The Best Gift for Your People
I overheard a conversation during which someone admitted that they never passed on all their knowledge to the person taking over from them so that they could always carry on looking like the “best” employee by supplying information that others clearly couldn’t.
Assuming that this attitude prevailed in the organisation for which that individual worked, it would take only 7-8 handovers before the body of knowledge required to perform that job competently was diluted by 50%. After 10 handovers, the body of knowledge would be below 40%.
In reality, what happens is that the new person in the job “catches up” and performs at the required level. However, this catch-up period would be longer than if a proper handover had taken place, with the result of reduced service levels, staff morale and general frustration all round.
If 7-8 people were taking over new jobs, the body of knowledge would again suffer a temporary 50% drop until the new job holders were “up to speed”.
Not a recipe for productivity, job satisfaction or high team morale.
Our job as managers is to produce the best people we can, not to hold them back. In an ideal world, everyone I train and coach should turn out better than me. Yes, there’s a risk that they could overtake me and become my manager some years down the line, but I’d rather have them as an ally, remembering how I helped then, than an enemy who remembers how I made them look bad. Karma can be tough…
Another result of failing to pass on knowledge, assuming one works in a larger team or function, is that overall performance in that function is impaired, making the team/function head look inadequate. No one is likely to thank a colleague who causes all this to happen because they haven't understood their duty to pass on knowledge.
The best gift we can give our people is our knowledge, experience and lessons learnt (the hard way).
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My websiteprovides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Career, Leadership, Productivity, Teamwork
posted by William Martin @ 15:14
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