In the sports world, cross-training is essential in developing a well-rounded and physically healthy athlete. Cross-training is using several modes of exercise to develop an athlete and sometimes pairing different workouts together to support each other. For example, yoga is an excellent pairing for almost any type of athlete, as yoga cross-training promotes stretching, strength, and relaxation.
Likewise, within the coaching staff, many head coaches cross-train their assistant coaches, rotating job responsibilities by year or by season. The benefits of cross-training in sports is evident to me as a former college coach.
However, what was not so apparent were the benefits of applying this same methodology to the business environment. It does, however, make perfect sense. And after talking to many business leaders and employees, the importance of business cross-training is essential in developing a successful business.
No Pain, No Gain
Coming from a sports background and witnessing several sports practices, I can confirm that not all coaches across the country utilize cross-training with their staff. Some coaches box in staff members to a particular job because he or she happens to be best at that specific job. In all fairness, head coaches, with little wiggle room for windows to win and short contracts, don’t have a lot of time to work with their coaching staff on areas outside of the assistant’s strengths. Some coaches have even verbalized the fact that they don’t have time to train or mentor new coaches. The expectation is the new coach will come in and win immediately.
The same holds with business leaders. When hired to come in and turn around an organization, new leadership doesn’t have an endless amount of time to show bottom-line improvements.
But as I look around the country at assistant coaches who were not cross-trained and who were locked into one job responsibility, many of them get to the next job and do poorly. Many of them think they are prepared because they came from a winning program, but the actual job requirements of their new position needed more time and experience.
Again, I see the same thing in business. Many employees coming from successful organizations, who leave to take another job, don’t necessarily have the experience or the knowledge required for the new situation.
After a coach or an employee leaves, their job must be replaced. If the other staff members are trained in multiple dimensions of the organization, then it becomes easy to replace the open position. If not, then the organization acquires a setback until able to hire someone else with the same expertise that departed.
So, the statement that follows is obvious: Not developing your people is as much a loss to you as it is to them.
Cross-training isn’t reserved only for athletes. It applies everywhere for teams. If you can train your employees in other areas besides their areas of expertise or current responsibilities, you position them and the organization for better success.
Many corporations have “leadership tracks” where specific individuals get on the path for future leadership positions throughout the organization. They receive mentoring when they enter the job on the first level and go through a program of development. They move around and are asked to lead first on committees and then on teams. As they move up the organization, they receive constant reviews, evaluations, and streamline for their next position.
These organizations never miss a beat when employees leave the company or when they move around and within the organization. They recognize the benefit to the individual and the company’s strength.
Here are some of those benefits to cross-training your employees.
1. Developing well-rounded employees
The more experience an employee gains, the better equipped he or she is for future transitions and pathways to leadership positions. Opportunities to move around and participate in different and varied departments or job responsibilities gives the employee a full view of the organization.
Knowledge and experience together make a more well-rounded and resilient employee. Being boxed in, on the other hand, stifles that growth and promotes an environment of stagnant workers.
2. Strengthening the whole body
Moving an employee around strengthens not only them but the entire organization, as long as it happens with a plan. Moving employees without a purpose is chaos. Strategically placing them with a road map towards improvement works for the betterment of both the organization and the employee.
When moved and continuously evaluated and mentored, the employee grows in areas not previously deemed strengths and learns how to develop in those areas. Healthy organizations are not afraid to move employees, who are on track for leadership positions, to different departments and leadership roles. Creating a plan for such employee growth is key to success.
3. Motivating the mission
When employees know why they are moving around the organization, they become motivated and invested in their improvement. Everyone likes to advance, but when you can see a finish line to a race, the focus and the charge become more compelling. In other words, the employee can see a victory in sight. They become more invested and are more likely to continue the track. When they reach that finish line, they are renewed and ready for another race or challenge opportunity.
Not only that, but they gain a sense of how to sell the organization. With more investment, chances are they will help market and promote the company, the team, and the product or service.
4. Appreciation of the organization as a whole
Cross-trained employees learn to think on the move, and they learn about the business as a whole.
Working in different areas allows the employee to understand and appreciate everyone’s job responsibilities that make up the whole of the company. As they learn how it all comes together, employees come to a better understanding of the company and make decisions based on that information.
5. Strengthening weaker areas
Providing opportunities for development allows each employee to develop in areas where he or she may need more work.
No one is great at everything. Developing weaker areas allows employees to grow and gain experience just as an athlete builds proficiency when areas of weakness improve. The same holds for employees.
6. Avoiding burnout
We say this a lot in sports. We fear young athletes are playing so much of the same sport that when they get to college, they’re already burned out and therefore can’t give to the college team and rigorous workouts. These athletes become disinterested in continuing to improve and never get better, or they become injured. They may even quit.
The same is true in business. An employee stays at the job for so long that it becomes just a job. In education, for example, many teachers get burned out and start counting the days, repeating old lesson plans, becoming less creative with their students.
Stagnant employees just “put in the time” or “punch the clock” and look forward to a day when they don’t have to do the work anymore.
Employees who have variety in their jobs are more likely to stay fresh and continue to be creative in their careers.
7. Keep opportunity alive
When a new person comes into the organization, their mind is full of potential possibilities or outcomes. Knowing that he or she could be chosen for promotions, future leadership roles, chairs of committees, or picked for national learning events is very motivating. Businesses, small and large, are full of opportunities. Keeping the doors open to employees gives them a reason to work hard, be engaged, and invested in doing their best work.
Leaders who seek these opportunities and share them with their employees garnish a more confident, energized, and successful organization.
