ECI uses a Cross Training Program so that all management and office staff are put out on the floor for a more hands-on experience, to get them more familiar with the company and the products. Each individual spends an allotted time each week learning the different aspects of the printing and fabrication divisions of the company. ECI prides itself on giving employees continuous opportunities to grow and learn in their understanding and career.
This way of Cross Training will be assisted with ECI’s new location in Watertown as the building creates a more fluid feel where people from all departments will be able to interact more efficiently. Glass doors and walls were installed as well as an automatic sliding door to help keep the movement in the office more free-flowing and easier for co-workers to interact with each department. The sliding doors are specifically placed in the main offices, leading into the shipping and receiving areas.
Intercompany Cross Training has several benefits.
Continuous Opportunities and Finding New Perspectives: Cross training gives employees the opportunity to grow and learn new skills that will help them on their career path or whichever path they make take. What is most important is being open to opportunities that will introduce employees to new projects that will provoke thought and inspire new perspectives. New perspectives will look at a project with new eyes and find different (and sometimes better) ways of going about a project, improving the quality of work and the environment.
Deeper Understanding: Employees that work in the offices of ECI will have a deeper understanding of the business that they work for and will be more involved with their company as this Cross Training boosts company morale. By gaining a new perspective of the company, employees can return to their desks with a new view of their own projects.
Cooperation: Many people that work in the offices have little to no interaction with people working out on the production floor. With Cross Training, employees interact more with one another, bonding as they use teamwork to get projects done.
The idea was created by ECI President, Edward Cook, who believed that in order to open up opportunities to his employees and find new perspectives they needed a direct experience out on the production floor and get a better feel for what they are actually working with. The goal of cross training for ECI is to help our staff better accomplish and take on new opportunities to improve individual project methods to help service our customers in a much more thorough way and provide them with the best quality product in a timely fashion.