Leading Through A Restructuring

Leadership Coaching Notes February 2009

Leading Through A Restructuring

Erin’s operation faced eliminating some jobs and moving others to diverse locations. He was worried about the impact on his employees, particularly in the current economic situation. He also needed to keep his workforce productive through this process. How could he cut back, make needed moves and stay supportive to people?  If you are facing significant cut backs or changes, keep reading.

What Worked

On some levels, Erin wanted to just “get on with it,” but, like a pilot preparing to fly, Erin designed a checklist to guide and navigate through the process. (Planes are complex and so are leading significant change and dealing with human emotions!) Erin’s list included:

Identify who is accountable for leading the change and what resources they need. Clearly define your change leadership team’s purpose and top three success indicators during the transition period. Be able to articulate its goals the same way to everyone. To read more on how Erin worked with his leadership team, click on Tips for Transition Leadership Teams.

Break the change into a series of tasks and map them to a timeline. Start with the target completion date and back into the required timeline. If jobs are moving overseas, allow time for trade, regulatory, political and media issues relevant to each region affected. Assume that in the weeks following your announcements, that productivity will take a hit. In some cases, people may not get the work done on your timeline.

Know who you need and lock them in. Look beyond obvious high potentials and high performers. Others may have the most relevant skills or knowledge to work through the transition. Understand who is accountable for what in relationship to whom, particularly in matrixed organizations. Identify a backup person for every key activity.

Budget more money, time and communications efforts than you need. You are not just moving people or tasks. You are also moving processes and changing relationships. People need training on new operations. They need to build relationships with new peers, customers, suppliers, partners, constituents and investors.

Identify everyone who needs to know about the change and create a formal plan for keeping them informed. Don’t assume people will figure it out. Talk in person with all key groups and constituents. Do an audit so that you know who will be impacted by what changes and what they need to know. Get the messaging right for each audience.

Communicate your transition plan consistently in multiple times and ways. People need to hear from those they work for. In some cases this might be an executive. In many cases, it will be their direct manager. Plan time to assure managers are clear and skillful with delivering the message. Anticipate as many questions and prepare answers for as many as you can. The more people impacted, the more questions you should expect. Set up hotlines answered by managers and HR staff equipped with prepared talking points. Give callers answers within a defined period of time, ideally when questions are asked, but all within 24 hours. Keep a log of questions and periodically update a FAQ online resource.

Know what the law requires of you for notifications and severance. Work with state and local officials to identify resources that employees can contact. Provide skilled leaders and professionals to listen, coach and support those who will leave. Assure those who leave will describe your process as clear, fair and supportive.

If you want to check some of Erin’s individual leadership best practices click on 12 Helpful Leadership Tips.

Business Impact

No transition occurs perfectly, but by anticipating the issues and leading a well-equipped transition team, client services continued without significant problems or losses. Erin’s remaining staff adapted, performed new roles and built relationships more quickly and skillfully.    Those leaving, while upset, described the process as clear and helpful to them. Best of all, Erin’s organization performance metrics achieved target levels faster than anyone had predicted.

What’s Next

If you or leaders you work with want to assure you handle a coming transition with clarity, focus and
a positive impact, call me. Our first conversation is always free. I welcome your call and your referrals. Jim Sheehy has extensive experience with overseas placement and can help with those issues especially well.

Thanks to Jim Sheehy for his excellent contributions to this ezine. Jim is an HR and Corporate
Leadership Development Practitioner who can be reached at jwmsheehy@aol.com.

All the best,

Meredith Kimbell
Executive Advisor,Strategy Consultant
Corporate Adventure

Leadership Coaching Notes uses real or composite client examples drawn from 25 years of coaching and consulting with leaders committed to solving their toughest personal, interpersonal and organizational issues.
Unless otherwise attributed, all material is copyrighted by Meredith Kimbell © 2011. All rights reserved. You may reprint any or all of this material if you include the following:
“Leadership Coaching Notes © 2011 Meredith Kimbell, Corporate Adventure, Reston, VA. Used with permission.”