Cross-training manufacturing employees is a great idea, no matter the industry. In manufacturing, the benefits are even more noticeable than in other industries. Cross-trained employees can be deployed to different areas of your facility to create a more efficient operation.
Keeping a manufacturing facility running smoothly requires you to be fully staffed, without overstaffing. When you need to find new team members for your factory, reach out to Liberty Staffing so that we can help.
In the meantime, here are the most important reasons to cross-train your manufacturing team.
1. Cross-Training Gives You Increased Flexibility in the Workplace
When you can quickly transition your employees from one area of the factory to another, you gain a much more flexible workplace. When facing unexpected vacancies, you can simply shift cross-trained employees into a new position, either for the short term or the long term.
That flexibility continues throughout the year, as the demand changes for different roles. For example, when the holiday season approaches, it is normal for manufacturers to see a surge in orders. The need to ramp up production is accompanied by the need for more employees in specific departments. Cross-training permits exactly that.
2. Cross-Training Manufacturing Employees Improves Your Operational Efficiency
When an employee understands how to do multiple tasks within a manufacturing facility, they can easily switch to a new workflow without creating an emergency training bottleneck.
Operations may be further improved when these high-value employees recognize growth opportunities, thanks to their unique insights. Cross-trained employees develop special insights from working in multiple departments and roles. Listen to what they have to say so that you can make important operational improvements.
3. Cross-Trained Employees Provide Better Coverage
Backup coverage is incredibly important if you want to avoid delays in your facility’s operations. When there are absences, turnover, and other unexpected changes in your workforce, having a pool of cross-trained employees is a great way to avoid letting things come to a screeching halt.
Cross-trained employees improve your overall continuity and help you avoid frustrating bottlenecks and slow-downs.
4. Cross-Training Leads to Improved Problem-Solving
Everyone knows that big-picture thinking is essential to running a successful manufacturing plant. When people get too focused on just one part of the company, they often fail to understand how different departments work together and impact one another. Putting everyone into their own separate department means that nobody in the facility gains that “big picture” point of view.
Cross-training resolves this problem. Employees who have a better understanding of the entire manufacturing process can more effectively troubleshoot issues and find solutions.
5. Your Employees Gain More Skills
Everyone agrees: It is better to have a more skilled workforce than a less skilled one.
Cross-training your manufacturing employees provides them with new opportunities to learn new skills and enhance their knowledge. Not only does this mean that you are developing your own workforce, but it also gives your employees the potential to improve their long-term career aspects.
When your team members get on-the-job training, they are more likely to have a positive attitude toward work. Additionally, it helps you develop a reputation as a place where people want to work. This creates a cyclical effect: your employees are happier, so you can hire more employees, so your employees are happier, and it just keeps on going.
6. Your Workplace Becomes More Collaborative Because of Cross-Training
Cross-training manufacturing employees encourages communication and collaboration among your employees, even when they work in different areas. This leads to a teamwork-oriented culture where employees encourage one another and share their knowledge.
7. Cross-Training and Temporary Workers Go Hand-in-Hand
Manufacturing companies often rely on temporary workers to ensure that they are fully staffed. These important team members supplement your permanent workforce, especially during high-activity periods like seasonal production peaks and large projects.
Onboarding and training temporary employees can take time, of course. If you have a group of employees who are trained in multiple areas, they can serve as mentors, trainers, and “buddy system” supporters to temporary workers.
This approach to staffing that combines temporary workers and cross-trained permanent workers reduces downtime and training delays that sometimes come along with getting temp employees up to speed.
Do You Need New Employees? Liberty Staffing Can Help
At Liberty Staffing Services, we work with numerous manufacturing companies throughout Southern Ontario. We know exactly what it takes to keep a facility running smoothly. You can’t hit your production goals if you struggle to maintain a fully staffed facility. That’s where we come in.
Our staffing professionals know how to recruit, onboard, and manage your employees so that you can focus on making your factory work just like it needs to. You focus on production and profit, and we’ll focus on providing you with the employees you need to make it happen.
We can provide temporary, temporary-to-permanent, permanent, full time, and part time employees, depending on your needs. Let go of the tedious work of recruiting employees, interviewing applicants, and onboarding new hires. Let us do this for you.
Liberty Staffing is Southern Ontario’s leading staffing agency. Contact us today so that we can get started!
