We have a legacy Purchasing Director seat on our Accountability Chart that was critical five years ago, but modern software and workflow automation have reduced the work to a few weekly approvals. How do we eliminate or absorb a legacy seat when the person currently occupying it has built their entire identity around it?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

An Accountability Chart is a dynamic map of functional accountability, not a museum of historical company titles. If software, process improvement, or changing market conditions have eliminated the strategic necessity of a seat, retaining that box on your chart is wasteful overhead and institutional drag.

To resolve this, the leadership team must address the structure using IDS during your next quarterly session. Look at the five roles currently listed under the legacy Purchasing seat. Strip away the emotional attachment to the title and evaluate where those five roles truly belong in your future-state organization. In almost every case where purchasing is automated, the remaining approvals and supplier oversight logically roll under the Operations Director or Finance seat.

Once the leadership team agrees to collapse the seat, you must address the person. Have a direct conversation. Show them the updated chart and explain that the business has evolved, rendering the standalone seat redundant.

Assess the individual using The People Analyzer. If they are a Right Person who lives your Core Values, evaluate whether you have another legitimate, needed seat on the Accountability Chart where they have full GWC. Perhaps they transition into vendor relationship management, inventory operations, or facility logistics.

If there is a valid seat for them, transition them cleanly with updated roles and metrics. If there is no seat that justifies their salary and capacity, you must make the hard call and transition them out of the business with severance and respect. You cannot pay executive overhead for an automated function just to preserve someone's title.