The business restructuring process is a powerful tool to have in your back pocket, and is one that we often don’t take advantage of. Following on from the article “Why the best recruiting strategies involve buses”, lets talk about restructuring your staff – essentially, that process of putting the right people in the right places and sometimes, getting the wrong people off the bus.

If any of these 3 stories below rings any bells for you, it might be time you restructure your workforce.

1. Restructure if your hiring strategy has pretty much been about needing more hands on deck as you grow.

You were hiring based on the present and the past. No. Hire based on the future. Imagine what your team would look like if you were starting today.  Don’t let the current team structure, individuals, yourself or your budget influence your thinking. Once you have a strong team mapped out, switch people around, hire new and start the process of getting the wrong people off the bus. You should go through this process every time you feel you need new staff.  Use it as an opportunity to re-evaluate your team and ensure you are structured for success.(PS The money will come when you are clear about what you want, because the right people will make money.)

2. Restructure because you have a bad egg….or a carton of bad eggs.

You know them. The staff that have been around too long. They are jaded, cannot keep up, cannot change and essentially need to shape up or be shown up. If there are more than one, its dangerous. They can become toxic and contagious. The strategy here is divide and conquer. And do it fast. Beautiful tactics include splitting teams, change reporting lines, sometimes even a simple seat shuffle can do just the trick. But the magic is in your speed.Make the decision, don’t labour over it for weeks, and run with it. Implement it quickly. Stick to your guns and don’t be afraid to do it all over again 9 months later. The shaking up will help people be inspired by new influences, change their thinking, create efficiencies and often jiggle the rotting eggs so much that they can’t handle it and leave. Good riddance.
3. Restructure because you have a good egg

This revolves around having the right people on the bus. If you have found someone that is truly special, it is worth structuring teams around them. The team will benefit from their energy and leadership and the gem will benefit from having more responsibility and feeling acknowledged and valued.

At the heart of it, restructuring teams keeps people on their toes, feels like adventure and to be honest, is fun. I’ve seen masterpieces created out of some moving and shaking.