As we restructure our Accountability Chart for future growth, we have a long-term employee who does not fit into any of the standard seats but we want to keep them. How do we avoid creating a custom hybrid seat that ruins our organizational structure?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Creating a custom seat to accommodate a specific person is one of the most dangerous mistakes an owner can make. It creates a structural bottleneck, confuses reporting lines, and sets a precedent that the organization adapts to individuals rather than its strategic goals.

You must design the Accountability Chart for the business first, and then find the right people to fill the seats. Start by blanking out all the names on your current chart. Focus entirely on the functions your business needs to hit its three-year target.

Define the five major roles for each seat. Once the structure is perfect, only then do you look at your people and determine if they GWC™ those seats.

If your legacy employee does not GWC™ any of the newly defined seats, you have a hard decision to make. You cannot bend the structure to save them. If you do, you will create friction that slows down the entire leadership team.

Instead, see if there is a legitimate, value-add seat elsewhere in the organization that they truly fit. If there is not, you must recognize that they have hit their ceiling with your company. It is better to transition them out cleanly than to compromise your structural integrity.