The needs assessment feeds directly into the design of the program. Workplace literacy programs are moving away from conceiving of education as remediation of learner weaknesses and toward emphasizing and building on the skills and strengths that workers already have. The best workplace literacy programs, in this growing view, are not those designed and carried out by outside researchers or top-level management. Instead, learners themselves are involved in formulating and implementing the program. In some instances, course content is not even fully determined until the course is actually underway and the instructor has come to know the learners.
Learners continue to participate in developing the curriculum and content throughout the course.
A critical aspect of program design is defining, clarifying, and at times overcoming the different expectations that managers, supervisors, union representatives, and workers have for workplace education. For example, employers may want workers to gain specific skills as a result of attending workplace classes, while workers may want to develop more general literacy and language skills for use beyond the workplace. Employers and learners need to realize the time it takes to acquire and build on literacy skills. Workplace literacy is a long-term and ongoing process. Some programs use curricula, training manuals, or guidelines developed by a company, and adapt these materials to the needs of their learners.