Cross Training – A Winning Strategy

The objective of most employees is earning a living doing what you enjoy doing.  The objective of most businesses is building a competent and professional workforce able to respond to customer’s needs.  AND, the objective of all concerned is the steady flow of work and manpower.

Since most jobs these days have evolved into areas of specialty, the narrowly trained professional will do well when his or her expertise is needed, but might find oneself on the sideline or sent home if unable to contribute.  So, to keep things on track for all concerned, the best scenario would be to have everyone trained in all phases of the work.  Reality shows this is impossible, but we can do what it takes to approach this goal by cross training.

We all want to improve ourselves and advance in life.  A company that doesn’t keep training ongoing will find their people moving on down the road to another job that will allow them to advance.  Allowing employees trained in one area to teach co-workers who are trained in another broadens the skill set of the entire workforce.  The added advantage of cross training is that an experienced person can train a “newbie” in the correct and most efficient way to do the job right.  The company must set the standards and monitor the training to ensure progress, and then when the time is right, the employee can advance to a new position or fill-in for an absent co-worker.  It’s a win-win situation because the employees are advancing in their careers and the employer has backup in times of need.  The added plus is that a new “set of eyes” will be added to the quality control system so mistakes are minimized.

Cross train – it’s worth it!