|
Opportunities
HR HIGH
Cross training cuts monotony, pushes up employee morale
Performing the same tasks day in and day out can be terribly boring especially if the opportunities for advancement are bleak. Money is not the only key to employee motivation. Employees aspire for a good work environment where they can learn new skills that add to their self-development.
Cross-functional training is an important means to satiate employees’ desire to learn and acquire new skills. It equips employees to handle different jobs with relative ease.
The best way to combat worker monotony is to train them in various jobs across the organisation. The company benefits too by developing a talent pool that can handle a variety of jobs. It enjoys greater flexibility in assigning tasks and balancing the workload of employees. This in turn helps to stay on target and meet customer demands better.
If implemented correctly, cross training offers numerous benefits to employees as well as employers. Professional development of the employees and prevention of stagnation are important outcomes achieved through cross training. The bigger picture of the organisation becomes clearer to the employees. It paves the way to improved teamwork and cooperation across the organisation by promoting understanding among employees working in different departments. While helping employees overcome organisational barriers, it also augments harmony. It rejuvenates the staff by perking up their motivation levels. Better morale and fewer conflicts no doubt have a positive impact on the organisational productivity and profits.
The additional knowledge acquired through cross training empowers employees and makes them more valuable to the organisation. It optimises employee strengths by bringing out their hidden talents. A company will be able to capitalise an unexpected rise in demand or a new growth opportunity effectively if its employees are capable of handling multiple tasks. The extra hands needed to meet additional demands will be easily coming from other departments where the workload is relatively less. Thus the employer can have a better handle on employee related issues such as staff shortage and heavy workload. Work does not suffer when a crucial employee reports sick because substitutes are readily available.
Cross training can be used effectively at all levels and also across all industries. It is particularly useful in IT and ITES segments where skill requirements vary in different projects. These companies often face challenges in the form of urgent resource requirements having particular skill sets as and when projects come by.
A multi skilled talent pool comes in handy to meet the customer needs. It is indeed advantageous and cost effective to have a multi skilled resource base than having to hire fresh candidates according to project demands. As project requirements change continuously under or over utilisation is replaced by optimum utilisation of talent.
As with any measures taken up for implementation in the work area cross-functional training needs prior planning and analysis of various parameters that underpin its success. Foremost among them is taking into account the employee opinion. Employee interests and aptitudes should be considered before putting them on cross training because personality-job fit is a must for employee success.
While some employees show a natural penchant to learn new skills there are others who show reluctance to move out of their comfort zones. If the idea is to make cross training mandatory, first it is important to measure the enthusiasm levels of the employees. The reluctant learners should be educated on the lateral growth opportunities that come with cross training. Also for cross training to bear fruit and mutually benefit both employees and the company it should not be viewed as a short term measure to tide over a crisis. The thought process should be to project cross training as a long-term strategy that aids better utilisation of workforce in general and employee development and growth in particular. This requires careful planning and a thorough cost benefit analysis. Training needs of the staff should be identified and also eligibility criteria for training should be determined. Options such as an external source or internal means to impart training, making the training voluntary or mandatory require intelligent evaluation of pros and cons before arriving at a decision.
It is not always possible to provide vertical growth opportunities to maintain the staff engagement levels. Cross training contributes to job enrichment and job enlargement, which serve the purpose of motivating employees. To remain successful in the face of tough competition, an organisation needs a motivated workforce with appropriate skill sets. Cross training endows the organisation with just that.
faqs@cnkonline.com
N. PURNIMA SRIKRISHNA
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Opportunities
|
