We automated our invoicing and payroll systems, reducing our Finance Director's workload to ten hours a week. To maximize her seat capacity, we want to combine her seat with our HR and Compliance seat, but she is resisting, arguing that HR is outside her professional scope. How do we handle a leader who refuses to expand their seat boundaries after automation?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When automation shrinks a leader's weekly workload, they must either take on more responsibility or step down to a part-time seat. You cannot afford to pay a full-time executive salary for a seat that now requires only ten hours of execution. If your Finance Director is resisting the addition of HR and Compliance roles to her seat, you have a GWC issue that needs to be addressed immediately. First, separate the structure from the person. Look at your Accountability Chart and confirm that merging finance, HR, and compliance into a single administrative seat is the right strategic move for the business. If it is, then that is the seat. Now, run your Finance Director through the GWC filter for this new hybrid seat. Does she Get It, Want It, and have the Capacity to do it? Her resistance suggests she does not Want It, or perhaps she lacks the technical capacity for compliance. You must have an open and honest conversation. Explain that the business requires a full-time leader in this consolidated seat. If she refuses to GWC the new roles, then she is a right person in the wrong seat. You must find someone else who can GWC the entire consolidated seat, and transition her out of the leadership team.