Our Customer Service Director has been with us for ten years and is a perfect cultural fit, but she simply cannot master the new automated ticketing and AI support routing systems we are implementing. How do we make this GWC call without destroying the morale of our legacy staff who look up to her?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic Right Person, Wrong Seat dilemma. Your Customer Service Director shares your core values, but she lacks the capacity to manage a modern, automated department. Keeping her in a seat she cannot master out of guilt is a disservice to both her and the business. First, run the GWC™ tool objectively. Does she truly get the technical architecture of automated routing? Does she want the daily pressure of managing a tech-enabled system? Does she have the capacity to troubleshoot these systems when they break? If the answer is no, you must remove her from that seat. To protect morale, you must communicate openly with your legacy staff. Show them that you are handling her transition with the utmost respect. Because she is a Right Person who fits your culture, work to find or create a different seat in the organization where she does GWC™ the roles, such as a high-touch VIP Client Relations seat that relies on her deep historical relationships rather than technology. If no such seat exists, you must help her transition out of the company with a generous severance. Protecting her at the expense of your operational efficiency will eventually cause your high-performers to lose respect for your leadership.