job. “Every day I use better words and understand more words,” one worker wrote. “I never thought I could do the things I do now,” wrote another, “This is very important to me.”

Benefits to the Union:

RWDSU/UFCW leaders say the success of the ESOL program allows employees (and management) to see the union in a broader more proactive light. The union helped develop the ESOL training and, by holding the ESOL classes at the union hall and actively promoting the program on the shop floor, the members see their union as empowering them and helping them advance in meaningful ways at work, at home and in the community. Through this program, the union also has established itself as a critically important partner with the company, as Hasbro pursues its strategic plan to modernize and maintain domestic production.

The popularity of the program led union members (many of them non-immigrant English speakers) to ask their local to add an ABE component to their training. With the addition of ABE classes, the union will be delivering valuable skills and training to an even larger section of its membership.

Benefits to Training Provider:

At Hasbro, the UMass/LMWEP has been able to successfully design courses and provide instruction under one the largest WTF grants ever awarded by the state of Massachusetts. This high-profile program is now expanding to include ABE training, which UMass will also provide. “This has been a really good experience in collaboration and cooperation,” said Amy Brodigan, who oversees UMass’ work at Hasbro. “Very productive, tension free and beneficial to everyone.”

Next Steps for the Stakeholders and/or for the Participants

The ESOL classes are so well-known and popular in the shop, that non-immigrant Hasbro employees recently approached the union and the company and persuaded them to expand the courses to include Adult Basic Education.

The Massachusetts AFL-CIO helped write and win state approval of a $10,800 grant to finance that expansion. ABE instruction will also be provided by UMass/LMWEP.

As English proficiency spreads and deepens within the Hasbro workforce, the company intends to press forward with their three-phase strategic plan by offering increasingly complex technical training, general education and skill development.

RWDSU/UFCW Local 224 – Hasbro, Inc. “English for Speakers of Another Language” Training Program

Program Synopsis