Benefits of Cross Training Among Departments in a Company

Cross Training

There should be more opportunities for departments within a company to cross-train. It offers tons of benefits for everyone involved. While these departments don’t necessarily deal with the same tasks, there are still good things that may come out of the cross-training.

It leads to better collaboration

It leads to better collaboration

Even if people from different departments don’t work together, they are interconnected. The work of one will affect the other and vice versa. Therefore, it’s crucial that employees see the connection. They need to know that their actions can affect how the other department runs its business.

It increases engagement

Some employees come to work to do their job and go home. They don’t necessarily care about who they work with or what their work does to the company. These trainings will help improve engagement. It allows employees to see their value in the overall direction of the company. They may even seek help from the relevant departments since they understand what these departments do.

You will also find employees who don’t care about leaving when they think it’s time to leave. With these trainings, employees become more collaborative. They will realize that their sudden resignation can adversely impact the business. The other departments might also be crippled as a result. Therefore, they become more careful about their decisions.

It helps create an overall plan

Employees will only care about their job description. They won’t bother knowing what other people do as long as they can do their work. Cross-department trainings can change perspectives. People will realize the interconnectedness of the jobs and it allows the business to improve its overall plan.

It can help save money

Outsourcing jobs or hiring new employees will be more expensive for the business. Cross-department trainings will reveal the other skills possessed by the employees. They might know more things than what they currently do. These skills can be valuable in another department. They might have to be paid more to do extra work, but it’s not as much as hiring a new employee to do the job.

Hosting these activities won’t cost the company a lot of money, but will have a significant return. When given the chance, business leaders should consider hosting these trainings. There are third-party agencies that can facilitate the process. It can also go beyond a 3-day training. There are things the employees can continue doing to pursue collaborations with other departments.

The company is a big organization with several branches. Everyone relies on one another. There’s no point in dividing the business into fragments without realizing what each one does to the other. Employees must understand their role and the role of their colleagues. Even new hires should be given an orientation about cross-department roles.

The best part is it changes the mindset of the employees. It sends a message of unity. The business will benefit from it in the long run.

Photo Attribution:

1st and featured image from https://a.storyblok.com/f/167495/1200×656/79dd6ba266/team-meeting.jpg

2nd image from http://www.bi101.com/blog/google/google-apps-leads-to-better-team-collaboration/