In today's small businesses, many employees are often asked to wear many different "hats", as the need to have a small group of employees able to work in multiple areas of the business increases. Especially in slow economic times, while the ideal may be to hire employees who are masters of their specific areas (such as H.R., accounting and marketing), it is just not feasible for most small businesses.

A lot of businesses use the "learn as you go" method. They will have an experienced staff member coach and educate a subordinate on the day-to-day affairs of the experienced staff member. This works well until you have to have the subordinate employee do something that is "out of the box". How do you properly cross train employees while keeping costs down? In this article by the eHow.com Business Editor, a step-by-step plan is laid out on the best way to cross train your staff. It is more than a matter of finding the right classes offered to educate your employee. While it can go hand-in-hand with empowering your employees, if communication isn't maintained feelings of distrust and fear of job loss and consolidation can emerge.

Another major area of training that is often overlooked is company image and perception. For example, the Hard Rock Cafe has the image of being a fun, unique rock 'n roll dining establishment that is as much about the entertainment and uniqueness of the establishment as it is about the food. You won't ever see people wearing t-shirts with Denny's logos and the names of faraway cities and this isn't something that happened overnight or by luck. Training and then maintaining their employees on the business culture is how Hard Rock got and has kept up it's image. "Creating and Maintaining a Culture that Rocks" by Jim Knight describes how hard Hard Rock Cafe works to create and then pass on their image to their customers. This can be applied to most businesses regardless of size or industry.

By dedicating time and effort to training and maintaining your staff, you can have a small company who's employees are able to do big things in multiple areas of your business. You'll find both productivity and profit will increase, while turnover and absentism will decrease.