Training your own replacement?
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25 Posts
So here is for an awkward situation. I recently accepted a fantastic new position (in this economy no less). Unfortunately, they are letting go the former HR director (hence I am starting). My future supervisor wants my predecessor to train me. Does anyone have any advice on how I should proceed? I know I should be as honest as possible and I know this isn't a personal decision, I am just wondering if there are pitfalls I should be award of.
Thank you in advance!
Comments
I have heard of this being done before, although I think it makes for a very awkward situation. You are very likely to end up not learning that much information as the person may be very bitter about being asked to do this. In my opinion I don't think this is a good move on the new company's part. They could ask the person to write down all the pertinent information regarding the position but asking someone to train their replacement when they are being terminated is rough. I guess one question is why is the person being terminated? If he/she is not doing their job correctly then are you really going to learn that much?
Since it sounds like you don't have much choice on this then I would go in and learn as much about the company and the processes as possible. Ask about the top priorities, problems, projects currently working on, etc. I would then sit down and talk with your new boss about the expectations, downfalls of the department in the past and what he/she would like to see as the top priority. It is likely that the answers you get from the former Director are different from your new boss.
Good Luck with this.
So here is for an awkward situation. I recently accepted a fantastic new position (in this economy no less). Unfortunately, they are letting go the former HR director (hence I am starting). My future supervisor wants my predecessor to train me. Does anyone have any advice on how I should proceed? I know I should be as honest as possible and I know this isn't a personal decision, I am just wondering if there are pitfalls I should be award of.
Thank you in advance!
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Don't ask, don't tell. Just treat them like a peer, learn everything you can, and don't get sucked into gossip or their cause of termination (which may be voluntary unless you know something you haven't written here).