Cross training employees: 10 Essential tips to get you started

In the workplace, the best way to prepare for unexpected challenges is to train your employees for different scenarios. Promoting flexibility gives them the confidence to perform their jobs with minimal supervision.

As a manager, cross-training is one of the most effective ways to empower your employees. To learn more, read our 10 essential tips and the benefits of creating a cross-training program below.

What is cross training in the workplace?

A form of empowering your employees, cross-training allows the team to take on roles and responsibilities outside their core job. By encouraging them to learn new knowledge and skills, they’ll gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for your business. 

Cross training tip #1 - Map out your goals

The first tip is to define your goals. What exactly do you want to achieve with your cross-training program for employees? Is it to develop closer relationships with your team? Help understaffed departments? To guarantee a successful program, start by outlining your goals through a training needs assessment so you can plan out the next action steps with your team.

Speed up your brainstorming process by incorporating goal-setting software. Leading platforms like SC Training (formerly EdApp) contain many useful features. With built-in social and peer learning, you can instantly put connections and information at your team’s fingertips. Plan action goals together by creating discussion boards to drive engagement.

Recommended courses on mapping out goals:

• Driving Team Performance by SC Training
• Goal Setting Mastery by Alison
• Goal Setting Course by Cloud Assess

Develop effective cross-training programs for your team. Join SC Training today.

Cross training tip #2 - Identify the tasks

After mapping out your goals, the next step is to identify tasks. As you ease your employees into their new roles, you don’t want to leave them hanging. Creating a job analysis keeps things transparent. It lays out specific day-to-day tasks, essential skills and competencies, desirable outcomes, and opportunities it offers the applicant.

Once you’ve drilled down your job analysis, it’ll be easier to categorize which tasks deserve the top priority and which can be shelved for another time. This can serve as a guide for cross-training employees.

Recommended courses on identifying tasks:

• Creating and Managing Tasks by SC Training
• How to be a successful Project Manager by SC Training
• Project Management by Great Learning

Cross training tip #3 - Communicate the benefits

Don’t keep your employees in the dark! To convince them about joining your cross-training program, communicate the benefits first. Make sure to present plenty of reasons, like how it’s a great way to advance their careers, learn more about the nature of the business, and form new connections with other departments.

In general, cross-training hones their flexibility skills, encouraging them to prepare for any scenario. If you’re unsure how to pitch your program to the team, consider taking a free course on communication and setting expectations. This will remove potential roadblocks to your plan.

Recommended courses on communication:

• Communication in Project Management by SC Training
• Expectations Setting by SC Training
• Benefits of Corporate Team Building by SC Training

Cross training tip #4 - Expect resistance

Let’s face it, no matter how enthusiastic you are about the program, it wouldn’t be surprising if you encountered some resistance from the team. This is okay! Ultimately, it’s your employees who must dedicate their time to learning new things.

According to the Harvard Business Review, a common root cause of employee resistance is not technical change, but a social one. They’re afraid of breaking off the relationships they’ve built with others, as joining a cross-training program would mean spending more time with other departments.

Other causes of resistance would be the fear of taking on more responsibilities, finding the right balance with their existing workload, or simply becoming a jack of all trades and master of none. All these new experiences could cause them to drift apart from their co-workers. So as the manager, you must listen and foster understanding, assuring them they won’t be navigating through these changes alone.

Recommended courses on preparing for resistance:

• De-escalation Training by SC Training
• Handling Objections with Emotional Intelligence by SC Training
• Review and reconcile goals by LinkedIn Learning

Cross training tip #5 - Create a training schedule

To secure the success of your employee training programs, their schedule must be laid out clearly. Remember to respect and work around your employees’ present workload. If your program doesn’t come with monetary incentives, at least guarantee the bulk of it happens within their workday.

Aside from keeping everyone on track, another benefit of a training schedule is that it prevents unnecessary costs. By determining the day-to-day responsibilities early on, you can designate budgets for each and add extra for contingencies.

