Managing Business Change - Guest Blog by Sarah Darbyshire
The current Coronavirus pandemic has led many businesses to rethink the products and services that they offer to customers and clients. Some of the positives that have come out of this situation are creativity, flexibility and innovation.
However, as the economic impact continues to take its toll, some businesses are inevitably having to consider restructures and redundancies. Here are some key considerations before you start talking to employees – this is a general overview – I recommend taking professional advice on your individual situation before starting a restructure/redundancy process:
Develop a plan
- What does the new structure of your business look like?
- Which roles will be key to the success of your business?
- What knowledge, skills and behaviours will employees need in the new world?
- How will work be carried out – on site or remotely?
A basic organisation structure and job descriptions will help everyone understand what the business will look like in the future.
Ways to avoid redundancy
In March this year, the government introduced the furlough scheme:
The purpose of the scheme was to support employers in retaining employees during the pandemic, avoid redundancies, and to help the economy recover quicker. The support is currently available from 1 March to 30 June 2020.
You can also consider:
- Offering voluntary redundancy or early retirement – usually with some sort of incentive; these need to be available to all employees to avoid potential discrimination
- Identify transferable skills of existing employees to see if they can move from a team where workload has reduced to a busier area of the organisation
- Train and develop team members to give them new skills and knowledge
- Temporarily reduce working hours – this would need to be agreed with employees unless it is covered in their contract of employment
- Put recruitment on hold
Communication and consultation
One of the challenges of the Coronavirus is how to conduct a redundancy consultation process when many employees are working remotely. Many companies are using tools such as Zoom and Teams to keep in touch with their employees, and these can be used for consultation purposes as well. You must discuss your plans with any employees who are likely to be affected by a redundancy situation.
The purpose of the consultation is:
- To try and find ways to avoid redundancy
- To explain what is happening and why
- Explain the impact on the individual, team and the wider business, including how many jobs are at risk
- Explain how you will select people for redundancy – it is important to be transparent and avoid potential discrimination
- Timescales and redundancy pay
- Ask the employee for any suggestions that they may have
According to employment legislation:
- If you are making less than 20 people redundant, there are no set rules around timescales
- If you are making 20 – 99 roles redundant within 90 days in 1 workplace – you must begin consultation with employees at least 30 days before giving the first redundancy notice
- If you are making more than 100 roles redundant within 90 days in 1 workplace – you must begin consultation at least 45 days before giving the first redundancy notice
Remind employees what support is available to them during the redundancy process.
Employee engagement
As well as regular, open communication with those employees who are at risk of redundancy, it is also important to make sure you keep those staff who will remain with the business informed and engaged. They will be taking notice of how you are treating their ‘at risk’ colleagues during a difficult time, and some people will struggle with ‘survivor syndrome’. Once the restructure has happened, take time to talk to everyone, both from a business and personal level, particularly during this difficult time.
How can HR Solutions Yorkshire Limited help?
With 25 years’ experience of HR, Sarah Darbyshire has been involved in a number of business restructures and redundancy programmes. We can support you through every stage of the redundancy process from developing your business plan, through the consultation process, supporting employees through the transition and engaging your workforce. if you’d like more details or to speak to Sarah directly please contact Natasha Murphy email: natasha.murphy@ashleykatehr.com.
Sarah Darbyshire started her HR career in a small family business, and worked her way up to Head of HR roles, transforming and restructuring a number of organisations. She set up HR Solutions Yorkshire Limited in 2016 which provides ad hoc and retained HR Consultancy services in the following areas to businesses across Yorkshire and the North:
HR strategy and projects
Change management
Employee relations
Learning and development
Employee wellbeing
Sarah is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD, and also holds the Prince 2 project management qualification.
