麻豆果冻传媒

5: Survival Guide for New Managers: What Training Alone Won鈥檛 Teach You | Stephen Dixon

Release Date:听

June 23, 2025

Release Date: June 10

What If Your Most Valuable Employee Knowledge Is About to Walk Out the Door?

For HR and learning professionals facing an aging workforce, shifting generations, and mounting pressure to future-proof their organizations, knowledge transfer isn't a nice-to-have鈥攊t's a necessity. Unfortunately, it too often gets stuck in formal SOPs or forgotten when key people leave. In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, host Mickey Fitch-Collins talks with Stephen Dixon, VP of HR and Administration at CAMICO, about how to make sure the wisdom that keeps your organization running doesn鈥檛 retire before it鈥檚 passed on.

Drawing from over 40 years in HR鈥攁nd 24 at CAMICO鈥擲tephen shares how his organization is tackling knowledge transfer in a practical, people-centered way. This isn鈥檛 about building perfect documentation. It鈥檚 about building relationships, creating safe conversations, and understanding that mentorship doesn鈥檛 always look like a formal program.

What You鈥檒l Learn:

  • A layered approach to identifying critical knowledge鈥攆rom executives to frontline people leaders
  • How to engage seasoned employees who say, 鈥淚鈥檓 not a trainer鈥
  • How CAMICO uses behavioral-style questions to draw out tacit, experience-based knowledge
  • The risk of 鈥渘eed-to-know鈥 leadership and the costly organizational gaps it can create
  • The uncomfortable truth: people absorb knowledge at different speeds鈥攁nd that鈥檚 okay

In This Episode:

  • 00:00 鈥 Stephen鈥檚 HR career in a nutshell: 40+ years of insight and 24 years at CAMICO
  • 01:57 鈥 What counts as 鈥渃rucial knowledge鈥 for employee survival?
  • 02:21 鈥 Why manuals don鈥檛 cut it鈥攁nd how CAMICO is tackling tacit knowledge
  • 04:16 鈥 Bridging the gap between executive assumptions and frontline reality
  • 06:19 鈥 How frontline leaders refine what counts as critical knowledge
  • 08:17 鈥 Breaking down knowledge hoarding: 鈥淚鈥檓 not a trainer鈥 isn鈥檛 an excuse
  • 10:20 鈥 Coffee chats as knowledge transfer: making it conversational, not formal
  • 12:45 鈥 A mentorship program鈥攋ust don鈥檛 call it that
  • 13:05 鈥 Capturing nuance: storytelling as the real engine of knowledge sharing
  • 16:51 鈥 Why stories aren鈥檛 just data鈥攖hey鈥檙e trust-building moments
  • 18:40 鈥 Reverse mentoring: what seasoned pros can learn from fresh eyes
  • 20:53 鈥 A leadership failure: how hoarding information derailed a department
  • 25:30 鈥 Succession planning at every level鈥攏ot just for the C-suite
  • 27:27 鈥 If Stephen could pass on 3 lessons: emotional intelligence, collaboration, growth mindset
  • 31:10 鈥 Biggest leadership lesson? Culture, listening, and humility
  • 34:20 鈥 The hard truth: people learn at different speeds鈥攍eaders must adjust
  • 36:45 鈥 Two concrete takeaways: listen with intention and practice patient leadership
  • 39:13 鈥 Where to find Stephen: LinkedIn is now part of his routine

About Stephen:

Stephen Dixon is the Vice President of Human Resources and Administration at CAMICO, where he鈥檚 spent the last 24 of his 40+ years in HR leadership. He holds a master鈥檚 degree in human resource management from Golden Gate University and is known for his people-first approach to leadership, his commitment to interdepartmental collaboration, and his emphasis on emotional intelligence, growth mindset, and organizational culture.听

Resources Referenced:

  • by Carol Dweck

Connect with Us:

Show transcript
Close transcript
Be a Guest on The Learnit Lounge

Share:

Interested?

Other episodes

The Swirl logo鈩 is a trademark of AXELOS Limited, used under permission of AXELOS Limited.
All rights reserved. 漏 2024 麻豆果冻传媒!