Course
What happens when your best employee doesn't show up Monday?
The Step-Back trains one of your employees to capture how a key task is really done, the steps and the reasoning behind every decision, and turn it into a system anyone on your team can run. Four Wednesday mornings to learn it. Seven days to prove the system holds.
The Step-Back: Key Person Knowledge Transfer
Open for enrolment. First class Wednesday, January 20, 2027, at 8:00 a.m. Registration closes Wednesday, January 6, 2027.
Overview
Every company has an employee the work quietly depends on: an estimator, a lead hand, the bookkeeper, the dispatcher. When they're away, things stop, because what they know isn't written down anywhere.
In this course, your employee learns how to fix that for one task, on the job, while the class is running. Then a teammate runs that task for seven days using the system, to prove it holds.
- Dates
- Wednesdays, January 20, January 27, February 3 and February 10, 2027. 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. Mountain.
Registration deadline: Wednesday, January 6, 2027 - Delivery
- Live online, anywhere in Alberta, with supervised work on the job. On-site visits available on request, quoted separately.
- Commitment
- Four live 3-hour classes (12 hours), applied work on the job between classes, then the seven-day test. About five to six weeks in all.
- Investment
- $9,500 per seat, plus GST. Invoiced after a short readiness call, paid in full by the registration deadline.
- Funding
- Eligible Alberta employers may get up to half back. See how.
How it runs
Learn it. Apply it. Prove it.
It isn't a seven-day course. The seven days is the test at the end.
- Weeks 1 to 4Learn: four Wednesday mornings
One live online class a week, 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. Mountain, for four weeks. Your employee learns alongside employees from other Alberta companies.
- Between classesApply: on the job or in the office
After each class, your employee applies that step at work, on the task your company chose, with your expert. A Cornerstone facilitator supervises online.
- After the handoverProve: seven days
Once the task has been handed over, the test starts. A teammate runs it for seven days using the system, with your expert stepping back. When the system holds, your employee is certified.
Who it's for
Three employees, one task.
You pick one task your company can't afford to have stop. Then three roles. The enrolled employee and the teammate are always employees:
- The expert
- The employee who does the task today and carries the know-how in their head. An estimator, a lead hand, a bookkeeper, a dispatcher. Their know-how is what makes them valuable; the course makes sure it's shared, not lost.
- The enrolled employee
- The employee you enrol in the course. They learn to capture the expert's know-how in a system and hand the task over. Often it's the expert themselves.
- The teammate
- Whoever runs the task during the test: a coworker, a new hire, even a temp.
Built for companies in:
- Construction and trades
- Oilfield services
- Trucking and logistics
- Professional offices: bookkeeping, insurance, accounting
Before you enrol
What your employee needs to succeed.
- Comfortable with technology. Uses email, video calls, and shared online documents without help.
- Reads and writes well. Reads carefully, understands what they read, and writes clearly in English.
- Organized and trusted. Someone you already rely on, who can ask good questions and follow through.
- Has the time. Four 3-hour classes, plus a few hours a week on the job between classes.
- Has access to the expert, or is the expert.
Readiness call. Before we send the invoice, we hold a short readiness call with your employee. The course only pays off if your employee can do the work, so we check first. If it isn't the right fit yet, we'll tell you, and nothing is owed.
Your information
Nothing leaves your business.
No client data or company files leave your company. Your employee works in your own in-house documents, software, and systems, on the work device your company already gives them, whether they're in the office or working remotely. The facilitator reviews the work on a live call, where your employee chooses what to show. Nothing is recorded or copied, and no files come to us. We only ask for the enrolment details the invoice and the grant need.
We teach your employee to use what your company already has in house. Everything they build stays in your company's accounts from the first day.
Why this course
Training that happens on the job, not beside it.
- It uses real work. Your employee applies every step to a task on the job between classes.
- It ends with a test, not a binder. A teammate runs the task for seven days using the system.
- It stays with you. Your employee can repeat it on any other task without outside help.
- It stays private. Everything is built in your company's own in-house tools. You never send us your files.
- It fits Alberta funding. Eligible employers can apply for up to half the fee back.
What your employee will learn
By the end, your employee will be able to:
- Find the tasks in the company that stop when one key employee is away, and rank them by what that costs the team.
- Sit down with your expert and capture how the task is really done: the steps, the decisions and the reasoning behind them, what to do in an emergency, and why things are done the way they are.
- Turn that into a living system your team can work from, one that explains the why, not just the what.
- Hand the task to a teammate for a week and check that the system holds.
- Do the same for any other task in the company, without outside help.
In their words
An employer and their employee, after the course.
Course format
What happens in each class.
- Class 1. Where the company depends on one key employee, and what that costs the whole team when they're away.
- Class 2. How to download a human brain: getting the know-how out of the expert's head, the steps, the reasoning, and the judgment calls.
