One of the first things I tell a new employee that I am working with is “my goal is to do nothing”. That always gets their attention. After that, I let them know what I really mean is my desire is to simplify every responsibility I have to the point that systems perform the task automatically or that I can easily train an assistant to do the simplified task.
Obviously not every responsibility can be simplified to that degree. However, if you don’t take action on what you are doing today you will be doing the same things 10 years from now. That is not a happy thought for me. I thrive on innovation and change. After a few years of performing a task or responsibility I know that I have improved it as much as I can and it is time to hand it to a “fresh set of eyes”.
In my 40+ years of working I have worked for 5 companies. Within those companies I have had 17 different job titles, some of which were concurrent. I have seen a pattern of 3 year cycles. First year is to totally understand the responsibilities. The second year is to make as many improvements as I can. The third year is spent finding and then training replacement(s) for the things I am doing. It has not always been 3 years, some more some less, but the pattern stays the same; understand, improve and pass on.
I strongly believe we need a “fresh set of eyes” in a regular pattern in all positions of an organization. If that does not happen on a regular basis the effectiveness and efficiency of the work performed suffers and the employee begins to get complacent and bored.
I have seen organizations that won’t allow employees to change responsibilities because they are “so good at what they do”. Then when that employee quits to explore “other possibilities” the company loses a good employee and all that corporate knowledge. Wouldn’t it be better to continue to challenge and grow your employees; to allow them to build upon the knowledge they have gained to this point; to help them feel the satisfaction of being a valuable part of your team?
Create a process where employees are rewarded for eliminating their job or at least part of it. One of the fears employees have in this type of system is eliminating their own job. The Management Teams I have been part of always said “if you can eliminate your job, just tell me what you would like to do next”. We always find room for innovators. Always.
Christian Life Coach 
This is funny! Tom was a mentor of mine for many years and he used to tell me that he was training me to “work himself out of a job”! I always found this interesting. As I have grown in my professional life I understand what he was talking about. Now I am trying to work myself out of a job! Thanks Tom!!
Keep trying Todd. You will never succeed but the journey is awesome.
Great article Tom! Another thing to keep in mind… If you hold on to all of your responsibilities and don’t hand them off, you are denying someone else an opportunity to take it and improve it. Those are opportunities for someone to show what they are capable of.
Absolutely true. The best way to stifle employee growth is to hold everything yourself.