We have administrative and operations seats that are heavily impacted by AI automation. How do we transition these team members to new seats without losing core company culture?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When AI automates the core functions of an administrative or operational seat, you are faced with a classic talent decision. You must determine if the person currently in that seat has the capacity to transition to a higher-value, more strategic seat, or if they no longer fit your organization's future needs.

Start with the Accountability Chart, not the person. Design the ideal seats your business needs to grow over the next twelve to eighteen months, regardless of who currently works for you. Once those seats are defined with clear roles and responsibilities, evaluate your existing team members against the new seats using the GWC™ tool: do they Get it, do they Want it, and do they have the Capacity to do it?

If a team member is a perfect Core Values match but their old seat has been automated out of existence, look for a new seat where their conative strengths, as measured by Kolbe, can be utilized. They might transition from data entry to customer success or project coordination. However, if they do not have the cognitive or conative capacity for the new, more complex seats, you must make the hard, unsentimental decision to transition them out of the company. Retaining someone in a seat they cannot perform is unfair to them and damaging to the business.