Professional and Career Topics

I currently work at a nuclear power plant and we have an item on our 2023 Engineering Excellence Plan to improve the depth of subject matter expertise with the end goal being to reduce single point dependencies within the Engineering department. That being said, I am curious what other workplaces do when they hire a new engineer to help transfer knowledge from a current Subject Matter Expert (SME) to the new engineer outside of a formal Knowledge Transfer and Retention program. I think this may be the million dollar question for the entire workforce right now, but any strategies that have proven helpful would be much appreciated.

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Lindsay Paulus P.E., M.ASCE
Nuclear Manager
American Electric Power
Bridgman MI
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This is a great question, and I hope others will chime in. From my experience, subject matter expertise requires experiential-based learning. The deep knowledge needed to become an SME comes through tailored assignments and projects in close support and collaboration with others that already possess some of the capabilities desired in the future SME by the organization. Furthermore, These assignments and projects need to 'stretch' the individual(s) identified as future SMEs and take them outside their comfort zones. Those in a support or collaborative role must see their role as fundamental to their job scope and be appropriately recognized and rewarded for their contributions. One might also look externally to partnering opportunities of the future SME with external experts and leading practitioners. If there is a need for a specialist contractor, the future SME might be partnered with the contractor - or given technical oversight - as part of their capability-building plan. 

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Mitch Winkler P.E.(inactive), M.ASCE
Houston, TX
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I agree with Mitch and think this is a great question that we should all reflect on from time to time. 

To keep it simple, I think to an extent it means being okay with "having two (or more) people work on one task" for a certain period of time - one to teach and check, and one to work. Over time, the teacher/checker should ideally be able to play a lesser role and only end up being needed for situations that the new person/people haven't encountered yet. Or, since you specifically mentioned avoiding single point dependencies, the task work is split between multiple staff members going forward.

It may not even "cost more" if you can train two people to each work on half of two tasks, though I realize this is not always possible. The alternative is that we may need to accept that optimizing staff-allocation on a task is in opposition to creating redundancy. 

Formal or informal task documentation is also helpful in certain cases as well, particularly if these are treated as living documents which are frequently updated and their importance is recognized by both the new and old staff alike. 

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Christopher Seigel P.E., M.ASCE
Civil Engineer
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When I was exclusively on the receiving end of knowledge transfer, the most revealing question I ever asked was, "How did you know to do that?"  No matter what other knowledge transfer tools are used, it's the steps that are so ingrained the performer doesn't even realize the steps were taken that always seem to be the key to success.  Even if asked to write down their processes, those steps get skipped, not out of any proprietary sense, but because they're autonomic.  Today, now that I'm typically on the transmitting end of knowledge transfer, I try to remember that.

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Rebecca Bowman P.E., M.ASCE
Sole proprietor
Rebecca A. Bowman, Esq., P.E.
Mc Murray PA
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I agree this is the million $ question.  How do you download your knowledge to the next generation? I retired in 2019 but before I did, at the request of my supervisor, I completed 13 videos approximately 1/2 hour each, with the help of the agency video graphic department, of the most significant topics.  They are available for agency personnel on-line are still used today by and for new staff.  Only concern is that at some point they'll become obsolete.

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Natalie Richards M.ASCE
Engr
Vancouver WA
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