While a long-time employee with lots of institutional knowledge can be an asset, this so-call “gatekeeper” status could backfire when this person becomes a “bottleneck.”
“Rather than getting what is in their head on paper, training or delegating, the individual remains the master brain bank,” Kristen McAlister, president, chief operating officer and co-owner of executive and management consultant, Cerius Executives, writes for Business.com. “This much-needed information ends up being a big road block for other employees and the company.”
Long-time employees who work long-hours, but who have trouble keeping up are likely not ideal to train rookies. Employers also may handicap newcomers by placing them under the tutelage of a team that has never learned how to work effectively together and instead blame others for their team’s failures.
Veteran employees too worried about making it through the work day also may not be ideal for helping the company grow. “The idea of something new or what is going to happen next can be scary and overwhelming,” McAlister writes. “Rather than thinking of how to support the next stage of growth of the company, they spend much of their time putting out fires.”