September 15, 2010 Jason

Are You Training Your Replacement?

One of the ways you can show your value to your current employer is to train someone else how to do your current job. Training your replacement not only demonstrates that you are a team player, but it can also give you a confidence boost. When you know your job so well that you can teach someone else to do it, that’s a pretty good thing. Hopefully you are working on learning the next job, so you will be a shoe-in when the position comes up.

Choosing the right person to fill your shoes is tricky, but here are a few suggestions to help you help them:

  • Choose the person that can do the job, not the one you like the most. Hopefully they are one and the same, but this won’t always be the case
  • Write down the steps required for your current role. Identify and eliminate the steps that aren’t necessary
  • Share the secrets. If you learned a trick or two to make the job better, share this info. If it can help your candidate learn faster, it will help you look better
  • Communicate clearly with your ideal candidate. Ask open ended questions and use hypothetical situations to help them think about the appropriate solution
  • Be honest. Let the person you are training know why you training them.
  • Be positive. You’ve been doing your job long enough to become the expert. Let your candidate have room to learn. Sometimes, they are going to make mistakes, and that’s ok

If you are looking to advance within your current company, or switch over to a new one, the skills that you will develop by training your replacement will be useful for you for your whole career.

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