Investing in “multiskilling” minimizes the impacts of the pandemic — and much more
In practice, multiskilling enables employees to know the work processes of their closest colleagues
The enormous spread of the Omicron variant, in addition to all the sad consequences we already know, is causing yet another problem for companies: a huge number of workers who unfortunately become infected and, as a result, need to take temporary leave from work.
In these cases, of course, a company's absolute priority must always be to put the health and safety of its employees first.
However, there is something more that a good management system can add to minimize the impact of suddenly having a significant number of employees on leave: investing in the “multiskilling” of everyone who works in the organization. In other words, this means, to the extent necessary and possible, enabling employees to know the work processes of their closest colleagues or of those who are part of their respective teams.
In fact, this is something permanent in the lean system. Multiskilling is implemented as an element for increasing productivity, because it enables a better distribution of work among the members of a cell, preventing some from being overloaded and others from remaining idle within the production cycles.
'A view of the flow'
Besides improving productivity, multiskilling is a factor in employee development and motivation.
First, it gives everyone a “view of the flow”. When a person's knowledge is not restricted only to what he or she does, but extends to colleagues' processes, this creates an extraordinary view of the “flow”. This allows the team to reveal more problems, think of new solutions and further improve their respective processes and the value chain of the entire company.
In addition, by becoming more multiskilled, people, of course, gain more knowledge, learn more, broaden their perception... Which can even help them grow in their careers, also increasing job satisfaction and their regard for the company.
And if this happens throughout the organization, the company tends to become increasingly flexible and resilient. For example, when a person in a very specific role is absent or on leave, the activity can continue, with some reallocation within the team. This may result in lower output or an overload, which will need to be distributed and managed, but at least it will not bring the team to a complete stop.
For this to happen correctly and even naturally, there are at least three principles that need to be implemented and that are foundations of the lean system.
How to implement multiskilling
First, organize activities into “cells”, which are small groups responsible for a given process, whose members work close together (physically or virtually) and, therefore, are in a better position to learn and assimilate one another's tasks.
Another important thing is to adopt what we call Standardized Work, which means defining as precisely as possible how each person's activities should be carried out. And, through visual management, making this clear and easy to understand for everyone.
And, of course, there must be supportive leaders who understand the importance of this whole process and, thus, provide the conditions for all of this to happen in the company in an organized way.
For companies that had not been investing in multiskilling, this may be the time to start. And for those that already were, it is time to expand.
In addition to the inherent benefits, this can bring greater robustness to the continuity of the organization's activities, particularly in uncertain times such as this new phase of the pandemic, which unfortunately may still continue, with its ups and downs.
