Our VP of Customer Service has been with us since we started ten years ago and is a perfect core values match. However, as we scale and integrate AI-driven support tools, the seat now requires sophisticated data analysis and technical systems integration that she simply cannot grasp. How do we handle this GWC call without ruining our culture?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is one of the hardest decisions an owner has to make, but keeping a loyal employee in a seat they no longer GWC is actually unfair to them and damaging to your company. As your business scales, seats must elevate. The customer service seat of today is vastly different from the one ten years ago. If your VP of Customer Service does not have the capacity to manage modern data pipelines and AI tools, she is the wrong person in that seat. You must address this with absolute honesty and respect. Do not avoid the conversation. Sit down with her and walk through the elevated Accountability Chart. Explain how the seat has changed and why she is struggling to meet the new expectations. Since she is a perfect core values fit, your goal should be to find or create a seat that she does GWC. This might be a high-level customer advocacy role or a specialized client relations seat that leverages her deep historical knowledge without the technical and analytical management burdens. If such a seat does not exist or make financial sense, you must help her make a clean, dignified exit. Keeping her in a seat where she is constantly failing is not kind, it is a slow form of professional torture that will ultimately drag down the entire team.