Our legacy director of operations is a hard worker but is completely overwhelmed by our new tech stack, and their department is bottlenecking our scale. How do we handle this GWC gap without sending a message to the rest of the company that we chew up and spit out loyal people?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is one of the hardest challenges for a business owner, but you must remember that you cannot allow loyalty to blind you to capability. Designing an exit-ready Accountability Chart requires putting the right people in the right seats. If your legacy operations director lacks the capability to manage your automated systems, they do not GWC™ their seat, even if they have been with you from the start.

To handle this without damaging company morale, you must separate the person from the seat. Your legacy director may no longer fit the current operations seat, but they may still have a vital role to play in the company. Check if they GWC™ a different seat on your Accountability Chart, perhaps one focused on key account management, training, or quality assurance.

Have an honest, open conversation. Use your core values as the foundation. Explain that the business has scaled, and the current seat now requires a technical skill set that does not align with their strengths. Ask them what they love doing and where they feel they can add the most value.

If there is a different seat where they can succeed and add value, transition them. If no such seat exists, you must make the difficult decision to part ways. Do so with generosity and respect. When your team sees that you treated a legacy employee with dignity and fairness, morale will remain intact, and they will respect your commitment to building a strong, scaleable company.