As difficult economic circumstances continue, it seems likely that organisations of all types are going to have to find new ways of cutting costs, improving productivity and just generally fighting harder to get business.
This will mean scrutinising activities that do not clearly help them meet their goals in the short-term and potentially terminating them.
Management sloppiness will not be tolerated. Staff at all levels who are obviously not pulling their weight will have to go. Any part of the organisation that gets in the way of necessary change will likewise need to be examined and could well be surgically removed.
While some of this change will be physical, other elements will be organisational, but the most important shifts of all are likely to be cultural. All will have an impact on the workforce, however.
As a result, such change simply must be managed well and implemented quickly, and HR directors have a key role to play here.
Key recommendations include getting on board the change programme early and aligning yourself with the senior manager responsible. The aim is to ensure that you are in a position to ask the awkward questions and make certain that adequate attention is paid to the human aspects of change management.
Such awkward questions include:
- How will any proposals affect staff, including material changes to their duties, work conditions, job descriptions, gradings and the like?
- How will we handle any necessary re-deployments, redundancies, retraining etc?
- How can we best consult with employees and obtain their feedback?
- How do we ensure that people really understand the need for difficult change and how can any pain be fairly spread across all levels of the organisation?
- How will any individual proposed change project fit in with other potential business transformation activities?
If the proposed change involves restructuring, it can be hard on many people – and not just those who have to go. It can also be difficult for those who remain too, not least because their workload may increase. Be careful how certain work is re-allocated, however, as it may affect job gradings and have other unexpected knock-on effects.
Rigorous management
A further consideration is ensuring that important knowledge is captured and skills transferred before individuals or teams are let go. It also makes sense to ensure that change activity is managed as rigorously as any other project or programme.
Therefore, ensure that those in charge at least understand project management principles in the first instance. While there may be little time for training, guides such as Steve Kirk’s handbook entitled ‘Fail to Plan – Plan to Fail’ may prove useful.
Once the news of impending change gets out, as it inevitably will, the rumour mill will inevitably start to crank up, however. Some rumours will be false, some will be exaggerated and some will be true.
But whatever the state of affairs, it is crucial to have a clear plan and timetable for communicating to staff what is happening. Be as open as you can – the more evasive you are, the worse the rumours will become and the more trust will be lost.
One of the dangers here is that your more employable talent may also take fright and look for jobs elsewhere, leaving you with personnel that you would have been less sorry to see go.
As a result, it is crucial to ensure that the senior management team is seen to lead and to be at the forefront. It must be visible and prepared to take the workforce into its confidence, talking realistically about any challenges rather than simply talking up the benefits.
Because of HR’s regular interaction with staff, the function is in a good position to understand their mood and how any potential problems may manifest themselves. This information is likely to prove invaluable in advising busy managers when and where their presence is likely to be required.
And while managing change effectively can be tricky, there are also potential upsides. A key one is having the chance to review and throw out poor practices and procedures in order to introduce sometimes long-overdue change. It may even be a once in a lifetime opportunity – so grab it while you can.
John Pope is founder of management consultancy, John Pope Associates.
