Our Director of Administration currently holds both Finance and Human Resources in a single seat, but as we cross ten million in revenue, both functions are falling behind. What is the process for decoupling a combined administrative seat into separate Finance and People seats without insulting the current leader?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Growth breaks blended seats. When a business is small, grouping Finance, HR, and Office Management into an Administration box is normal. But as you pass ten million dollars, financial reporting requires deep analytical forecasting and compliance, while HR demands talent acquisition, employee development, and culture retention. These are fundamentally different skill sets. One brain rarely has GWC for both.

Start by separating the seats on the Accountability Chart before addressing who sits in them. In your next leadership session, delete the Director of Administration box. Draw two distinct functional seats: Finance and People. Define the five roles for each.

Finance roles typically center on financial reporting, cash flow forecasting, risk management, banking relationships, and profitability analysis. People roles center on recruiting, onboarding, performance management systems, culture alignment, and compliance.

Once the chart shows two distinct boxes, evaluate your current Director of Administration against both seats using GWC. In almost every case, the leader has a clear preference and natural capability for one over the other. They are either numbers-driven or people-driven.

Have an open, direct conversation: The company has reached a scale where combining these two functions into one seat is choking our growth and overwhelming you. We are splitting the seat. Which of these two seats do you have the greatest passion and capacity to run at a world-class level?

Let them take the seat where they pass GWC with confidence. Then, open the other seat to an outside hire or fractional resource. By framing the split as necessary operational scaling rather than a personal demotion, you preserve their dignity while upgrading your infrastructure.