The daily headlines about big organisations making their people redundant has begun.

This isn’t just a big name issue though as SMEs are having to respond to the loss of trade since the Covid-19 crisis struck. With people being one of the costliest parts of the organisation, it’s inevitable that questions will be asked about how many people are needed to keep the organisation afloat in the next few months.

At the moment it seems that reducing costs is the main reason for organisations to make redundancies, and this makes sense. I’d add to this by suggesting that value can be gained by thinking about the medium and long term goals for the organisation and considering structure, roles and people through a strategic lens.

To help SMEs work through the process of restructuring and redundancies I have created a Guide to Resizing and Restructuring.

Often an immediate solution to cost cutting challenges is to handpick people or teams to make redundant and then retrofit a new structure. This approach may achieve short term gain, but it usually leads to long term pain.

My aim, with the Guide to Resizing and Restructuring, is to help leaders plan ahead and understand the implications of any resizing changes that are being introduced.

In addition, it can help you follow the HR processes to avoid tribunals whilst retaining and developing those who remain.

The guide describes the 3 phases of moving to a new structure with confidence.

Design – Consult and Select – Transition

The temptation for leaders is to decide on the number of people or the roles that they want to reduce, and move quickly to the Consultation and Selection stages. Often the aim is to cut costs as quickly as possible.

I would suggest, that spending some time in the design phase and thinking through the type of organisation you need, will lead to your organisation being set up for the future in a way that works. This can help you think about the work you need and how your current workforce can adapt to future changes. In addition, it may save you money and lessen the level of disruption by thinking through potential impacts and creating a robust process for consultation and selection.

Whether you are looking to restructure a team, function, division or the whole organisation, the questions and process outlined in the guide are relevant. The level of discussion needed to make decisions may vary. The amount of time required to move from design to transition will also vary depending on the complexity and nature of the changes required.

Whether the changes impact 10, 100 or 1000 people, this is an awful time for everyone as it creates such uncertainty and fear for the people involved, and rocks the foundations of any organisation. This is where Kandula Consulting can step in and help you through this process, so your people are organised and engaged to ensure they provide value to your business.

If you would like further practical advice on how to move through the 3 phases to create an organisational structure for the future, I’d love to hear from you.

Download the Kandula Consulting Guide to Resizing and Restructuring