Before you restructure, read this.
In a client mentoring session on Friday, I was looking forward to hearing how a job interview had gone. After an extended secondment, and a long recruitment process, mucked around by COVID and non-COVID related delays, the big day was finally pegged to take place last week, and my client was excited.
Well, she didn’t get the job. Not because it went to someone else, but because the interview was called off… the day before. The ELT had decided to implement another “reshuffle” so all recruitment conversations were put on hold. Again. For the sake of some awkward conversations in the party of five, hundreds of people were affected and thrown back into uncertainty.
That conversation inspired me to have a bit of a rant on LinkedIn, which went gangbusters. The gist: restructures, by any name, are not the answers to most of your problems. When all you’ve got is a hammer, everything – decisions, delegations, management systems, poor relationships – can start to look like a nail.
Some of you might be familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The basic idea is: not all human needs are created equally. We have some basic ones that need taking care of (food, shelter, safety) before we can even think about having woke conversations about the meaning of life.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
A year or two ago, working with a business that were using the restructure hammer multiple times a year, I developed the McKay Hierarchy of Organisational Needs. The idea is the same: not all organisational needs are created equally. Before we worry about the structure of our teams, or start having conversations about “changing the culture” we need to make sure our basic needs are taken care of first.
McKay's Hierarchy of Organisational Needs
If you’re struggling inside the madness that is 2020, and considering yet another restructure, take the time to work your way through the hierarchy first – are your foundation needs taken care of?
Before you worry about whether your people have the right capabilities, check whether they’re being supported by a clear direction, effective systems and strong leadership.
Before you start fiddling with your structure, take a good hard look at whether all of your other ducks in a row. Otherwise, you’re going to wind up with a team full of uncertain and unproductive people, who are no better off.
(And before you start talking about “changing the culture” as though it's an input, reconsider whether the way your organisation runs supports the kind of behaviours you’re sticking on posters in the staff-room.If you take care of those, you might find culture is an output that largely takes care of itself!)
What are your organisation's biggest needs right now?
Are you focusing on the right things?
