Looking for a way to boost employee morale, help them learn new skills, and keep them at your company? Job rotation may be one way to do all three.
By using job rotations, employees are not locked into the same position with a limited career path. Instead, they move through a number of different jobs in their department or in their team. This helps to keep them motivated, adds to their skills, and ensures they remain with the company. Moreover, it also helps with the operation of your business – if someone is ill or away at a conference, there will always be someone else who can step into the absent person’s job.
The Key is Planning
Like any other initiative, implementing a job rotation approach takes careful planning. A clear set of guidelines need to be put together so that each employee knows what to expect when they move to a new job, and managers are also clear on what their responsibilities are.
Everyone needs to be clear on what the purpose of the job rotation program is, there needs to be a plan for how it will be carried out, and a way of measuring its success. It does involve extra training for employees, but the payoffs easily outweigh the expense.
Illustrations
For example, in human resources, a person who handles health insurance could be shifted to work with job referrals. Moving people around the HR department familiarizes them with all of the functions it performs. This makes it easier for someone who has questions about an HR issue – the person can get immediate help from anyone in the department and doesn’t have to wait for a specific individual.
The same is true with sales. As salespeople move around to different jobs, they become familiar with each other’s clients. Again, if a particular person is not available, job rotation enables someone else to fill in seamlessly.
Retention
Job rotations can be an effective way to keep employees engaged and growing in their careers. Often a valued employee finds his job growing stale and routine – he has gone as far as he can go in that particular position, he has mastered all the skills needed. But there is no room for him to move up. Allowing the person to move into another job can reinvigorate his interest and enthusiasm, acquire new skills, and give him a better understanding of the overall operation of the company. It also reduces the chances of losing the person.
If your company is looking for good people, Opti Staffing can supply you with the employees you need. We have an established reputation for outstanding service. Give us a call today.