Our operations manager has been with us for eight years, is an absolute culture fit, and scores perfectly on our People Analyzer. However, as we scale, the operations seat now requires advanced data analysis and supply chain forecasting that she simply does not have the capacity to handle. How do we make this Right Seat call?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is one of the hardest decisions an owner has to make, but you must put the health of the company first. A person who is a core values match but fails GWC™ for their seat is still in the Wrong Seat. Leaving them there will eventually cause them to burn out, drag down their team, and bottleneck your growth.

First, be completely honest with her during a performance conversation. Explain that the operations seat has outgrown her current capacity and that keeping her there is setting her up to fail. Because she is a great culture fit, your goal should be to find or create a different seat where she can succeed.

Look at your Accountability Chart for areas where her strengths can be utilized. She might be excellent at managing client relationships, training new employees, or supervising a specific branch where the analytical demands are lower.

If there is no open seat that she GWC™ checks, you must make the difficult decision to transition her out of the business. Keeping a person in a seat they cannot perform is unfair to them and damaging to the company, especially when you are preparing the business for a clean, high-valuation exit.