Employers should do their best to maximize the investment that they make in each of their workers. One way to do this is to cross-train them in multiple departments throughout the company. In addition to helping the company get more from their workers, it helps workers to learn new skills that can make them more valuable in the long run.
You Have Capable Backups When Employees Call in Sick
Let’s say that your baker calls in sick the night before a massive order of cookies is due to a client. If you have trained your cashier how to use the oven in a safe and responsible manner, he or she may be able to pitch in and help complete the order in time. If you have trained the baker how to run the cash register, you have someone who can cash out customers if the cashier calls in sick.
You Don’t Need to Hire New Workers
By cross-training your employees, you can make the most of everyone already on your staff. Instead of hiring a worker to answer the phones, a worker to sweep the floors and a worker to cash out customers, you can train one person to handle all three roles. This cuts your labor costs significantly while also working to develop your employees.
Workers Can Grow Within the Company
Let’s say you have just hired someone to work as a cashier at your grocery store. However, this person may have a lot more skills that are valuable to you. Are they good at working with social media? Are they currently going to school and, perhaps, studying management, marketing or some other field that could benefit you. If so, take the opportunity to mold them. Train them in multiple areas so that they can be more valuable to you in the long-term. For example, they could end up becoming a department manager, helping your company to increase profits and implementing new policies to improve efficiency. As a company, it is important that your workers feel as if they are allowed to learn and grow over time. By cross-training your workers, they can have fulfilling careers regardless of the path that they want to take.
All Employees Should Have Certifications
It may be a good idea for all employees to be certified to use all of the equipment that your company commonly uses, such as forklifts—such as those that your company might have gotten from Independent Lift Truck of Alaska or other warehouse suppliers. This helps to ensure that those who work in the office side of the company can easily be used to help in the warehouse on days when there is too much to do in there. It also helps employees to be more well-rounded in both their resumes and in their knowledge of how the company as a whole functions.
Cross-training can have a variety of benefits for an organization. In addition to saving money, it can help employees to learn, grow and feel like they can accomplish their goals while helping the business accomplish its goals as well.