Cross-training in business operations, also known as multiskilling,[1][2] involves training employees for flexible response to changing production schedules.
Cross-training has been closely linked to cellular manufacturing—for example, in a book segment, "Cross Training in Cells and Flow Lines.
Sometimes, as an enabler of cross-training, the company adopts (perhaps as an element of a contract with the labor union) skill-base pay,[5][6] which refers to a pay-for-skills incentive; for example, for each new skill mastered, the employee's wage rate is increased by some amount, such as $0.50 per hour.
As one example, at Signicast Corp., Milwaukee, Wisc (producing investment castings) cross-trained operatives rotated among jobs every 4 to 6 hours.
[7] The concept of cross-training for front-line associates can apply also to the technical and professional staff—in that case being referred to as cross-careering.