Cross-Training and Career Development for Warehouse Managers: 2 Essential Elements of Efficient Warehouse Operations

Cross-training and career development are two concepts that should always be top of mind for all warehouse supervisors. It is their responsibility to ensure that those who work for them feel valued and that they have the skills necessary to tackle any challenge thrown at them. Today we will look at why these two concepts allow warehouse supervisors to reach their goal of equipping employees with what they need to achieve success at work. 

Cross-training makes it possible to run a warehouse even when there are people who are out due to sickness or for personal reasons. Meanwhile, career development makes it possible to promote people into positions where they are better able to support the operations of the warehouse as a whole. 

Given the value that both cross-training and career development offer to warehouse managers, let's take a deep dive on these topics.

What is Cross-Training? 

Mindtools, a content and educational platform for entrepreneurs and business leaders, assists with a useful definition of precisely what cross-training is in a workplace setting: 

Cross-training is the practice of training your people to work in several different roles, or training them to do tasks that lie outside their normal responsibilities.

The value of implementing cross-training in your warehouse is that there will always be employees available to accomplish vital tasks throughout the business even if the primary individual originally assigned to that task is not available. After all, employees call out of work for sickness or personal reasons at any time, and having a fill-in replacement readily available can help the warehouse continue to run seamlessly. 

Cross-Training and Career Development Benefits for Employers

Employers should leverage the opportunity to cross-train employees and help them with their career development because doing so helps create the most efficient workforce possible. The modern economy is more competitive than ever before, and it is essential to have the most skilled employees possible. Cross-training and career development are two excellent ways to do that. 

Additional benefits of cross-training for employers include: 

• Better Adaptability - Employees who have been cross-trained are able to perform more job duties than they could before. This makes them more adaptable to meet the various challenges that could be thrown their way in the warehouse. Managers will surely appreciate this because it means that they can shift around various employees as necessary to meet the needs of the warehouse at any point in time. 
• Higher Retention Rates - It is prohibitively costly to hire new employees over and over again. Improving retention rates will help any employer save money. Cross-training employees is an excellent way to keep more of them around. They will have more responsibilities and a greater sense of ownership in their work. That is likely to play into their decision to stick around. Retaining employees keeps replacement and training costs down and helps the warehouse run efficiently.  

It is certainly beneficial to cross-train employees. It is also helpful to work on their career development as well. When a warehouse helps employees reach their full potential via career development, the employer gains the following benefits: 

• Ability to Fulfill Advanced Roles - Finding the right people with the right skill sets to take on certain advanced roles is hard to do. However, when an employer works with their employees to develop those skills while on the job, they can promote employees from within. Working on career development with employees may mean that there are fewer open roles moving forward.
• A More Competitive Workforce - The competition to acquire top talent has not slowed down in the supply chain and keeping your employees is the best way to compete against other warehouses vying for the same talent. Working on the career development of your employees is key to retaining them.

Cross-Training and Career Development Benefits for Employees 

Employees naturally benefit from being cross-trained. In fact, many employees actively ask to be cross-trained because they know that this can help them earn new certifications. Those certifications can lead to more advanced job roles and higher pay. Additional upsides of cross-training for employees include the following: 

• Skill Acquisition - Learning new skills and applying them to their day-to-day work life is something that warehouse employees can benefit from when it comes to cross-training. They can gain new certifications and take on a great amount of responsibility around the warehouse. This may lead to a stronger sense of personal responsibility, leading to increased productivity.
• Increased Job Security - When there is one individual that can do the work of many, they add to their job security. When an employee knows that his or her job is secure, they can focus their mind on the tasks of the day instead of working about not having a job in the future. 

Beyond the obvious benefits of career development for employees such as great job satisfaction, there are other upsides as well. The benefits include: 

• Improved Motivation - People like it when they feel like the work that they do matters. Career development can help an employee feel more motivated by their work and by accomplishing the tasks assigned to them. 
• Loyalty and Retention - Employees who are encouraged to develop their careers are more likely to stay in the job that they are in now. They feel respected by their employer and that makes them want to return the favor by showing their loyalty to that employer. 

An Example of Cross-Training in Action 

There are many important roles within a warehouse, and many of these roles require a specific set of skills to accomplish. Examples include: 

• Receivers
• Selectors
• Forklift Operators 

An employee might be brought in to work as a receiver, but they can be cross-trained to become a forklift operator. Operating a forklift requires a certain level of certification and training to do this work. Working to cross-train an employee to develop these skills and certifications improves warehouse efficiency and potentially helps those employees earn more responsibilities and a greater level of job satisfaction. 

Implementation Strategies 

You need to have a roadmap for how you will offer your cross-training plans to your employees. Although there are many detailed steps, always keep the following in mind: 

1. Your strategy can and should be rolled out slowly 
2. The benefits of cross-training should be highlighted 
3. Look for those who adapt to cross-training the most and put them in leadership roles 

These are the top concepts to bare in mind as you begin to implement your cross-training strategy. 

Overcoming Common Hurdles 

There will always be some struggles that you are faced with when implementing your cross-training strategy. The resistance to your program may be the first big initial hurdle. Some employees may have the wrong idea about what cross-training really means and what is in it for them. You should explain what the benefits are to them before trying to implement these plans. 

Keep in mind that you also want to treat everyone fairly. You should promote inclusiveness in the warehouse and always be open to hearing the concerns and thoughts of all employees. If you do this, all employees will feel seen and heard, and this will make them more likely to accept your cross-training concepts. 

Take Advantage of Our Cross-Training and Career Development Expertise

There are so many upsides to promoting people up the ladder and Eclipse IA is an expert at finding the potential in employees and helping our clients reap the benefits of promoting the right employees to the right positions at the right time. Take the story of Rene Valadez as an example. Today, Mr. Valadez is a Regional Operations Manager for Eclipse. He first joined the company in 2017 as a Site Supervisor and worked hard to maintain the emphasis on safety in the facility that he oversaw. His hard work was noticed, and after a year he received a call from the SVP of Client & Operational Strategy. They wanted to know if he would be interested in a recruiting position. He agreed to take on the assignment and found that he loved it. 

Mr. Valadez has always stepped up when called upon. It has helped him to climb the ladder with Eclipse. It has also benefited the company by tapping into the talents that Valadez clearly exhibits. Both sides benefit, and the company improves as a whole. 

Eclipse IA Can Help You With Creating Cross-Training and Career Development Programs 

The development of a cross-training and career development programs clearly has many advantages and is critically important. Eclipse IA can assist with the creation of these types of programs. 

We have a wealth of experience when it comes to cross-training and promoting employees to the benefit of our clients. We have done so for many warehouses before, and we will be happy to do the same for you.

Reach out to our team and we will be happy to speak with you about what you can do to create the programs needed to make your warehouse truly excel.