Melissa Eaton
Co-host of We Fixed It, You're Welcome; customer experience leader with a background in call centers and insurance
Melissa Eaton (Co-host of We Fixed It, You're Welcome; customer experience leader with a background in call centers and insurance) hosts We Fixed It, You're Welcome. Topics they speak about most include Leadership pipeline, Middle management, Customer service automation and human escalation.
In their words
Positions and remarks grouped by topic, each with the exact quote and where it was said.
Leadership pipeline
Eaton recommended that companies treat the leadership pipeline as a strategic asset rather than a line item.
“we really need to protect that leadership pipeline as a strategic asset”
We Fixed It, You're Welcome: MIDDLE MANAGERS ARE BACK?! (Oct 20, 2026) · Listen from 40:43
Eaton argued companies have created a 'pipeline paradox' by turning their workforce into something like contract labor.
“there's this pipeline paradox in terms of you've now created almost this like contract workforce”
We Fixed It, You're Welcome: MIDDLE MANAGERS ARE BACK?! (Oct 20, 2026) · Listen from 32:22
Middle management
Eaton argued that removing managers leaves escalation responsibilities unowned rather than eliminated.
“you strip a manager out and you don't remove the escalation path you just leave it unowned”
We Fixed It, You're Welcome: MIDDLE MANAGERS ARE BACK?! (Oct 20, 2026) · Listen from 6:19
Eaton cited Korn Ferry data showing hiring managers rank critical thinking as the top skill they need, above AI skills.
“Korn Ferry just put out data showing 73% of hiring managers say critical thinking is the number one skill that they need right now”
We Fixed It, You're Welcome: MIDDLE MANAGERS ARE BACK?! (Oct 20, 2026) · Listen from 3:07
Customer service automation and human escalation
Eaton argued that AI customer experience has barely improved over chat assistants of 15 years ago and needs human escalation.
“the customer experience with AI is just lacks to be fair it's the same as it was when i was doing it 15 years ago”
We Fixed It, You're Welcome: MIDDLE MANAGERS ARE BACK?! (Oct 20, 2026) · Listen from 40:43
Span of control
Eaton, drawing on call-center experience, said around 12 customer service representatives per supervisor was a typical target because of coaching and escalation duties.
“how many CSRs per supervisor? 12 is about a good number, let's just say at one point, right?”
We Fixed It, You're Welcome: MIDDLE MANAGERS ARE BACK?! (Oct 20, 2026) · Listen from 16:36
Meta Platforms
Eaton argued Meta's reversal shows a company struggling to keep up with rapidly changing AI rather than making a single mistake.
“Meta flattened and unflattened in under a year. That's not a company that got it wrong once”
We Fixed It, You're Welcome: MIDDLE MANAGERS ARE BACK?! (Oct 20, 2026) · Listen from 2:40
Podcasts hosted
- We Fixed It, You're Welcome · 1 episode in TMT
Appearances
MIDDLE MANAGERS ARE BACK?!We Fixed It, You're Welcome · Oct 20, 2026 · 57 min
Aaron Wolpoff and Melissa Eaton talk with talent expert Abhijit Bhaduri about companies rehiring middle managers after AI-driven flattening, and the damage to trust.
Often appears with
- Aaron Wolpoff · 1 shared episode
- Abhijit Bhaduri · 1 shared episode