Because cross-trained employees are more knowledgeable about the overall business processes of the organization, their conceptual understanding of the mission of their organization is enhanced by every incremental increase of their involvement and knowledge of its operations (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Beyond that element of increased involvement, the fact that cross-trained workforces tend to improve the morale and organizational connectedness of individual employees also contributes directly to organizational benefits through the positive impact on individual performance. Finally, cross-trained workforces also collaborate better and exhibit increased interpersonal rapport with coworkers. According to generally accepted principles of organizational behavior, this element also improves individual work performance beyond what is capable of achieving without such interpersonal rapport among coworkers (Russell-Whalling, 2008).

Conclusions and Recommendations

The review of the available literature on the beneficial effects of cross-trained workforces on their organizations strongly suggests that, as a general rule, cross-training should be implemented in business...
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