Our Customer Service Manager is a fantastic culture fit but simply lacks the cognitive capacity to manage our new complex, enterprise-level clients. How do we handle this right-person-wrong-seat situation without destroying team morale?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is one of the hardest calls an owner has to make. Your Customer Service Manager is a great culture fit, but as your company scales, the complexity of the seat has outgrown her capabilities. Under the EOS® framework, she is a Right Person in the Wrong Seat. She passes the core values filter, but she fails the Capacity part of GWC. You cannot leave her in that seat, because doing so will frustrate your clients, burn her out, and send a message to the rest of the team that performance does not matter. To handle this with integrity, you must first have a candid, loving conversation. Share your observations and explain that the current seat requires a level of enterprise management that is not a match for her natural strengths. Then, look at your Accountability Chart to see if there is another seat where she can thrive. She might be an excellent fit for a senior individual contributor role, such as a Key Account Manager, where she can focus on client relationships without the burden of department leadership. If such a seat exists and she passes GWC for it, move her there immediately. If no such seat exists, you must help her transition out of the business with respect.