Training Up, Not Down

As I mentioned in my last job, I have been training to transition to a different job in the company. I was asked to conduct interviews to find a replacement and we were able to find a great candidate for the job. Now it was time to train them, only this wasn’t just any onboarding. The person we hired to take over my position is highly experienced, more experienced than me. As this situation has taught me a great deal, I thought it would make for the perfect blog!

When you are put in the situation where you are training someone more experienced than you for the job, it is important to analyze what they most likely already know and which they don’t know. As this is an administrative role, I assumed that the candidate would know how to manage a calendar, schedule travel, phone etiquette, etc. On the contrary, I know that the candidate does not have any company specific process knowledge, so that is what will be focused on for training. It is important to see the difference between field knowledge and institutional knowledge. The institutional knowledge to go over would be things like systems, company culture, routines, contacts, tools, so on and so forth.

As you are training, it is also important to train with humility and avoid defensiveness at all times and be open minded. Have the confidence to show what has worked for the company but keep it open so that the candidate can share ideas of how to improve the existing processes. This includes being honest about what gaps there are in the processes so that the candidate can help quickly fill them. Earlier I mentioned that this training situation has taught me so remember to keep in mind that you might end up learning from them too.

Lastly, setting a collaborative tone in the beginning will be beneficial throughout the process. It is easy to overexplain and micromanage, so instead try to invite feedback and mutual exchange. Let the candidate come to you more than you go to them but be available for them to feel comfortable to do so.

Overall, when training someone who has been in the field longer, make sure to focus on what you do know, be open minded while sharing, and collaborate instead of micromanaging. This will create a smooth transition for the candidate and you.