IT Cross-Training – Why and How to Make it Happen

Employees getting picked for a long jury trial. A family emergency that keeps someone out for weeks. Or an abrupt departure without two weeks’ notice. It’s the stuff that IT managers’ nightmares are made of – and far too often, those bad dreams become an even scarier reality. The solution to getting a good night’s sleep? Cross-training, where employees – management included – are formally trained to take on functions other than their own.

Big Benefits

The smaller the company, the more critical cross-training can be, since there are fewer people likely to have a similar skill set and the ability to just step in. However, even the largest organizations can reap many benefits, including:

• Stronger Teamwork: Cross-training means that employees end up walking in the shoes of colleagues. This promotes an awareness of everyone’s contributions to the company as a whole, reducing misunderstandings, rivalries and territorial issues between co-workers and departments.
• Improved Productivity: “A ‘hot back-up’ is guaranteed with an effective cross-training program,” explains Dan Carrison, a partner with California-based Semper Fi Consulting. Employees can fill in instantly for a missing colleague, and managers also have much more flexibility to reallocate employees in response to a crisis or shifting workload.
• Increased Revenue: If work stops because someone can’t do a job, so does the flow of revenue. With cross-training, management can reduce costly downtime, resulting in a stronger bottom line.
• Happier Employees and Customers: Studies show that employees are more satisfied at work when they have the opportunity to learn additional skills. And since customer service is often one of the first things that falls through the cracks when there is a sudden absence, cross-training will keep your customers happier, too.

Best Practices

In a perfect world, employees could cross-train each other. However, in most organizations, it’s difficult for people to step away from their daily tasks long enough to properly train someone else. That’s where the savvy use of consultants comes into play. By bringing in well-chosen experts on a short-term basis, you can efficiently and effectively cross-train your staff without interrupting workflow or breaking your budget. This is an especially good approach for IT functions, where knowledge is highly specialized and constantly evolving.

If cross-training sounds like too much too trouble, consider the alternative. Jerry Osteryoung, professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at Florida State University in Tallahassee, reminds managers that, “You cannot avoid engaging in cross-training without leaving your company vulnerable to events beyond your control.”

If you’d like to take better control of your organization through cross-training, turn to the IT staffing experts at Triumph Services today. We have top technical talent with the ability to step in short-term to get the job done – ask us how they can help you!