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-haveβit'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 doesnβt retire before itβs passed on.
Drawing from over 40 years in HRβand 24 at CAMICOβStephen shares how his organization is tackling knowledge transfer in a practical, people-centered way. This isnβt about building perfect documentation. Itβs about building relationships, creating safe conversations, and understanding that mentorship doesnβt always look like a formal program.
What Youβll Learn:
- A layered approach to identifying critical knowledgeβfrom executives to frontline people leaders
- How to engage seasoned employees who say, βIβm not a trainerβ
- How CAMICO uses behavioral-style questions to draw out tacit, experience-based knowledge
- The risk of βneed-to-knowβ leadership and the costly organizational gaps it can create
- The uncomfortable truth: people absorb knowledge at different speedsβand thatβs okay
In This Episode:
- 00:00 β Stephenβs HR career in a nutshell: 40+ years of insight and 24 years at CAMICO
- 01:57 β What counts as βcrucial knowledgeβ for employee survival?
- 02:21 β Why manuals donβt cut itβand how CAMICO is tackling tacit knowledge
- 04:16 β Bridging the gap between executive assumptions and frontline reality
- 06:19 β How frontline leaders refine what counts as critical knowledge
- 08:17 β Breaking down knowledge hoarding: βIβm not a trainerβ isnβt an excuse
- 10:20 β Coffee chats as knowledge transfer: making it conversational, not formal
- 12:45 β A mentorship programβjust donβt call it that
- 13:05 β Capturing nuance: storytelling as the real engine of knowledge sharing
- 16:51 β Why stories arenβt just dataβtheyβre trust-building moments
- 18:40 β Reverse mentoring: what seasoned pros can learn from fresh eyes
- 20:53 β A leadership failure: how hoarding information derailed a department
- 25:30 β Succession planning at every levelβnot just for the C-suite
- 27:27 β If Stephen could pass on 3 lessons: emotional intelligence, collaboration, growth mindset
- 31:10 β Biggest leadership lesson? Culture, listening, and humility
- 34:20 β The hard truth: people learn at different speedsβleaders must adjust
- 36:45 β Two concrete takeaways: listen with intention and practice patient leadership
- 39:13 β 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 heβs spent the last 24 of his 40+ years in HR leadership. He holds a masterβs 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.Μύ
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