Challenging Economy?
Survive and Thrive With
Cross-Training

Times like these demand effective knowledge transfer. Employees who are already doing two and three jobs are going to be asked to do more and with fewer resources. There won’t be any ‘slack’ in the system to absorb mistakes from ineffective training or poor knowledge sharing.

Here’s what I’m hearing from CXOs around the country:

• “We’ve already done all the cost cutting we can, and we bid so low on our last projects a mistake or two could wipe out our profit. Our employees need better skills.”


• “We’ve hired a lot of smart young people, but when times are good, we’re too busy to teach them. We don’t want to get caught unprepared when the economy turns; so this is the time to build their skills.”


• “In this economy, we can’t afford to lose a single customer to our competitors. We need knowledgeable, well-trained employees on the showroom floor.”


• “We just acquired a company, and we’re only going to realize the deal’s full value if we integrate flawlessly. Rapidly teaching people in both organizations and getting them working together is key. We can’t afford to blow this one.”

What’s the Answer? Cross-Training.

High-quality cross-training not only keeps your organization’s performance high, it allows you to spread work around in lean times so valuable employees don’t burn out, make mistakes or even leave.

As your company shuffles business priorities and staffing over the coming quarters, good cross-training will keep your workforce agile and ready to handle anything you throw at them.

How to Make Cross-Training Work at Your Company

1. Take Inventory: Identify who knows what at your department or company today. And for pete’s sake, don’t turn it into a huge documentation project, just get a quick assessment.


2. Prioritize and Set Goals: Decide which skills/knowledge are high priority. High priority means you can’t do business without it and you have only a few experts in it. Set dates when you need other people competent in this knowledge.


3. Share the Knowledge: There are many ways you can start to spread that critical expertise around your workforce: mentoring techniques, viral teaching, social media, knowledge capture methodologies, even lunch-and-learn sessions can work. How you cross-train depends on your level of urgency and budget, but don't leave it to chance. Use a structured approach and follow up to make sure it's working.

When I ran manufacturing facilities, we always made our greatest productivity and quality gains when times were tough. Our survival depended on throwing out practices that didn’t work and implementing new and promising ideas.

Today’s tough economy will demand the same from your knowledge transfer efforts. If you put cross-training on hold and just hope for the best, you’re missing an incredible opportunity. Don’t waste it!