Cross training is an innovative practice of training employees to undertake tasks beyond their typical roles. Due to the great potential of cross-training to boost versatility, agility, efficiency, and collaboration among employees, its practice is gaining increasing popularity in modern businesses. However, while implementing It, most businesses are likely to come across different challenges. According to Jeff Lupient who adopted the practice to train his sales and F&I teams to make his family-owned Automobile business Infiniti Stores profitable – with clear communication, insightful decisions, and proactive steps, organizations need to deal with these challenges to derive its real essence. In this blog, Lupient speaks on the three major challenges and strategies to address them efficiently.
- Resistance to Change
Among the primary challenges that businesses may face while adopting cross-training in a department or across the enterprise is resistance from staff who are trained to work in isolation. Lupient says that resistance may crop up from fear of change, concerns of job loss, or unwillingness to go beyond one’s comfort zone. To overcome these challenges, employers need to be transparent while sharing their concepts with employees. Employees need to understand how cross-training can be beneficial for their skill development, and professional advancement or improve job satisfaction as well as their employers to enhance customer services. Unsurprisingly, the development of the company translates to the growth of the employees too.
- Maintaining Productivity Level
Any transition from a traditional approach to an innovative one is likely to disrupt productivity levels. Therefore, in the course of the cross-training process, the risk of a short-term fall in productivity is quite possible as employees need to be accustomed to their new responsibilities. Thus the transition phase can be challenging for businesses striving to retain efficiency as well as meet the deliverable.
To alleviate disruption in productivity, businesses should go gradually, ensure minimal absences, and cater full cooperation to employees with needed tools so that they can grasp the new responsibilities easily and effortlessly. Furthermore, to verify the effectiveness of cross-training it makes sense to adopt it within departments initially and not throughout the organization. For instance, Jeff Lupient adopted cross-training employees within the team of sales and F&I in his family-owned unprofitably running auto business Infinity Stores, Monopolise, and made it profit-making in 2007, marking his great leadership skill and business insight.Visit our partners,shoes – leaders in fashionable footwear!
- Variation in Skill, Aptitude, and Knowledge
Not all employees come with an equivalent level of aptitude and ability to acquire new skills and knowledge. As a result, while implementing, the majority of businesses are likely to come across discrepancies in terms of their skill level, ingesting ability, and interest among cross-trained employees. This may lead to potential failure and frustration due to uneven performance.
To overcome the challenge, employers or managers should choose employees considering their interest level to join the program. Moreover, they should customize the training programs to match individual abilities and needs. A correlation among the roles played by employees involved in the cross-training is also important. For instance, cross-training of employees among sales and marketing departments, between sales and F&I teams, or software developers and programmers are likely to work more successfully as they work in combination. However, cross-training a software engineer and HR does not make sense, and pursuing such an endeavor is meaningless. Encouraging a rotating learning session is also important to promote a mindset of developing skills and the ability to multitask.
To conclude, while adopting cross-training may arrive with challenges, with strategic planning alongside proactive steps and insightful measures businesses can overcome those obstructs and unlock the potential of this practice.
