Although basic skills and English language instruction are often viewed as real needs at the workplace, few companies provide this for their workers. Those that do are motivated by one or more of these factors: product quality improvement, commitment of top management to training and education, or the sales effort of an educational provider. Those that do not provide such instruction give these reasons: cost of instruction; reluctance of upper management to initiate training; and finding alternative ways of dealing with workers' educational deficiencies. Developers of instructional programs in English as a second language (ESL) have found that preparation in a number of areas and product characteristics can enhance the success of their marketing efforts. These include: beginning with companies with a history of offering employee training at all levels; offering realistic assessments of time and resources needed to accomplish training; offering short courses with specific, attainable goals; offering cross-cultural courses to both native and non-native English-speakers at the workplace; developing realistic ways of documenting how instruction has improved workplace performance; engaging managers' active support; and providing skills that transfer to areas of life outside the workplace. Contains 10 references. (MSE) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education)