5: Survival Guide for New Managers: What Training Alone Won’t Teach You | Stephen Dixon

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—it'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 Cameco, about how to make sure the wisdom that keeps your organization running doesn’t retire before it’s passed on. 

Drawing from over 40 years in HR—and 24 at Cameco—Stephen shares how his organization is tackling knowledge transfer in a practical, people-centered way. This isn’t about building perfect documentation. It’s about building relationships, creating safe conversations, and understanding that mentorship doesn’t always look like a formal program. 

This Episode Covers: 

• A layered approach to identifying critical knowledge—from executives to frontline people leaders 
• How to engage seasoned employees who say, “I’m not a trainer” 
• How Cameco uses behavioral-style questions to draw out tacit, experience-based knowledge 
• The risk of “need-to-know” leadership and the costly organizational gaps it can create 
• The uncomfortable truth: people absorb knowledge at different speeds—and that’s okay 

Timestamped Highlights  

00:00 – Stephen’s HR career in a nutshell: 40+ years of insight and 24 years at Cameco 

01:57 – What counts as “crucial knowledge” for employee survival? 

02:21 – Why manuals don’t cut it—and how Cameco is tackling tacit knowledge 

04:16 – Bridging the gap between executive assumptions and frontline reality 

06:19 – How frontline leaders refine what counts as critical knowledge 

08:17 – Breaking down knowledge hoarding: “I’m not a trainer” isn’t an excuse 

10:20 – Coffee chats as knowledge transfer: making it conversational, not formal 

12:45 – A mentorship program—just don’t call it that 

13:05 – Capturing nuance: storytelling as the real engine of knowledge sharing 

16:51 – Why stories aren’t just data—they’re trust-building moments 

18:40 – Reverse mentoring: what seasoned pros can learn from fresh eyes 

20:53 – A leadership failure: how hoarding information derailed a department 

25:30 – Succession planning at every level—not just for the C-suite 

27:27 – If Stephen could pass on 3 lessons: emotional intelligence, collaboration, growth mindset 

31:10 – Biggest leadership lesson? Culture, listening, and humility 

34:20 – The hard truth: people learn at different speeds—leaders must adjust 

36:45 – Two concrete takeaways: listen with intention and practice patient leadership 

39:13 – Where to find Stephen: LinkedIn is now part of his routine 

39:40 – Final sign-off: brew, banter, and keeping your cup full 

 

About Stephen 

Stephen Dixon is the Vice President of Human Resources and Administration at Cameco, where he’s spent the last 24 of his 40+ years in HR leadership. He holds a master’s degree in human resource management from Golden Gate...