FREE online courses on Career Paths WBT - The Changing
Career Strategies - Cross-training
 Cross-trained workers are taught skills
outside their current job assignment so they can be called upon to perform a
variety of tasks as the need arises. Many workers and supervisors find
themselves cross-training each other, just to make the day-to-day work life
manageable. As a career development intervention, however, companies put into
place a formal program of cross- training.
Cross-training helps organizations to:
- Balance
workloads so that everyone is busy, and allows the company to respond quickly
to employee absences.
- It also
allows employees and departments within an organization to gain a better
understanding of the “big picture”, and to improve communications and
relations.
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Employees who are cross-trained are more valuable to the
company, and more marketable in the work world overall.
To illustrate this intervention, consider the accounting
department where Niharika was recently promoted to manager. The department
handles a large volume of work, and each of the six employees in the department
are assigned to a different function. These functions are: daily data entry of
payable invoices; daily customer billing; posting customer payments; posting
vendor payments and printing checks; and two people who perform reviews and
internal audits of the various journals and ledgers in the department. Niharika
implements a cross-training plan within the department. Because slow or
non-performance in the first four functions could create serious backlogs and
cash flow problems if not kept up, Niharika begins cross-training across these
functions first, and later includes the reviewing and auditing functions.
Dual career tracks
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 Dual career tracks should not be
confused with alternative career paths. Creating dual career paths involves
preparing employees to succeed and be rewarded without necessarily being on a
management or vertical organization career path. In other words, “up” is not
considered the only way employees can grow and advance within the company The
establishment of dual or multiple career tracks has proven to be an effective
way to retain and motivate valued employees.
Management can be an attractive career alternative for many
employees, but it is not for everyone. This may be particularly true for many
technical or creative workers. The number of people managed often distinguishes
managerial levels, but under the dual career track plan, individuals apply their
expertise (like managers) to tasks of greater complexity and impact within their
specialty field. For example, they may make recommendations in a wide range of
business areas, participate in high-level decisions, and act as mentors to other
employees. The interest in dual or multiple career tracks is likely to grow as
more organizations do away with formal management titles and establish team
structures.
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For example, take a look at Tushar, who has been working as
an architect with the same large firm for the past eight years. There are few
“upward” possibilities, unless you are in one of the administrative areas, such
as accounting, or unless you become a partner. When Tushar began work, he was
primarily an assistant applying finishing technical specifications to projects
(e.g. checking blueprints). Gradually, he was able to let more of his creative
talent show, and was assigned as member of design teams and became responsible
for increasingly larger phases of various projects. Over the last two years,
Tushar has been project director on two different accounts, which involves
initial design concept, more contact with the client and builder, and more
control over the various phases of projects. Along with this additional
responsibility comes more recognition and respect in the firm, as well as more
money.
