Why Cross-Skilling Through eLearning-Based Training is Necessary?

The current workplace scenarios have turned more like complex machines working continuously. Precisely put, there are heavy workloads on employees as work tasks are turning intricate day by day. Plus, unfortunately, in order to keep in pace with the latest developments and introduction of new technologies may give the workforce a feeling like running on a constantly fast-moving treadmill.  

Add to it, automation through rapidly growing AI influence has been a growing reality -- whether we accept it or not, and worst, it raises serious concerns about job displacement in the minds of people.  

Apart from quick technological advancements that employees have to get acquainted with, there are other problems that may hinder a company's progress and that is siloed skills. This term refers to a situation when members of a team retain valuable knowledge within themselves and their skills are not accessible to others. 

To understand this scenario, let us consider an example wherein a company has brilliant engineers who are thorough in their jobs but communication problems impede their growth. This can also lead to a lack of cross-departmental skills and ultimately affect operational inefficiencies.  

Given these kinds of situations, now the question arises of how can companies help team members to stay ahead of the curve and ensure they are able to adjust themselves in such a dynamic environment. 

Cross-skilling through eLearning-based corporate courseware can be the answer for the firms. By providing employees with a corporate training program that focuses on a broader skillset, companies can strengthen the confidence of their workforce and assist them to adapt, collaborate, and see through the challenging situations of the modern workplace.  

In the subsequent sections, we shall uncover more about the cross-training exercises and how this employee development method can prove useful to the overall workforce.

An Overview of What is Cross-Training with Examples

When you have a company wherein most employees know only how to do their specific job related to their field area, it may become a problem. The reason is that those employees may be good at one task but may struggle if any other work is given after promotion or moved to a different department.

To explain this situation, consider a scenario wherein a customer service representative is capable of answering questions but finds it difficult when it comes to handling sales inquiries. Similarly, an engineer may be a pro in understanding designing and fixing machines but may find it challenging when entrusted with the task of writing basic code. This may be common in many companies, that is, owing to the absence of cross-skilling, employees' progress as well as a firm's growth may be impeded. So there arises a need for a cross-skilling training session that will help the workforce to extend their current knowledge base and abilities way beyond their main roles.

But What Exactly Is a Cross-Skilling Training Program and How Can It Help?

The cross-skilling procedure involves providing training to the employees so that their reservoir of information exceeds their existing understanding -- such as doing some small work related to another department or voluntarily taking on any task not done before. 

This can be made possible through an eLearning corporate training program which includes a cross-skilling process -- providing information about activities carried out in other departments through a mentor or expert. When the workforce gathers skills that lie outside their primary job duties, they are in a way expanding their current toolbelt.

As an example, a customer service rep might be trained on basic sales techniques along with solving different kinds of queries. This would not only allow them to address the queries of the customers but also upsell products or services to interested customers.  

Another example of cross-training in eLearning courseware would be hardware engineers who could learn coding fundamentals, which would enable them to develop programs even for troubleshooting hardware parts.

Benefits of Cross-Training with a Focus on Addressing Various Challenges

The benefits of cross-training are numerous, as explained hereunder, as it can serve as a cornerstone strategy for cultivating well-rounded talents within an organization. 

Changing Business Situation:
In view of how today's business landscape is dynamic and new approaches are required frequently from all departments for a company to succeed, cross-skilling has to be compulsorily part of the training program. 

Thus, by going with the approach of furnishing the workforce with a comprehensive understanding of various kinds of company's intricate operations, cross-skilling in a way develops a deep sense of ownership among the employees. 

To understand this situation, consider customer service representatives whose knowledge has been boosted through cross-training sessions. This would help them to get a panoramic view of the varied inner workings of the sales department. In fact, the new details acquired by them, freshly, will aid them to come up with better and more practical suggestions when answering customers' queries. This also helps the customers to be satisfied and thus, being happy with their interaction with the customer service department.

Circumventing the Silos Way of Working:
Consider a situation wherein employees of a company operate in silos -- isolated and being oblivious to the progress of what's happening in other departments. Thus, this way their knowledge becomes confined to their own departments -- means restriction of growth prospects as they lack a comprehensive understanding of the business. 

Now, contrary to this situation, let's envision a completely different reality and that is, a set of individuals in a team who possess a multifaceted skillset, making them adept when it comes to comprehending the bigger picture of work. Guess what -- this, can be made possible through the incorporation of cross-skilling in the training process -- sounds great, doesn't it?

In other words, when employees are infused with a wider plus better understanding of varied interconnected functions of the business -- courtesy of cross-training, employees get accoutered with in-depth knowledge of addressing clients' queries. 

Let's take another example to explain a different situation: a marketing whiz who is responsible for product development. His newly possessed knowledge through cross-skilling would also help him to develop the kind of marketing campaigns that will resonate deeply when it comes to both product features and customer needs. 

Handling Bottlenecks:
Importantly, cross-training can also serve as a big helping hand while dealing with the much dreaded operational bottlenecks. This is the reason why it can be seen as Swiss Army Knives –  a form of versatile corporate training approach that can be utilized effectively to tackle multiple challenges of different types. 

Best aspect: there can be a circumstance where peak business seasons are on and suppose, there are staff shortages. But by opting for cross-skilling sessions through eLearning-based corporate training, employees from other departments can step up to the plate confidently, supporting colleagues in need of help and keeping the business humming.

In this manner, cross-training sessions can vastly assist to improve communication of the employees while dealing with clients; increase collaboration among people of different departments, and aid them to adapt to the required needs that can translate into a significant edge. 

Developing Versatility:
Imagine this: What if an accountant, who is usually confined to working with numbers embarks on a cross-skilling eLearning program for upgrading other skills? That is, to elaborately put, the person is introduced to the different concepts of data analytics through eLearning modules and interactive exercises -- which again deal with numbers so this is something related to the person's forte. So the individual is suddenly able to uncover the hidden patterns and morph into a versatile person who can handle both accountancy work as well as lower-level of data analysis tasks.

Conclusion
There are numerous advantages that eLearning-based corporate training when incorporated with cross-skilling can render as employees are no longer restricted to any one specific skill but can expand their existing knowledge about other departments.

If you want to incorporate the cross-skilling modules in your corporate training so that your workforce becomes versatile and be useful during any kind of manpower/resource crunch situation, then you can contact VK Creative Learning -- an experienced player in developing any type of eLearning courseware.