There are few business terms that cause as much stress or fear to employees as reorganization. Reorganizations, more commonly known as “reorgs,” generally mean a change in staff and company structure: whether it is a combination of divisions (therefore opening the door for redundant employees), a change in ownership for products or services, or a change in leadership, reorgs generally mean one thing: change, and change can be scary.
When it comes to a company’s business cycle, reorganizations are a major adjustment that impact employees and managers. Often being conceptualized in the strategic planning process, the main reasons for a reorganizations are to streamline and improve the business, and according to McKinsey & Co., about 70% of 370 so-called reorgs in North America led to increased value for the companies; however, such a major change should not be taken lightly, as it can cause a significant amount of anxiety for everyone involved.
Once the dust of a reorg settles, there is often a lack of clarity on reporting structure, key individual initiatives, and accountability. Based on a survey by Salesforce, 86% of corporate executives and employees believe that ineffective communications are a big reason for workplace failures. Realistically, leaders cannot expect employees to adapt seamlessly to the upheaval that a reorganization causes, and they certainly cannot expect employees to instantly perform at an optimum level.
There are ample resources and advice available today to help employees through a reorg, and below are some of our favorites!
- What to Do and Say After a Tough Reorganization from Harvard Business Review
- 7 Steps to Survive Your Company’s Re-org from Fast Company
- Reorganization Without Tears from McKinsey
If your company is going through a reorg and you want to ensure a quicker, smoother transition by your team, MPS offers three key programs that can help:
- Alignment Program
- Workflow Alignment Program
- Accountability Program
Each program is an important piece of the realignment puzzle, helping to move the team and company forward with clarity and purpose.
Alignment Program: The MPS Alignment Program guides teams through a process to develop an annual or mid-year strategy that inspires and motivates accomplishments. This facilitated experience guides leaders to address changes while revisiting both the company and the team’s missions and values. This process includes the creation of SMART goals and objectives for each member of the team and is focused on:
- Reviewing and celebrating wins
- Acknowledging what didn’t work over the past year or half-year
- Defining and creating alignment for future goals and objectives.
The Alignment Program creates more engaged employees who are high performing, aligned, focused, and empowered to say ‘no’ to activities that don’t support their overall goals. Through this process, the team shifts their awareness into positive behaviors that create higher levels of accountability, responsibility, and results.
Workflow Alignment: This program is designed to enable teams to create communication standards and guidelines, which develops an ingrained culture of productivity. Utilizing the content from Take Back Your Life!®, this scalable program works with leadership individuals to align upon business protocols that will make a positive impact on the team or division’s productivity, while fostering a more efficient workplace culture that incorporates improved communication, accomplishments, and more work-life balance.
Accountability Program: According to Inc., when employees are encouraged to take ownership of the company’s key results and are pushed to understand that their role has a larger impact, they engage in their responsibilities with more vigor and energy. The Accountability Program works in tandem with an annual strategic team plan to support proactive execution. It involves creating an accountability system to monitor progress on achievement of defined goals. Managers and leaders will learn a proven, successful system to empower their staff to initiate and participate fully in accountability conversations while staying on track with their objectives. Throughout the year, staff will report on progress weekly, monthly and quarterly using this objective system to stay accountable to goals, enabling them to focuses on their priorities rather than interruptions and inconsequential projects.
The change that a reorganization poses can be difficult and emotionally debilitating for employees; however, it’s important for leaders to acknowledge and address employee concerns during the process to ensure the realignment process is initiated. You don’t want the train to be stalled at the station during a reorg, but rather slowly moving forwarded and reaching the momentum it needs to reach its final destination.
McGhee Productivity Solutions’ consultants are professionally trained to guide leaders and their teams as they navigate the realignment process. Contact us today to discuss your specific challenges and we’ll work together to craft a process that will ensure that your new team builds cohesion, common goals, and shared productivity together!