A 1999 survey by the Yale University School of Business found that one-quarter of respondents said they were angry at work. When employers throw new roles and responsibilities at workers without properly training them, they set their people up to fail. Cross-training (prepping workers for a variety of integral business responsibilities) may just be the key to success for modern companies.
According to Richard Buckingham, principal of GoalStar Business Strategies, a Maryland-based training and consulting company, "Businesses today are so hungry to make a profit, they often fail to completely and properly educate their associates on important responsibilities. When corporate managers focus on the bottom line only, they fail in a number of areas." For example, financial advisors may concentrate on selling a short-term profitable mutual fund--and completely neglect the opportunities for estate planning or retirement needs. They want a quick hit, Buckingham says, not to develop the relationship to its full extent.
"Managers often overlook the fact that employee procrastination, stress, and shoddy work are a result of this person not being trained or not having the know-how to do a task right," admits Lee Silber. He is the author of Career Management for the Creative Person (Three Rivers Press, 1999) and founder of CreativeLee Speaking, a company that offers advice about the business side of creativity. The inevitable result? Managers contend with resentful, frustrated, and unhappy workers.
Buckingham, too, has seen ineffective managers fail to give their associates the necessary tools to produce results--and fall short as a result. Before a manager can jump to conclusions about a person's work habits, he or she should evaluate the resources that have been offered. For example, a manager who does not give a marketing rep a laptop and cell phone to meet deadlines on time, and then complains about this rep's performance, is not really looking at the big picture. "Shame on managers who say, 'I can't do this for you' and then complain of poor work results without taking into consideration potential obstacles," he says.
The Cross-Training Program What is the most effective way to cross-train associates for a variety of roles within a company? "Regardless of job type," Buckingham says, "training has to be an ongoing process. Managers have to continually reinforce what the business does and what a person's specific responsibilities are. Second, they must measure the impact of individual achievements and the ultimate effect a person has on a client.
"When determining a company's overall sales and profits, managers should measure the satisfaction level of clients and how much they are doing with them," Buckingham adds. "Companies that don't do this miss the greatest opportunity. It's like finding a vein of gold, scratching the surface of the find, and moving on instead of completely mining the vein. Training should be interactive and associates should have the chance to offer suggestions to management for areas of improvement. Train associates on the corporate culture first," Buckingham concludes, "and make sure everyone has the resources to meet their goals."
Wider Application Silber agrees that the concept of cross-training associates is vital to a company's overall productivity and profitability. "I meet a lot of people who are struggling at their jobs because of a lack of cross-training," he admits. "Variety is the spice of life in the workplace. People get extremely bored doing the same thing over and over. They like new challenges and thrive when they are able to explore and expand their roles at work. The only catch is, they need a little training before they can branch out."
A manager may view an eager employee's enthusiasm to take on new tasks and roles as a license to pile more responsibility onto him or her--tasks this person may not be prepared for, Silber reports. He has witnessed employers add more responsibility onto their people in order to save money (for instance, executive secretaries who become graphic artists despite no training or background in this area). A manager might decide he doesn't need to work with a professional graphic artist when Betty, the secretary, can do it just as well. Or so he thinks. The truth is, a person might be highly proficient at operating Word or Publisher, but this does not make them into writers or graphic designers.
In this example, the secretaries didn't choose to become graphic artists, says Silber, the employer decided for them. When cross-training people, employers need to understand that not everyone is suited for every job. Some individuals just don't have a particular skill or talent, and never will. Managers must always consider this when gearing workers up for bigger assignments.
