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Business Tip of the Month

Business Tip
of the Month
For the month of September 2004

Consider cross-training your employees

Have you considered cross-training your employees? Cross-training, or job rotation as it’s sometimes called, can be a win-win situation for you and your employees. Large companies often use it to prepare managers for high-level corporate positions. But it can be equally useful for employees on the shop floor or in general office positions.

You can do cross-training in several ways. At its simplest, you rotate employees to learn different job skills within a department. Or you might move people to different departments for a formal three- or six-month assignment before they return to their original position. In some cases, it’s a regular progression of assignments designed to move an employee up the career ladder. How you implement cross-training will depend on the size and nature of your business.

Advantages for the company include:

Greater flexibility in moving staff to deal with unexpected workload.

Reduced turnover because employees feel they are growing and learning.

Greater teamwork between departments.

Development of a broader range of skills in employees.

Having employees see more of the “big picture” of company operations.
For the employees, the advantages are:

Learning new skills, perhaps breaking the monotony of a position.

Feeling appreciated by the company, increasing motivation to excel.

Seeing growth opportunities within the company instead of looking elsewhere.

However, cross-training is not without its costs and risks. Managers may resist having to train new employees, and productivity may suffer in the short term. Employees are always nervous of change, and they may be worried about having to learn new skills. It’s critical to think through the goals of your program very thoroughly beforehand. Communication is the key. It’s essential to get everyone involved before you start and to stay involved yourself to deal with problems or issues that arise.

A good tip is to start with a small pilot program. You can expand it later as you gain experience. If you are willing to do it right, cross-training can produce benefits for all concerned.

 

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