Targeted Cross Training

Frank's note on this post:  I prepared this post with Excel spreadsheet tables inserted into the word document as examples of the concepts presented.  Unfortunately, Blogger cannot accept imported tables without complicated HTML instructions that are beyond the typical blogger.  I did the best I could to describe the examples.

Image source: applynet.net

Every manager must continue to get things done, even when critical members of their team are missing. This could be for a single day when a person is sick, or away from the office on business, to permanently gone suddenly from accident, firing, or defection to another company. It is better to be prepared for these situations rather than simply reacting to them, and it doesn’t have to be painful.

Many companies institute a cross training program by designating a backup for many functions or positions. This is better than nothing, but as people leave the organization, their back up is identified and carries the ball for a time, but most companies forget to consider who the departing employee was backing up. This creates the all too often situation where a person leaves and the manager discovers that the backup has already left. Sometimes there is an experienced person who has the skills to cover several functions and does so regularly. This makes the organization extremely exposed when this experienced person leaves.

Another situation to consider is when there are several people who perform the same or very similar functions. What if they perform the same function, but for different customers? How many people should have an understanding of the unique aspects of a specific customer?


Why is cross training important?
1. To accomplish both routine and critical functions when personnel are absent.
2. To develop the expertise of personnel beyond their usual functions.
3. Introduce people to new business areas.
4. Improve communication and coordination within the organization.


What is Targeted Cross Training?
Targeted Cross Training is a methodology for identifying specific knowledge or skill areas and how many people are needed to have that skill or knowledge. By definition, the method not only lets the manager know when there are not enough people who have a skill or knowledge and therefore more need to be trained, but also highlights when more cross training would be a waste of time and resources.

Here is an example that every office struggles with – the receptionist. Usually there is only one receptionist, but someone needs to greet visitors and answer the phone (when the automated system is not adequate) during breaks and absences. The first thing to do is to determine the minimum number of trained people needed in addition to the person who holds the position. Let’s say the minimum number of trained people is four (receptionist plus three others). The next thing to do is to identify the “ideal” number. Let’s say that is six. Now evaluate the training level as holds position, fully trained, or in training. Then list the individuals by name.  Create a simple table in Excel to track the personnel.  Unfortunately, a table can't be displayed in blogger (maybe a programmer could do it), so I cannot show an example.  Just pretend your listening on the radio instead of watching TV and I'll describe it below.
Create a table with 6 columns and label them: Function, Minimum, Ideal, Actual, Need, People.  Then just fill out the table based on the manager's judgement of how many people are needed to have the skill or knowledge associated with each function.  The only trick is to put a note in superscript for each person listed to denote whether they are in the position, fully trained but working elsewhere, or still in training for the function.
Function:    Receptionist
Minimum:  4
Ideal:         6
Actual:       3
Need:        1
People:      Martha (superscript 1 - in position), Bob (superscript 2 - Fully trained), Jan (superscript 3 -                In training)

In this receptionist example, it shows that the minimum number is not satisfied. The need number can be based on the minimum, or the ideal, whichever is more meaningful.  In this case, one more person must be trained to meet the minimum requirement and three must be trained if the ideal level is to be reached. It is relatively easy to design a spreadsheet that automatically updates whenever someone leaves the group. If Bob is fully trained in three positions and in training in two others when he leaves the group, the spreadsheet would reflect those loses in all of the positions and the manager could easily see where any problems were created and take action to get others trained.

Here are some other office functions used with this method: Buyer, Website maintenance, Export Paperwork, Computer Backup, Vacation Processing, PC Troubleshooting, Data Entry, Customer Service, Payroll Submission, Scheduler, Cost Accounting, Expediter, etc.  Basically any function needed can be included.

This method has been used successfully for office personnel, where the skills were primarily administrative as well as in manufacturing floor personnel where the skills were primarily technical.

A variation of this method is to ignore the people actually holding the positions and count the minimum and ideal numbers only from personnel not holding the position. In this variation the receptionist example above would show 3 minimum, 5 ideal, and only Bob and Jan would be listed as backups. This makes sense when there are many people holding the same position. If there are 10 people in customer service, and there is a need for five people holding other jobs in the company to be backups, listing the ten primaries is not necessary.