The Benefits of Employee Job Rotations

What is a job rotation?

Workplace job rotations have been around for a long time and are most commonly utilized within small companies, where employees are asked to “wear multiple hats.” A job rotation is the practice of exposing some or all employees to multiple roles within the organization. That is, in addition to owning and mastering their own role, employees get to experience (and often train in) other positions within the company.

Job rotations are typically lateral, though there may be little to no likeness to the employee’s original role in some cases. These rotations are also temporary, with various lengths of time allocated. Eventually, the employees transition back to their original jobs.

What are examples of job rotations?

Generally speaking, job rotation practices have two different purposes: job shadowing and cross-training.

Job shadowing

The first kind of job rotation allows employees to shadow another team member in a completely different area of the business (typically one with little to no direct relation to the employee’s original job). This job rotation may last for a day or a week.

Example: An employee on the marketing team shadows someone in distribution, the warehouse or research and development. The primary purpose of this job shadowing or job rotation, is for employees to develop a stronger, more informed appreciation for others’ roles in the company. In turn, this fuels an ongoing team-building environment directly and helps colleagues get acquainted with each other. It also provides insights into the challenges and unique perspectives that others have about the rotating employee’s role and how the company’s processes operate from multiple departments’ perspectives.

The purpose of job shadowing is not necessarily training as there is not always a logical fit for this type of cross-training. It is designed to expose the rotating employee to other parts of the business to increase their knowledge and understanding.

Cross-training

The second kind of job rotation is the more widely used one as it carries practical application and functional support for certain positions. Job rotations focusing on cross-pollination of job knowledge tend to be more detailed and time-consuming. Cross-training aims to allow substitutes to step into essential roles when needed. This also fills the need for succession planning in technical or hard-to-fill roles, which must be well-positioned for future personnel changes. Like the first kind, this type of job rotation helps enrich and expand the employee experience while also strengthening the company’s business continuity plans.

Example: An accounting manager cross-trains with the payroll administrator. In this job rotation scenario, there is a much closer affiliation between the two roles. That is, they both may reside within the same department (in this case, accounting). Another example would be for a controller to cross-train in accounts receivable or accounts payable.

What are the benefits of employee job rotations?

There are many benefits of job rotations for both employees and their employers. Rarely does a company not find value in the practice. However, the challenge is developing meaningful opportunities with value-added benefits that company leadership can see and plan around.

As you develop a job rotation program, remember that you can’t just do it once or twice with no additional focus on its complexity and importance. Job rotations must be an ongoing, consistent and purposeful training program (or program for employee exposure) that folds into a company’s larger training and development programs.

What are the potential drawbacks of job rotations?

You’ll need to be mindful of a few drawbacks or obstacles when creating your company’s job rotation program. Many drawbacks are tied directly to inconsistent or short-term job rotation planning.

How do you develop a job rotation program?

There is more than one way to develop and maintain a successful job rotation program. Depending on your company’s size, resources and unique needs, you might take various approaches to create your own program. Here are some tried-and-true methods to incorporate into your planning process, regardless of the direction it takes down the road:

1. Get signoff and backing from all company leaders: Job rotation programs only last long with solid leadership support and joint investment. Every member of your company leadership must genuinely believe in its value and relevance.
2. Communicate with the whole company about the job cross-training program: For there to be less mystery about what the organization is doing, it is wise to share a detailed explanation, complete with Q&A sessions, with everyone in the company. Explain the what, how, when and why of it all.
3. Develop a (flexible) company policy: We recommend maintaining a company policy in your employee handbook about job rotation. It can be vague, allowing the organization to flex one way or another, but the overall practice of job rotation must be as equitable and fair as possible.
4. Identify all essential roles and each role’s critical needs: One of the most common early steps in this process is identifying which roles are the most important ones to get backup alignment for ASAP. A professional employer organization can help you identify these gaps in staffing.
5. Conduct a job analysis for similar positions within the company: When cross-training employees to be backups, it is a good idea to seek out people closest to or with some technical overlap with the role that needs the backup.
6. Create (or update) job descriptions: If your organization has not yet done so, you need to create job descriptions that the cross-trained employee can reference. Keep these descriptions current as job roles evolve as they will be the employees’ compass in the cross-training and backup experience.
7. Determine the ideal “bench strength” for each role: Knowing which roles to attack first and the critical duties within those jobs is essential, but you must also determine when a cross-trained employee is ready to step into the role if necessary. The finish line for the training is different for each role.
8. Develop a training or shadowing schedule: It’s important to create a program for training. Do not wing it. With each position your organization wants to cross-train team members for, develop a written program (or plan) to ensure that all critical aspects of the job are adequately covered.
9. Agree on the program’s selection process (related to the highest level of need): Once you’ve created the bones of the program, you will inevitably identify the most qualified or desired candidates to cross-train. This is important, but you should still create and follow a formal selection process.
10. Before cross-training, orient and prepare to receive employees and/or teams: Give setup and prep time to each employee you ask to cross-train another. For some people, having another employee peeking over their shoulder, asking questions all day and impeding their space is extremely taxing. Make sure you have laid the groundwork, so the process is smooth and enjoyable for all.
11. Evaluate the process, particularly with each cross-training event: Always evaluate your methods and practices in real time. Make improvements and capitalize on what is working well.
12. Assess annually: Your team should review the program on an annual basis. Are the company’s needs being met? Is the desired concept and purpose of cross-training being fulfilled?
13. Reward, acknowledge and measure progress and success: Encourage all who participate in the program by measuring progress — this is the fun part of job rotation programs. If you make it a desirable practice or opportunity, the job rotation program will draw attention from employees eager to cross-train in other roles within your organization.

Skye Schooley contributed to this article.