Building

Teams for

Better Success

The Workplace Context

Dofasco is Canada’s most successful steel producer, serving customers throughout North America with high quality flat rolled and tubular steels and laser-welded blanks. Dofasco’s advanced facilities in Hamilton, Ontario, produce hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Extragal ™, Galvalume ™, tin-plate, chromium-coated and pre-painted flat rolled steels, as well as tubular products.

For nearly a decade, Dofasco has pursued a strategy that provides the foundation for sustainable growth and increased value for all their stakeholders by differentiating the company in the marketplace. That strategy has four main elements:

• Solutions in Steel ™ , which builds strong customer relationships by employing new and unique technologies to produce value-added products,

• Operational excellence, which results in maximum operating performance reflecting their focus on improving what is important to their customers,

• A knowledgeable, resourceful and dedicated workforce, that flourishes in an environment rooted in Dofasco values and that rewards performance and innovation, and

• Financial strength, which enables them to invest and grow with their customers.

In 1997, as part of this strategy, Dofasco initiated the development of a Workplace Essential Skills Program to offer employees the opportunity to improve their literacy and technology skills. One department, Plant Services, was chosen to spearhead the initiative from within the company and a number of community-based educational service providers were contracted to provide the curriculum design and instruction.

The initial design included five community partners (local school boards, college, and the local literacy council) and a government funded project coordinator. As the program evolved, however, the funding model ceased to exist, the service providers changed, and Dofasco decided to institute a brokering model and make it a priority for this program to involve a range of community partners in the delivery of the class sessions. Dofasco partnered with a local broker, the Adult Basic Education Association (ABEA) to coordinate instructional service providers within the Hamilton community. This program has been highly successful and has continued to grow in both number of students and variety of the courses being offered.