How to restructure and take the staff with you

A conversation with Julia Van der Mark

Invariably the path to organisational success is underpinned by a partnership with its people but there's no standard or fixed HR solution to this. HR needs to be commercial and must evolve according to business objectives. Award winning financial journalist, Peter Williams, finds out more from Julia Van der Mark.

 

Listen now:

Transcript

Hi, I'm Peter Williams, I'm a financial journalist.

Hi, I'm Julia Van der Mark.

PETER: Julia, I know you've done a lot of work in HR and transformation of HR. With so many redundancies happening, how can companies handle this situation well?

JULIA: Technically speaking redundancy is a by product of a change programme, and it's the fear factor. Most of the time, a change programme shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. You should be aware, or you know you're aware that something is not right. So in trying to help change that, or prove what's going wrong, engaging with the staff, and asking them what they think is going wrong is probably actually the starting point.

PETER: OK, and how does the company, the management, the bosses, how do they show sort of trust and belief in this process? I mean are there any small indications they can do or is it just a formal process you've got to get through?

JULIA: The difficulty with consultation and change is the by product of redundancy really because the people that are affected or negatively affected by a change programme are, they lives are changed because they have no employment. But also the people who are delivering such negative news, it affects them in such a difficult way. So, most organisations will shy away from engaging fully with the people that they are trying to consult with, because it's such a difficult message to deliver, but it's often made so much easier by allowing the staff to participate in the ideas, the suggestions, the proposals.

PETER: And you've seen that happen in real life have you that participation can make a difference, and can make it a better process for everybody?

JULIA: Absolutely. In particular there are obviously options that I've used in the past where, rather than coming to the table with organisation proposal that says this is where we're going to change, this is what we're suggesting, as is the practice with consultations, is actually engaging with the staff and allowing them to be part of the solution. So, you engage with the staff, you create working parties and groups and say right this is what we think our ideas are, but we don't actually know what the answer is, why don't you come up with the answer.

PETER: OK. That sounds very logical and very sensible, but I am sure there must be barriers to actually doing it like that. What are the sort of barriers that you have seen?

JULIA: Predominantly in change programmes trust is a significant issue. If you are trying to change an organisation, you are trying to help people understand why things need to be improved upon. You don't have to gain sort of lightness about it, staff don't have to sort of jump up and down in the air, but they do have to understand that there is a need for change, and as part of their understanding if they can be part of the solution, then they're far more effective, and your solution is far more positive for the Business than you could ever imagine.

PETER: OK, thank you. You say you've been through it a number of times. Just give me one example of the sort of lessons that you have learned over the processes you have been through?

JULIA: The staff are incredibly imaginative and that is often what we as managers underestimate the input that they can have during times of difficulty, and that actually we should be looking to them for some of our answers, as well as the strategic direction, objectives and forecasting that we deliver from a management perspective. Our staff can help us realise on the ground floor how we need to improve our businesses, how we need to improve our service, and very often it is things that we miss.

PETER: OK, and you think what you saw in that particular instance can be applied generally can it, and other companies and other organisations can pick up and make a relatively positive experience about what can be a very difficult situation?

PETER: Julia, that's great. Thank you.