Cross-training usually benefits both the employee and the organization. With cross training, there are others to do the job if someone is absent. With many organizations, including libraries, emphasizing teams, members of the team can often perform the tasks an absent employee was assigned. Cross training can make some people's job more interesting, with a variety of duties to perform. When departments are combined, cross training and cross staffing occurs.
Unions often are obstacles to cross training and cross staffing.
Additional training and responsibilities become bargaining tools and need to be negotiated. Hammering out details involving multiple responsibilities can be difficult when dealing with units of people. Individuals, who are reluctant to change, hinder plans of cross training. Supervisors need to discover the cause of the person's reluctance before they can overcome it. Most cross staffing outside departments is when catalogers work the reference desk.