Rebuilding company culture after a restructure

Mary-Anne highlights four emotions leaders often notice among staff in the aftermath of a restructure, all of which can impact behaviour and performance:

“People are likely to feel anxious” Mary-Anne explains, “they’ll be asking themselves ‘could I be next? Will the business survive? What does the future hold?’”.

The upheaval also means that team bonds are likely to suffer. This could be due to an “us and them” mentality that develops between leadership and staff, or distrust between colleagues who’ve had to compete for roles.

Restructures are stressful, there are no two ways around that. But even for those who hold onto jobs, there’s the unfamiliarity of the new status quo, plus the potential for increased workloads.

Staff who remain when others are made redundant can feel guilty, and believe their ‘survival’ is down to luck rather than personal merit. There’s also the sadness of seeing close friends leaving.

Mary-Anne says that businesses need to take proper care in responding to each of these reactions.

“Redundancies are just the start,” she explains, “how you manage the people who remain has a direct effect on the success of your business from now on. A team that’s feeling anxious and stressed with low trust won’t be high achieving - they’ll do the bare minimum with low loyalty”.

“Communicate, communicate, communicate - I can’t stress that enough. Leaders should be honest and share as much information as they appropriately can,” Mary-Anne says.

Sharing information regularly and consistently will restore calm and rebuild trust and confidence, she explains. It helps demonstrate that you have a clear plan for the future. What’s more, due to the increased stress and anxiety employees may be feeling, leaving gaps in the information flow provides room for negative speculation, creating a vicious cycle of uncertainty.

You can take this notion further, Mary-Anne says, by taking proactive steps to “show your people you care about them”. She references initiatives such as regular newsletters, all-staff meetings, recognition programs, or updates on company social tools like Slack as potential ways that leaders can strengthen staff engagement and loyalty. This in turn, she says, will lead to better performance.

Mary-Anne suggests several types of communication, however notes that this is highly context specific, and that business leaders need to choose the options most suitable to them.

“It’s generally a good idea to let your team know someone is leaving before they exit. Give everyone a chance to say goodbye to each other, and thank them for the work they’ve done for your business. Show your integrity by giving the outgoing employee that dignity and respect, so they can leave with their heads held high, and so your team sees that everyone matters to you.”

As part of your restructure process, you should have shared the new company structure and provided opportunities for staff to provide feedback.

Even with this step complete, your employees will have ongoing questions around the changes and what they mean for them. Mary-Anne recommends thinking about how you can use comms to answer common queries like ‘what will you be saying to clients?’, ‘how do you need the team to pull together from now on?’ and ‘what’s the future for the business?’. Where possible, she advises involving your staff in planning so everyone is invested in your future success.

A watershed moment like a restructure is a chance to think about the future of company comms. Mary-Anne suggests that if you’re not already sharing regular comms with your staff, use this as an opportunity to establish that because “this will help strengthen the team into your new journey together.”

“Your staff will need space to process and come to terms with what’s happened – it’s one of the stages of grief, and it should be expected in post restructuring situations,” Mary-Anne points out.

She says this involves a careful balance between giving employees space while also offering communication and recognition for their efforts so they get the right message from you.

In time, she says, “employee resentment will turn into understanding – and that’s when you should engage in quality team building to strengthen your group and bring everyone back together.”

Mary-Anne also points out it’s important to “remember and acknowledge those who have left in properly.” Speaking about them with respect, and not avoiding the subject shows your people you care – and it’s also the right thing to do. “Sharing your emotions will help unite your team.”

Mary-Anne’s philosophy here is straight-forward: “You don’t need a budget to have a strong culture. The roots of culture are in relationships – focus on improving those, and you’ll have good foundations.”

She highlights that, post restructure, because of the state of people’s feelings, leaders often see different behaviours and interactions, and possibly some that aren’t in line with your culture.

“The solution, she says, “is not fancy offices and beanbags in the break room (and by the way, that’s not culture). It means letting people know what kind of behaviour is ok or not, and why – rebuilding behaviours one step at a time.”

In practice this means asking individuals whether they’re conscious of what they’re doing and the impact it’s having? Being clear about expected behaviour while remaining kind and mindful of what employees are going through will help get things back on track.

The other important pillar is teamwork. Mary-Anne says it’s vital that ”people are talking to each other and interacting constructively.” She emphasises that while it might take time for things to get back to where they were, this is okay, as long as you’re moving in the right direction.