Recommended courses on creating a training schedule:

• Introduction to Project Management by SC Training
• Design and Development of a Training Program by Alison
• Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management by Coursera

Cross training tip #6 - Encourage collaboration

Cross-training in the workplace also brings your team closer together. The sixth tip is to encourage everyone to help each other out and give pointers for improvement. This produces a collaborative environment where every member can thrive.

In the long run, this also reduces hesitancy in approaching others for help. Training your team to communicate effectively with each other builds empathy, which is a work skill that’s often overlooked. Through a cross-training program, your team will better understand the different roles within the organization and how each is integral to the company’s success.

Recommended courses on encouraging collaboration:

• Connection and Collaboration by SC Training
• How to be a Team Player by SC Training
• How to Develop Strong Working Relationships by SC Training
• Collaborator by SC Training

Cross training tip #7 - Use a learning platform

For your program to run successfully, incorporate digital tools into the mix. Technological advancements have simplified business processes, letting us automate repetitive tasks and optimize our training systems.

An effective learning platform allows you to track compliance, manage learner progress, and more, all in a centralized space. It removes the need to switch workflow stations, granting you access to essential data. So make sure to use one that contains a robust analytics and reporting suite.

Recommended courses on using a learning platform:

• Get to know SC Training by SC Training
• Global Digital Literacy by Alison
• Digital skills: succeeding in a digital world by The Open University

Cross training tip #8 - Offer performance coaching

The eighth tip builds on your L&D strategies by offering coaching to your employees. More than simply overseeing their progress as a manager, did you know there’s a way to play a bigger role in their development? Start by facilitating small conversations with your team daily, whether by observing them on the job or simply catching up with them at the end of the day.

Remember that for your coaching to be fruitful, you must establish open communication and trust between your team. Let your employees know that you genuinely care about their growth, and it’s not just about fulfilling personal deliverables as their leader.

Recommended courses on offering performance coaching:

• Leadership and Coaching/Management Styles by SC Training
• Managing Video-Based Coaching by SC Training
• Becoming a Mentor by Alison

Cross training tip #9 - Recognize achievements

Another way to boost employee engagement is to recognize and reward achievements. For top performers, you can create incentives or even consider their promotion. This way, they won’t feel that the end goal of your cross-training program is simply to cut costs by overworking employees.

It can be as simple as presenting them with custom certificates, giving them a shoutout on the team channel, or even treating them to lunch. Trust that these small efforts will have a lasting impact on your workers, increasing their overall satisfaction.

Recommended courses on recognizing achievements:

• Rewarding Achievements by SC Training
• Employee Reward Schemes by Alison
• Understanding Reward Management by Virtual College

Cross training tip #10 - Gather feedback

The last tip is to gather feedback from your cross-training program. Give them a space to voice their thoughts and grievances, and prepare to make the necessary changes. After all, a great leader listens to their employees.

For the program to be effective, you should secure timely feedback from your participants. Keep things simple by inserting this at the end of your cross-training program, through checklists or survey forms. Just as you promote continuous learning among your employees, gathering feedback shows them you acknowledge your shortcomings as their manager.

Recommended courses on gathering feedback:

• Performance Management by SC Training
• Giving and Receiving Feedback by SC Training
• A Beginner’s Guide to Giving and Receiving Feedback by Future Learn

What are the benefits of cross training employees?

Cross-training impacts everyone in the business by offering a win-win situation for all. Here are some of its top benefits:

• It promotes flexibility among the team: Exposing them to areas that require a different approach and skill set shapes their ability to think critically and be adaptable.
• It boosts productivity: Gaining the confidence to perform their work with minimal supervision lessens their dependency on others. Since your team understands the day-to-day tasks of other employees, it streamlines the collective workflow.
• It yields a high return on investment: Gone are the days of outsourcing certain tasks. Now, you’ve got a competent team that can adapt to multiple scenarios. Overall, this saves the business time, money, and effort.

Build an effective cross-training employee program. Join SC Training today.