Harry Potter aside -- the book that sold millions of copies and was read by more millions of children and their parents -- the brutal facts are that many people in business -- we're not sure of the numbers -- cannot read well enough to process required information and data to ensure that business processes function smoothly.

The majority of children who read the Harry potter series are from middle and upper middle-class families -- a good thing to be sure, as any advancement with any group of people to motivated to read more and better is a good thing.

But here's the rub.

There is a large group of adults who simply cannot read at a high enough level to handle the information being meted out in purchase orders, spec.'s on orders, emails about customer service goofs or simple contracts for services performed.

The cost to businesses in time, money and mistakes is estimated to be in the billions of dollars annually.

This week I have been working with a team from an architectural company. They have a big project on the go. There are a myriad -- like any design project -- of details to be absorbed, processed and shared in order for the project to move forward. Three of the project team, we discovered in one session, cannot actually read, absorb or integrate the written details into their drawings. Mistakes were being made. The client was not happy. Team members were conflicted, resentful and dis-engaged. It was a shocking, costly realization of an inadequacy that had to be corrected. It is a difficult, costly, time-consuming one to correct.

How can technicians get through their training without higher level literacy capabilities? Good question. This is a problem even for some professionals, like engineers who can graduate with low levels literacy.

Many of us take our ability to read for granted. Literacy - or rather lack of -- is a significant issue in North America. A 2003 federal survey from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy revealed that about 32 million adults in the United States have difficulties reading anything more challenging than a children's picture book.

That was seven years ago. Now add into that picture the number of people who have settled in North America who have English as a second language.

In our digital world literacy is becoming a more important skill.

In China there are people learning English -- both spoken and written -- than there are English-speaking people in North America.

So what's a manager to do?

1. Test people's reading comprehension. Go to your local community college and ask a teacher to assign some students to test your workforce. Businesses do a lot of training on product knowledge and how to run various software. Helping people to develop their reading comprehension skills should be no different.

2. As an interim measure if your employees cannot read at an acceptable level. Simplify all written communications. Use visuals when possible. Combine verbal and written instructions.

Word of caution: I have run a program for the last year to about 250 people, in which much of the information was delivered in both written, visual and verbal forms. I have been shocked at people's inability to take in information verbally. My guess is that many people simply do not know how to process stuff delivered verbally. So basically we have a two-pronged problem.

3. Develop a literacy-training program for people. The ROI will be immediate and substantial.

Critical thinking, the ability and willingness to analyze big amounts of information, to evaluate its impact on business processes are what will define those businesses that will be successful now, and in the years ahead.

Making sure that every employee has an opportunity to have a life enriched by reading comprehension is a business' strategic management challenge.

Are you, Ms./Mr. manager, ready, willing and able to make it your focus, your mission for more fun and profit?

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