Our customer service director refuses to take ownership of our weekly average response time metric on the Scorecard, arguing that they cannot personally control whether individual reps have a slow day. How do we handle a leadership team member who rejects a metric because they do not have complete control over the human variables involved?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

It is common for leadership team members to resist owning a Scorecard metric because they feel they cannot control human behavior. When a customer service director argues they cannot force individual reps to work faster, they are misunderstanding the concept of ownership in the EOS® model. Accountability on the Scorecard is not about absolute control, it is about taking responsibility for the outcome and driving the necessary process changes. To address this, remind your leader that their seat on the Accountability Chart exists to manage the function, which includes the people and the processes within it. If the weekly average response time is red, the director's job is not to personally answer every customer inquiry. Their job is to identify why the system is failing and implement solutions. If a team member consistently misses their targets, the leader must use the GWC™ tool to evaluate if they have the right people in the right seats. They may need to redesign the workflow, update training, or address a capacity issue. By owning the metric, the leader is committed to doing whatever it takes to get the number back to green. If they refuse to own the metric, they are essentially saying they cannot manage their department. Use this opportunity to reinforce that running on data requires every leader to step up, look at the numbers objectively, and lead their team to success through clear expectations and process discipline.