Standard Operating Procedures
Denton ISD Adult Education and Literacy Program
Operational Guidelines for Adult Education Staff
Bullying
Denton ISD Adult Education and Literacy
Program
Keys to Creating a Cross Training Program
Think of cross training, or training an employee on tasks
outside of his or her job, as an essential element of your
business. A cross-training program:
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Reduces turnover by rejuvenating an employee’s job
and eliminating stagnation by providing a professional
development opportunity.
Provides flexibility in managing your workforce while
eliminating a potential for disaster if an employee
leaves your workplace.
Increases productivity as cross-trained staff members
can assist others during busy times.
Decreases departmental and position silos by creating
a team atmosphere, while improving understanding
between departments and individuals.
Makes employees more valuable to the company by
obtaining new skills.
Reduces employee stress induced by vacations and
sick days as others understand the job and can fill in.
A good cross-training plan takes time to strategize and
implement, so don’t wait for disaster to strike. Begin planning
now to build cross-training into your yearly training plan.
Cross Training
A good cross-training
plan takes time to
strategize and
implement, so don’t
wait for disaster to
strike. Begin planning
now to build crosstraining into your
yearly training plan.
Standard Operating Procedures
Standard
Operating
Procedures
1
When creating a cross-training program:
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Standard Operating Procedures
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Determine your organization’s objectives. What do you want your crosstraining program to accomplish and how will you measure if your program is
a success? A sample objective could be, reduce turnover to only five
individuals by the end of this year.
Obtain employee buy-in. Explain why your organization is beginning a crosstraining program, such as to increase employees’ skills and coverage during
vacations and to create a team approach. Make sure they understand that
job security will not be affected if more than one individual understands the
role. Ask employees about their objectives and career goals to help them
obtain the skills they would like to learn.
Analyze your employee’s skills. Create a spreadsheet with the following
columns: employee’s name, position, skills required for the position and
employee’s skills. Add a row for each of your employees. Then compare your
employees’ skills to determine who best can successfully cross train to fill a
role or who would be a best fit based on the skills they want to learn.
Consider naming two individuals who can cross-train per position.
Set training time. Do you want employees to train nonstop for a week or
month, or do you prefer to train one hour a week?
Establish guidelines for individual trainings. Make sure that all trainers
understand their roles, for example, developing a training presentation,
presenting the material, providing hands on practice and then testing.