Answer:

There may be several things at work here. First, the senior employee may indeed feel threatened. But it may help to dig a little deeper to understand her resistance. Then, you may be able to get her to cooperate. Ideally, you won’t have to force her with a heavy hand.

This employee probably has a great deal of pride about her work. After all, she’s been the only one with that expertise, and to share that may feel like a big loss. In addition, she may feel that she is not appreciated, since others seem to be wrestling away her source of accomplishment and self-worth. I think you’ll make more progress if you appeal to that pride.

Here’s what I’d recommend. Schedule a conversation with the senior employee to have a heart to heart discussion about her concerns. Make sure you give her past work ample acknowledgement and tell her that her expertise makes her the ideal person to take a leadership role and mentor the new employee.

It’s important that she understands why her expertise must be shared. Reassure her about her role after the new person is trained, so she doesn’t think you are trying to replace her. Ask for her help in the context that the company needs her help to figure out a way to mentor the new employee so she can learn the job without making serious mistakes.

Listen carefully to her suggestions. It’s entirely possible that she doesn’t really have a clue about how to train someone. She may have learned the job over time, so feels that it’s impossible to teach someone everything. You may need to help her break it down into manageable pieces.

For instance:


1. What are the top five most important things the new employee must be able to do first? What would be a good way for her to learn them?



2. In what areas do you fear that she could make the most serious mistake and how could you make sure that doesn’t happen? You will be able to make suggestions about how to monitor her progress and check her work while giving her room to try new things.



3. Exactly how have you trained her in the past? How did she respond? This will give you some insight about how she teaches and how the new employee learns.



4. Set up a schedule with specific items to be learned by a series of dates. Schedule follow-ups with both employees together each week. During these progress review meetings, ask the new employee to share what she’s learned and ask the senior employee to report on her approach and progress.

While this may be more involvement than you would like to have, it might be necessary to make sure this information is transferred quickly and accurately.

If this approach doesn’t work, you will need to force the issue and make it clear that the senior employee is putting her job at risk by not cooperating in this important effort. In cases where the employee refuses to share what she knows, you are often better off without her—even if it means people have to scramble to pick up the pieces.

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