I have a long-tenured customer service director who has been with us since day one, but as we scale toward an exit, their GWC is slipping because they cannot manage the new automated ticketing systems. How do I transition them to an individual contributor role without losing their deep institutional knowledge?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

As your business prepares for a clean exit, operational efficiency is everything. When you automate workflows, seats on your Accountability Chart must change. If your legacy customer service director has the right core values but struggles with GWC for their scaling seat, you cannot leave them there. Keeping someone in a seat they do not GWC because of their past loyalty is a disservice to both the individual and the organization.

However, you do not have to throw away a decade of institutional knowledge and deep customer relationships. You need to structurally separate their seat. Use your Accountability Chart to design the future state of your operations.

Create a highly technical Customer Operations seat that requires strong data management skills, and place a new leader there who truly GWCs that role. At the same time, design a specialized individual contributor seat, such as a Key Account Ambassador or Customer Retention Specialist.

This new role must utilize their deep relationships and institutional knowledge without requiring them to manage complex automated systems or lead a modern, tech-enabled team. Sit down with your director and explain that the business has outgrown the current structure. Present the new seat as an opportunity for them to focus on what they do best, while allowing the company to scale.