It does not always mean making people redundant, it could be merging roles, losing roles, or adding new. Whatever you need to do, it can be a challenging time for everyone involved, but if you follow a good process, get good advice and do it all on the basis of dealing in good faith, then you are less likely to face any issues.

We have interviewed a client about their recent restructure, to get real feedback from a business owner about the process of working with our HR team, what the challenges were, what led them to the decision and how they have come out the other side. We have kept them anonymous to protect the privacy of all involved, but their story is real.

What led to your decision to restructure staff roles?

It came about when we were analysing the numbers – our software was clearly showing us that our numbers weren’t looking great; we were seeing a clear downturn in both booked work and enquiries. The pipeline of work was getting thin, and we had a lot of people. So, we decided to act early, and this put us in good stead.

Was it a hard decision to restructure?

It was really, really hard because obviously our employees are part of our family. But we had to do what we had to do to keep our business, and we could only forecast a certain amount of work across certain areas. Some of our services had just dried up, and so those roles/skill sets were not needed.

The risk was we would have to pay staff to be doing nothing, or worse, allowing staff with the wrong skill set to execute a job that they were not suited or qualified for and then that could reflect badly on our business both financially and our brand as a whole.

What was the process that you went through, firstly without us and then with our HR team providing support?

Initially we were having conversations with the senior team, looking at the numbers, looking at the state of the country and the current economic climate. We could see what work was not in the pipeline, and we could see it was time to seek advice.

We got straight on the phone to Trish Baylis from the Baker Tilly Staples Rodway Taranaki HR team. I knew we needed the right team on the bus to help us explain the process, guide us through it and end up with the right people and roles at the end. With her background and skills, we knew we would get the right advice and tools to do this.

What did Trish do first?

She firstly explained to me what the process would look like, what the steps needed to be, and she also gave us reassurance that we were not the first and would not be the last business to have to undertake a restructure in these times.

At the end of those chats we knew where we needed to be, and what the role structure could look like. It was amazingly helpful. You don’t know what you don’t know, right?

With Trish to support us, we felt really confident that we were doing everything in good faith the whole way along. We met with her three or four times when things popped up, or we were unsure, and she spelt it out for us.

We could send her queries and she would give us the right advice to move forward and support our team correctly. Without her advice we could have got ourselves in trouble. We wanted to be fair to all the employees impacted and we wanted to do it properly. I know there would be businesses out there that would just say “don’t come Monday” and that’s not us.

How has the restructure changed or supported your business?

The numbers are better and there’s adequate forward work in the pipeline now, which protects the remaining roles and workflow for the team. It has put us under a little bit of pressure to manage with reduced staffing levels, but we still see that as a positive and it just means we have to be clear to manage expectations in our client communications.

How are the staff that have remained/kept their roles/merged into new roles?

The corridor conversations are actually quite positive – the team are focused on getting back to basics, with a tighter leadership group, better training for our young ones from our senior members, and everyone is looking forward and excited to getting back into “business as usual” and focused on doing great things to help the business move forward.

From the legal side of things did having Trish at the end of the phone/e-mail give you the right language?

The legislative knowledge and detail were great; it was so helpful to have the HR team there in the background – even little things like finding the right words for an email or providing sage advice or key words to manage a tricky conversation.

And Trish would always follow up and check in, offer further advice or notes, which I said yes to every time.

There were high emotions and enough going on for everyone involved, so to not have to worry about my communications was such a confidence boost. I was able to have those difficult conversations with the impacted staff members and be clear about the why, how, when etc., and know that they had what they needed, too.

What was the hardest piece of the restructure process?

Talking to the affected staff members was the hardest, but it worked out easier than I thought. They were understanding because we had done the groundwork, they were aware of the economic situation, we’d communicated early, and Trish had done all the thinking, and I just had to do the talking. I had great guidance from her as to how those conversations should go. Her help made it so much easier for everyone.

How do you feel now you are out the other side?

I feel a bit of pressure as the boss to ensure we are still able to support our clients. My senior team know that we have to communicate clearly with clients and uphold our values and deliver a great service. The last thing I want to hear is that we are not where we need to be. It is still a little too early to tell but the numbers are looking better already.

How long did the whole process take?

From those initial conversations with our accountant and looking at the forecasts a couple of months ago and starting a conversation with Trish, we then decided to rip the band aid off for everyone’s sake. The restructure process itself was about six to eight weeks end-to-end.

What advice would you have for any New Zealand businesses in a similar position?

• Act early, the process takes time.
• Seek good advice – it is the most important thing.
• Be mindful of people’s feelings throughout.

If you find yourself in the position where you might need to restructure and do not know where to start, feel free to reach out to our Auckland, Hawke’s Bay or Taranaki HR restructuring and redundancy specialists for a conversation. You do not have to be an accounting client to access our HR consulting services and your information is treated in the strictest confidence.