Security Sales & Integration

October 2012

SSI serves security installing contractors providing systems and services; surveillance, access control, biometrics, fire alarm and home control/automation. Coverage in commercial and residential product applications, designs, techniques, operations.

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Building Your Business by Bob Harris WHY CROSS-TRAINING IS VITAL FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION Bob Harris is President of Los Angeles-based Attrition Busters, offering seminars, workshops, and consulting services for recurring revenue model businesses. He can be reached at (818) 730-4690 or visit attritionbusters.com. bobh@attritionbusters.com To cultivate staff fl exibility, companies should instruct employees in the necessary elements of multiple jobs within the organization. Learn the many benefi ts from cross-training and how it can fortify your company in lean times. espite employees being spread so thin these days, far too few managers are taking action to foster workplace enthusiasm and keep work skills current, which can increase both effi ciency and eff ectiveness at the same time. How passionate is your pursuit at stimulating success throughout your organization? One of the most eff ective ways to release some pressure on your staff and restore enthusiasm is by providing meaningful cross-training. In this lean environment, training of all kinds is typically put on the back burner. Too often when owners and managers see that everyone is extremely busy the prevailing viewpoint is "there's never enough time for training." One of the red fl ags I look for when consulting with a client is a situation where everyone in the company is relying on just one individual who knows how to do a specifi c task. When cross-training isn't fi rmly in place and methodically applied, teamwork evaporates, morale suff ers and so does the quality of the service. A disaster is waiting to happen should that one individual get sick, go on vacation or leave the company altogether. Smaller companies typically tell me they "don't have time" to cross-train their employees. Large companies tell me they do conduct cross-training, but they "don't have time" to follow 68 / SECURITYSALES.COM / OCTOBER 2012 up on the training so things revert back to the status quo and momentum is quickly stymied. Perhaps time management training is also being overlooked because not committing to cross-training undermines the potential of your business and costs you plenty in ways you may not even realize. THROWING GASOLINE ON A FIRE A lack of cross-training often manifests into a culture of fi refi ghters. All too often I witness employees and managers running around from one predicament to another. Futilely attempting to extinguish all these fi res leaves little time to get actual work done and is usually at the root of the time management problem to begin with. Many of the embers that start these troublesome hotspots are derived from the same places over and over again. And yet management seems more inclined to apply short- term fi xes than they are at arming the brigade with tools to prevent these chronic issues in the fi rst place. If this sounds like it might be the case at your company, perhaps a good, hard look in the mirror along with some open and honest dialogue with your team might provide answers that will shed light on signifi cant long-term constructive benefi t. Not actively employing any meaningful cross-training usually points to the fact that you're also not investing in any eff ective customer service and sales training either. Cross- training is far more constructive for your team and your company than the harm caused by consistently applying PHOTOGRAPHY ©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/SQUAREDPIXELS

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