We are automating our scheduling and billing systems with AI, which will free up three of our administrative employees. We want to restructure our Accountability Chart without doing a layoff, but we are struggling to find where they fit. How do we handle this transition?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Protecting your culture during a major technology transition is critical, but you must never create make-work seats just to keep people on the payroll. This is a common trap that bloats your Accountability Chart and destroys profitability. First, define your ideal organizational structure without looking at the names of your current team members. Focus entirely on the seats and roles your business needs to reach its three-year picture on the V/TO. Once your future-state Accountability Chart is clear, evaluate your three administrative employees against these new seats using GWC. Since they are likely strong core values matches, look for seats where their institutional knowledge is an asset. For example, you can transition them to new seats like:
- Client relationship management, utilizing their human touch to retain high-value accounts.
- AI quality control, auditing automated logs and customer interactions.
- Strategic onboarding, guiding new clients through your service suite.
If they do not GWC any of the newly created seats, you must have an honest, compassionate conversation about their future. Keeping a person in a seat they do not GWC is unfair to them and highly damaging to your operational efficiency. Redesign your seats first, then place your people where they can genuinely deliver high value.