#7a1: Cross-functional exposure as a means to growth.

Cross-functional training and exposure benefits both employees (at all levels) and their companies. Working in a new function, such as an engineering lead working in marketing, naturally stretches the individual. It places them in an entirely new and unfamiliar context; they are required to learn. As with beginner gains in weight training, early benefits come quickly.

This training also instills interdisciplinary thinking. A new host of skills and mental models can be applied and combined in novel ways. Cross-functional exposure also fills a large knowledge gap in an employee's understanding of business and of their company.

Through initiatives such as rotating across various business units, an individual can grow and gain more functional knowledge.

Related: 7a, 8a