Restructuring again? Another new vision?
The announcement is out, with new lines on the organisation chart.
Your colleague sends you a chat:
Seen the reorg announcement? Didn’t we just restructure 6 months ago? Want to go for a coffee?
People often asked me why I decided to leave HR. I say that in the last 8 years of my HR career I managed 11 large organisational restructurings. The constant corporate change got very weary. There was never an end to one restructuring before the next one started.
How many organisational changes have you been through?
What’s driving constant change efforts in corporate?
A cycle of fear and greed drives transformation efforts.
Companies that are stocklisted are very focused on shareholder value.
Greed
Shareholder value rises when the market thinks that strategic change will lead to business transformation. That means:
- cost-saving reductions
- eliminating a management layer
- productivity programmes (ie more work from same staff)
- outsourcing to low cost countries
This gives them more money – a quick bump, and the shareholders can sell for more than they bought.
Fear
CEO’s live in fear of their shareholders. Keep them happy or lose your job. The lifecycle of a CEO is very short and has decreased rapidly from 6 to 4.8 years over the last 5 years.
The fear is fuelled by the CEO’s excessive remuneration package, which is usually based on a bonus calculated on shareholder value. So, fear drives greed, which drives the cycle around.
An ape can save costs
You don’t need to be a great CEO to find strategic opportunities for cost savings. Find a way to reduce staff, put the fear into the remaining employees and productivity will increase. Temporarily at least. Then follow it with another round of cost savings…… and another.
Real transformational change is much harder because it requires real long-term strategies for change in:
- people’s behaviour
- investment in new markets
- Investment and innovation in new technology and tools
- getting more profit out of legacy products
How do you survive the constant rounds of restructuring?
I wonder if shareholders held burnout and employee well-being as equally important as dividends, we’d see some cultural change?
I don’t think it is happening anytime soon, so what can you do to survive the constant restructuring rounds?
- Nurture your network – internally and externally. Get out there and meet people in your profession, keep in touch with former colleagues and make sure you have a network internally
- Basic maintenance – make sure you have a great CV and LinkedIn profile. You are ready to apply when needed, or just catch the attention of a recruiter
- Be visible – build your personal brand and be visible inside and outside your company
- Research & always be learning – keep learning and stay up to date in your area of professional expertise
- Look after your wellbeing – while the natural reaction is to work harder and sacrifice your time for wellbeing. Don’t. You need to look after your mental and physical well being more than ever.
If you’re facing the challenges of uncertainty and constant corporate change, don’t leave it to chance. Let’s have a chat.