- Class 3. Building the system from what was downloaded: a living system that carries the reasoning behind every decision, not just the steps.
- Class 4. Handing it over and checking that it holds: a new team member or teammate runs the task for a week using the system.
Between classes. Your employee applies that week's step at work, on the chosen task, with your expert, so the real work happens alongside the class, not after it. An optional office hour runs Thursdays at noon.
Supervised online. From week two, a Cornerstone facilitator supervises the handover on a live call, where your employee chooses what to show. Public classes run fully online, including the supervision. If you'd like a facilitator on site, you can request an on-site visit as an add-on. It's quoted separately.
Your information. Everything is built in your company's own in-house tools. How we keep client data and company information in your company.
Certificate. Your employee is certified after attending all four classes, finishing the system to standard, and passing the seven-day test.
Course features
What's included in every seat.
Live classes
Four live, instructor-led Wednesday mornings. Real questions, answered in the room.
Supervised online
Your employee does the real handover at work, with a facilitator supervising online.
The seven-day test
A teammate runs the task for seven days using the system. If it doesn't hold, we keep supervising the fix until the course period ends.
Yours to repeat
Your employee leaves able to do the same for any other task in the company.
Information session
Still deciding? Get a short walkthrough.
A short information session for employers and managers: what the course covers, how it runs, and how the grant works. Leave your email and we'll send you the session, either a recording you can watch any time or an invitation to the next live one.
Register now
Save a seat in the January class.
Registration closes Wednesday, January 6, 2027. Eligible employers apply for the grant before the class starts.
Support
Questions employers ask.
Is it a seven-day course?
No. Your employee learns it over four Wednesday mornings, one class a week, and applies each step on the job between classes. The seven days is the test at the end: once the task is handed over, a teammate runs it for seven days using the system. From first class to certificate is about five to six weeks.
What does the system look like?
A living document your team works from. It holds more than the steps: the reasoning behind each decision, the judgment calls, and what to do in an emergency. A diagram of tasks tells someone what to do, not why, and not what to do when things go sideways. The system does, and your team keeps it up to date as the work changes.
Does this qualify for the Canada-Alberta Productivity Grant?
It is built as Business Process and Operations Management training so eligible Alberta employers can apply. The employer applies before the class starts and is reimbursed after the employee finishes. Currently the grant covers up to 50% of the fee, to a maximum of $5,000, for an existing employee, or up to 75%, to a maximum of $10,000, when you train a newly hired, previously unemployed Albertan. Funding is decided by the Government of Alberta. We can't guarantee approval, and we never cover or refund the employer's share. Request your grant quote package.
Who should we enrol?
A steady, trusted employee who is comfortable with technology, reads and writes well, and has time for the classes and the work in between. See what your employee needs. We confirm readiness with a short call before we send the invoice. The grant is for training employees, so owners and their immediate family members can't be enrolled under it.
Who can the expert be?
Usually an employee the work depends on: an estimator, a lead hand, a salesperson, a bookkeeper, a dispatcher. If the owner is the one who knows the task, the owner can share what they know, but the enrolled employee is always an employee. You choose the task in the first week.
Is this about replacing our expert?
No. It protects them. Right now your expert can't take a holiday, a sick day, or a parental leave without the work piling up. Once their know-how is in a system, the team can cover for them, they can step back when they need to, and they can take on bigger work. Most experts are relieved.
What if our employee misses a class?
Classes are live and attendance is required for the certificate. Tell us before the class and we'll work out a make-up with you.
What if the system doesn't hold for seven days?
Then we keep supervising the fix until the course period ends. The promise covers the course period only.
Do you come to our location?
Public classes run fully online, including the supervision. If you'd like a facilitator on site, you can request an on-site visit as an add-on. It's quoted separately.
Do we have to send you our company information?
No. Everything stays in your company's own tools. See Your information.
How do we pay?
Register online. After a short readiness call with your employee, we email your invoice, issued by Cornerstone Future Solutions Inc. Pay it in full by the registration deadline. You can pay in instalments, as long as the full amount arrives by the deadline. Your seat is confirmed when payment arrives, and then we send the class details and the link to the online classroom.
Is there a rate for coming back?
Yes. A certified employee pays half price for any other Cornerstone course. Any eligible employee can be claimed under the grant, at the full or alumni rate.
What is your cancellation policy?
Cancel 31 days or more before the class starts and we refund the fee minus a $100 administration fee. Cancel 15 to 30 days before and we keep 25% of the fee, up to $500, and refund the rest. Cancel 14 days or less before the start and the fee is not refundable. You can send a different employee in their place at no charge any time before the class starts. If we cancel a class, you get a full refund.
Talk to us. Call or text +1 (587) 316-9353, email inbox@cornerstonefuture.com, or ask for a call back.