How to Help an Employee to Train Their Replacement

There are many reasons why an employee will need to be involved in training their replacement. One of the most common is that they're leaving and the business wants to feel confident the person taking on the job is fully prepared.

This can be a challenging time for all involved, including the person who is vacating the role. The process of leaving their job and moving onto new things (or retiring) will already be fraught with emotion and uncertainty, which could be compounded by the responsibility of having to train their replacement.

So what can the HR department do to make this transition as smooth as possible?

Give them time

To ensure the process is stable and fair for everyone involved, it's important to ensure there's enough time available for the outgoing worker to train their replacement properly.

Firstly, the person doing the training shouldn't be expected to assume the responsibility of preparing the new employee on top of their other everyday duties. Asking someone to do multiple tasks in a tight timeframe is likely to result in none of the assignments being completed to a high standard.

Furthermore, the more time you provide for the replacement to be properly trained, the less stressful the handover will be for all parties. One of the most effective ways for a new arrival to learn the ins and outs of a job is by observing an experienced person doing it. It's beneficial, therefore, to provide plenty of time for the outgoing employee to simply go about their regular tasks while their replacement observes.

Explain why their guidance is so valuable

Someone who has been doing a job for a long time might have lost perspective on how challenging certain aspects of the position might be. They may have reached the point where tasks other people would find daunting are second nature, and even started to take their hard-earned skills for granted.

In this scenario, it's important to reiterate to the person leaving the role why their knowledge and insights are so important and why they have such a crucial part to play in training the person who’ll be taking over from them.

This shows the individual that they’re still highly valued and have a vital contribution to make to the ongoing performance and success of the business. This could be particularly relevant for long-serving, loyal staff who are retiring. These employees can take pride from the fact that, while their working life may be coming to an end, they can leave behind a valuable legacy for the company.

Emphasize the importance of the process

One justifiable concern you might have about a member of staff training their replacement is that the outgoing employee will already have one foot out the door.

If someone who is leaving your organization for a job elsewhere seems disengaged and uninterested in training their replacement, sit them down for a face-to-face conversation about why this is so crucial and why they're the best person for the task.

It's also worth emphasizing that, even though they might not be working for you for much longer, while they're still on your payroll you expect them to continue playing an active role in the business and its daily operations.

You could consider some techniques that might help to engage people who have lost focus, such as giving them positive feedback and asking them what you could be doing to support them during this time.

Work with them to build a picture of the role

While an experienced employee will be a good source of information and insight into their role, you shouldn't expect them to do all the work when it comes to giving a detailed account of the job and everything it involves.

It's crucial for the HR department to work in close collaboration with an outgoing staff member who has been asked to train their replacement, so they don't feel like they're being unfairly burdened or asked to do something they're not comfortable with.

Sit down with the departing employee to create a detailed picture of their role, covering key points such as:

• The core responsibilities of the job
• The common tasks and activities that occupy most of their time
• The systems, technologies and tools they use on a daily basis
• The environment they work in
• How the position fits into the organization as a whole

All of this can be passed on to the person taking over the role, to ensure they're fully informed and ready to hit the ground running. You could also consider creating a continuity document and a detailed job guide with instructions on how to execute the most important duties of this role.

If this information is documented and easily available to anyone who needs it, the outgoing employee and the person replacing them can focus on working together to make this transition as seamless as possible.