We have an employee who is struggling in her current account manager seat, but we think she would be an absolute superstar in our empty business development seat. Can we just move her over directly, or do we have to make her go through a full GWC evaluation first?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

You must absolutely run her through a full GWC™ evaluation before making any lateral move. Skipping this step is how companies end up with a wrong-person-wrong-seat crisis.

It is easy to fall into the trap of assuming that because someone is a great culture fit and has high core value alignment, they can succeed in any seat. But business development requires a completely different skillset, temperament, and drive than account management. If you move her without a rigorous assessment, you risk setting her up for a second, highly demoralizing failure.

Sit down with her and review the five core roles of the business development seat on your Accountability Chart. Ask the three critical questions. First, does she truly get it, meaning does she understand the deep mechanics of hunting new business? Second, does she want it, does she have a genuine fire and desire to do this specific work every single day? Third, does she have the capacity, meaning the skills, training, emotional resilience, and time to succeed in this high-rejection environment?

If the answer to any of these three is a no, do not make the move. It is much better to keep looking for the right person than to ruin a good employee by placing them in a seat they cannot master.