21st Century Learning and Teaching

Cross-Training Employees: Why It Makes Sense

When you use the words “cross-training” many business executives and staff immediately think of sports. We have visions of the triathlete who is simultaneously honing their swimming, cycling, and archery skills, so they can compete in some extraordinary challenging event at the world level.

In fact, it is a word that is coming out of North American boardrooms more and more these days, as corporations find themselves having to deal with the new realities of rapidly changing markets and increasing production and service challenges.

In business terms today, cross-training is used to describe the process of training employees so that they can do several jobs within an organization. On a production line, for example, a person is able to move from their original position to another completely different skill. In a food operation, a front-line order taker must also be able to handle short order cooking skills, clean tables, and order supplies.

The “Jack or Jill of all trades”, a relic of the past in an age of specialists, is now the most coveted of employees again.

By: Julie Keane, PhD. Global challenges can only be addressed by cross disciplinary initiatives that bring together science art and the humanities. We must cross these boundaries.