TRANSITIONING THROUGH CROSS-TRAINING

When I talk about flexibility, I mean more than flexible hours or location. Cross-training so that people can move from one role or specialty to another enables firms to be nimble and people to remain productive when the economy sours in their area of focus.

As we move toward the "new normal" and rethink business models, we ought to be thinking about whether individuals' roles have become over-specialized to the detriment of overall goals.

The Wall Street Journal Managing/Theory & Practice column (June 22, 2009) titled "Firms Shift Underused Workers" points out as a consolation of the economic downturn that employees are gaining new skills as they are forced or volunteer to be more versatile in order to retain their jobs. It says that this versatility is found most often in smaller firms, but there is no reason that cross-training couldn't be offered at any size firm.

A poll by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) in March found that 34% of 467 human resource executives reported that their employers had retrained employees for new positions in the last six months.

I believe that's a strategy that will pay off well for organizations in any type of economy and will appeal to Generation Y/Millennials who are drawn to lattice-type careers where they are continually learning new skills and becoming more valuable to employers.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot    www.pdcounsel.com