We have an employee who is a perfect core values fit and runs our customer service seat flawlessly, but they lack the technical capability to manage our new AI-driven ticketing system. How do we handle this Right Person, Wrong Seat dilemma without destroying team morale?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A Right Person, Wrong Seat call is one of the hardest decisions a leadership team has to make. The individual fits your core values perfectly and has earned massive trust, but they simply do not GWC the new technical requirements of the seat. If you leave them in the seat, you slow down your operations, frustrate the team, and cap your company's growth potential.

You must address this issue directly and compassionately. First, confirm they do not GWC the seat. Do they truly get it, want it, and have the mental and physical capacity to do it? If the answer to any of these is no, they cannot remain in that seat. However, because they are a Right Person, your goal is to find a Right Seat for them elsewhere on the Accountability Chart.

Look for other areas of the business where their core values alignment and institutional knowledge are highly valuable but the technical demands are different. If a suitable seat exists, transition them with a clear plan. If no such seat exists, you must make the hard choice to let them go. Keeping a wrong-person-right-seat or right-person-wrong-seat employee out of sentimentality harms the company and the individual. Handling these calls professionally shows buyers that you run a disciplined, high-performing organization.