Not Every Performance Problem Is a People Problem

ap10928
Mar 17
3 min read

Updated: Mar 20

One of the most common leadership challenges I see in growing organizations is this:

A great employee in the wrong seat.

When that happens, most leaders assume they’re dealing with a performance issue. The instinct is to add more coaching, more structure, or more accountability. But in many cases, the real issue isn’t the person. It’s the role.

How This Happens (Without Anyone Noticing)

I once worked with a company that had a long-tenured employee everyone respected. They were loyal, hardworking, and had deep institutional knowledge. The kind of person every organization values. They would do anything asked of them.

But over time, the business grew. And as it grew, their role quietly evolved into something very different from the job they originally excelled in.

No one formally redefined the position. No one stepped back to assess whether the role still aligned with the employee’s strengths. The expectations simply… shifted.

The Warning Signs Leaders Often Miss

Eventually, the signs started to show:

They were working longer hours but still falling behind
Decisions were getting delayed, or not made at all
Other team members began stepping in to fill gaps
They appeared increasingly worn out and started struggling with work they had once done well

From the outside, it looked like performance was declining.

So leadership responded the way many do:

More coaching
More structure
Adjustments to schedule and expectations

But nothing improved. Because the root issue hadn’t been addressed.

The Question That Changed Everything (Performance Problem or Org Design Issue?)

Instead of continuing to push harder, we stepped back and asked a different question:

Is this still the right seat for this person?

That question shifted the entire approach. Instead of focusing on fixing the employee, we evaluated:

What the role had become
What the business actually needed
Where this individual’s strengths were best utilized

The Shift That Made the Difference

The solution wasn’t to remove the employee. It was to redesign the role. We created a position that better aligned with both the company’s current needs, and the employee’s natural strengths. Then we redistributed some of their previous responsibilities to another role that was better suited to handle them.

The Results

Within a few months, the impact was clear:

Performance improved
The company was better positioned to serve its customers
Stress levels dropped across the department

Nothing about the employee’s work ethic changed. Nothing about their commitment changed. The only thing that changed was the alignment between the person and the role.

The Real Issue: Role Design, Not Performance

This is where many organizations get stuck. As companies grow, roles evolve, but they rarely evolve intentionally. Instead, responsibilities accumulate, expectations shift, and complexity increases and eventually, the role outgrows the person who was once perfectly suited for it. At that point, leaders face a choice: they can push the person harder, or they can redesign the role more thoughtfully. The best organizations choose the latter.

How to Identify This on Your Team

If you’re a leader, here are five practical ways to assess whether you might have a “wrong seat” situation on your team:

1. Map What the Role Actually Requires Today

Roles often look very different than they did a year or two ago. Write down the top 5–7 outcomes the role is responsible for today, not what the job description says.

2. Compare Those Outcomes to the Employee’s Strengths

Ask yourself: Do their natural strengths align with the core responsibilities? Or are they constantly working outside of their strengths? Sustained misalignment leads to burnout and inconsistent results.

3. Look at Effort vs. Results

When effort is high but results are inconsistent, it’s often not a motivation problem. It’s a mismatch between the work and the person.

4. Watch for Hidden Workarounds

High-performing teams adapt quickly. If other employees are regularly stepping in to “help,” the team may already be compensating for a misaligned role, whether anyone has formally acknowledged it or not.

5. Ask Better Questions in Your 1:1s

A simple question can reveal a lot: “What part of your job gives you the most energy right now, and what part drains you the most?” Patterns in those answers often point directly to misalignment.

A Better Way to Think About Performance

Great organizations don’t just hire great people. They continually ensure those people are in roles where they can succeed. Because sometimes the best thing you can do for a great employee isn’t to push them harder. It’s to make sure they’re in the right seat.