We are implementing AI automation to streamline our customer onboarding, but our Onboarding Manager is resisting the new Accountability Chart we designed because she feels the automated steps are stripping away her authority. How do we get her buy-in for this new automated seat structure?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Resistance to automation almost always stems from fear of redundancy. Your Onboarding Manager is resisting the new Accountability Chart because she believes the software is taking her job. You must change her perspective from task executor to systems manager.

Under the old structure, her seat was likely defined by manual tasks like data entry, sending emails, and scheduling calls. Under the new, AI-driven structure, her seat must be redefined on the Accountability Chart.

Her new roles should focus on system oversight, process optimization, exception handling, and customer satisfaction metrics. She is no longer responsible for sending the emails; she is responsible for ensuring the automated system sends them correctly and stepping in when a client needs human assistance.

Sit down with her and explain that this shift actually elevates her value. By automating the low-value administrative tasks, she can focus on high-value client relationships and system performance.

Show her how the new seat fits into your exit preparation by making the business more scalable. If she gets, wants, and has the capacity for this elevated role, she will embrace it. If she continues to resist because she prefers manual work, then she no longer GWCs the seat, and you must find someone who does.