It is well accepted today that to increase productivity multiskilling is the ultimate choice. At the same time it requires a great attitudinal change and comprehension to implement multiskill development.

Advantages of multiskilling

1. To identify the training needs of every employee.
2. To identify avenues for job rotation.
3. To identify areas for on-the-job training.
4. To assist in manpower planing/recruitment process for addition of new skills as direct intake to the organisation.
5. For maximising utilisation of manpower resources.
6. To take care of exigencies, succession planning etc.,

Constraints

1. Time consuming process.


2. Laborious data collection.


3. Involvement of shop level executives.


4. Continuous process and requires to be followed up at a regular frequency and schedule (at least once a year).


5. Training for consistency needed for shop floor supervisors/engineers to help towards appraising their workmen.

Management preparation

1. Management should be convinced thoroughly and should feel that this exercise is necessary.


2. Management should realise that it is a time consuming process and should not be impatient for results.


3. Batch size to be determined and batches of employees to be identified and prior approval from the management obtained for enabling interdepartmental transfers / rotations.


4. Both nurturing as well as vigil supervision is required in the organisation.


5. Resilience to take care of errors and rejections, if any.

Flexibility should be in built in the system in such a way that the skills which become redundant over a period of time should be constantly identified, eliminated and substituted with new skills required for the organisation. Further coordination of HR professional shall be valid only when he becomes a business professional whereby he/she understands and anticipates every requirement of the organisation with the changing pace of the market and environment. Today's HR professionals should adapt and enrich themselves with technical job knowledge that evolves in their organisation. They should take to multi skilling, as they have no other option other than this for their own existence.