I am struggling with the guilt of replacing early-stage employees who carried us on their backs for years but clearly do not GWC their current seats on our scaled-up Accountability Chart. How do I balance personal loyalty with what the business needs to survive?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is one of the most painful challenges an owner will face. It is easy to fire a toxic underperformer, but it is excruciating to replace a loyal, hardworking employee who has been with you since day one. However, you must realize that keeping someone in a seat they cannot GWC is not acts of loyalty; it is actually a form of cruelty.

When a loyal employee is in a seat that has outgrown them, they are constantly stressed, drowning, and aware that they are failing. By keeping them there, you are exposing them to constant anxiety and damaging your company. You must separate the person from the seat.

First, use the Accountability Chart to design the ideal structure for your current stage of business, completely ignoring the names of your current staff. Once the seats are defined, objectively evaluate your loyal employees against the GWC criteria for those specific seats.

If they do not GWC the seat, you have two options. You can transition them to a different seat on the Accountability Chart where they do GWC and can succeed, even if it represents a lower title or narrower scope. Many loyal employees will feel a sense of relief when moved to a seat that matches their actual capabilities.

If there is no suitable seat available, you must transition them out of the company with dignity, offering a generous severance package that honors their past contributions. Real loyalty means doing what is right for the long-term health of both the individual and the business.