We are consolidating our manual administrative seats into a single automated operations seat to prepare for an exit, but we want to retain our three loyal admin employees. How do we restructure the Accountability Chart to reposition these people without letting them go or creating redundant roles?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Preparing for a clean exit requires maximum operational efficiency, which often means automating manual processes. However, you do not have to execute a layoff to achieve this. You can use your Accountability Chart to design a highly efficient structure first, then place your loyal people into seats where they can add maximum value.

Start by mapping out the new, automated operations seat on your chart. Define the five key roles, which will likely focus on managing the automated software and handling complex exceptions. This is a highly specialized seat that requires distinct conative and technical abilities.

Next, evaluate your three admin employees using the GWC tool against this new seat. It is highly likely that only one of them, or perhaps none of them, truly gets, wants, and has the capacity to run this modernized seat. Do not force them into a seat they do not GWC just to save their jobs.

Instead, look at other areas of your Accountability Chart that are currently neglected or understaffed due to your growth. For example, you may need dedicated seats in customer retention, account management, or quality control.

Transition your administrative employees into these newly defined seats where their core values and historical knowledge of the business can be leveraged. This allows you to gain the efficiency of automation while keeping your talented people in seats where they can actually succeed.