Managing Reorganisations, Restructures and Redundancies

Registration and coffee

Welcome, introduction and outline of objectives

The legal context of contract variation

• Making and varying employment contract
• Individual and collective consultation
• Gaining consent
• Dealing with grievances
• Avoiding constructive dismissal and claims for breach of contract
•  Introducing flexibility into the employment contract – lessons learned from Home Office v Evans and other significant case law decisions

Information and Consultation

• The duty to inform and consult – how must this be applied?
• How far must consultation go – UK Coal Mining v NUM
• Knowledge sharing under the latest regulations
• Collective versus individual consultation
• Managing the consultation process – best practice guidance
• Protective awards
• Working with trade unions
• Redundancy selection

Managing redundancy – best practice guidance

• What are the key legal issues for HR? What regulations apply?
• Redundancy or reorganisation?
• Developing a plan for redundancy
• Avoiding unlawful discrimination  
• Redundancy payments
• Dispute Resolution Regulations
• Redundancy and unfair dismissal
• Approaching and consulting with trade unions
• How do you seek volunteers for redundancy?
•  The pool for selection and fairness of selection
• Offers of suitable alternative employment
• Retention bonuses and no-cash incentives
• Case law update: list recent cases

Handling business transfers and mergers

• When do the TUPE regulations apply?
• Identifying who transfers
• Which liabilities transfer?
• Informing and consulting
• Harmonising terms and conditions
• New duties of disclosure in practice
• TUPE redundancies and changing terms
• Group pensions and reward - what are the considerations?
• Outsourcing and offshoring
• Understanding the role of HR during a merger – due diligence and best practice
• Managing two workforces – key considerations

Avoiding common pitfalls when dealing with reorganisations, restructurings and redundancies

• Top tips for HR when managing restructures
• Discussing frequently occurring scenarios and HR best practice solutions
• Getting the communication process right

End of day one

Registration and coffee

Welcome, introduction and objectives for the day

• Reorganisations, restructuring and redundancies – different reasons for change from the strategic to the operational, and consequences and impact of each
• Exploring why changes fail and critical factors to move to success

Examining common people challenges and issues during an organisational restructure

• Understanding the change process and the psychological impact of change: what you can do to manage reactions and resistance to change
• Exploring the principal stages of change and key initiatives to navigate successfully through each stage
• Assessing readiness to change in your organisation and likely resistance: diagnostic tools and approaches to manage through the barriers
• Selecting for change: exploring different options and approaches to manage the transition through a restructure. Getting from where you are now to where you want to be

Managing redundancy: options to minimise the impact on the individual and the organisation

• Handling the meetings: skills sets to do it well, possible reactions from people, selecting who to conduct the meetings and skilling up your managers
• Managing the impact on others not affected by the redundancies
• What to do during the consultation process: how to handle the period of unknown for people
• