Why should my staff have multiple skills?

Hi, so today’s top tip is the nine of clubs, and it’s all about multi-skilling your staff. 

In a small company, this is essential. In a large company, it tends to be a way of motivating and engaging staff. By ensuring that the processes are documented and that staff and managers understand each other’s roles and that, if necessary, more than one person can do any specific role, business owners are protecting their business, building resilience, and planning for business continuity should someone become ill, leave, or move to a different position. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your staff and ensure that people can provide adequate cover. 

This is particularly important in small businesses where you may have less than five employees, but they’ve all got their own unique roles and their own unique skill sets. Somebody goes on holiday for two weeks, what’s the cover for that, what’s the handover? 

As the business owner, you don’t necessarily want to be getting down into the weeds and covering the telephones just because your receptionist is away. What’s your backup plan? Who else can cover reception? Has your technology been set up in such a way that somebody can do their day job while sitting on the reception desk, for example? 

These are all things that you need to think about in multi-skilling your staff to ensure business continuity within your organisation.