AS EMPLOYEES begin to set off for summer holidays are you satisfied that you have the skills in place to allow essential business activities to continue or is your business going to be left with a gaping skills hole?
You may feel comfortable with the skills in your organisation on a day-to-day basis, but all too often businesses can overlook their weak spots where only one person can perform a particular task.
Imagine if that task was using Sage Accounts to generate invoices: what impact would that have on cash flow?
“At this time of year, we often receive calls for help because the only person who knows how to deal with something is on holiday,” says Philippa Nicholson, managing director of Nicholson Solutions.
“There are many proactive approaches which can ensure your employees and business are prepared and skilled-up to cope with staff absence for holidays.”
The best defences against holiday hitches are procedures, says Philippa.
“Procedures for key tasks give the stand-in member of staff a sound method to follow, but they may still need to know how to use specific software for the task. Are your key operations protected with adequate training?”
Training in the workplace need not always be formal, she adds, and there are a number of different ways to engage in training:
Encourage and enable ways for the “skills gurus” to share their knowledge and tips throughout the organisation via a wiki or intranet.
Perhaps there is a “Word guru”, “Excel guru” or “Sage guru” within your organisation – why not tap into those skills by hosting a learning hour over lunch for other colleagues? This will help to eliminate skills gaps for both short-term absence and future change.
Online videos, blogs, webinars and podcasts are great tools for delivering short, sharp, focused nuggets of information. Although the internet is a great source for these resources, why not encourage saving and sharing good reference information within a central point in your organisation?
It can seem disruptive and expensive to attend a formal training course, but taking time out with colleagues to develop skills as a group can be very productive. The trainer can facilitate specific learning, ensuring that concepts are related to organisational needs and on-the-job tasks.
While investing in procedures and shared learning to safeguard your organisation against short-term absences, there are a number of long-term benefits which can also be realised, such as improved skills levels, motivated employees and an increased ability to adapt to change.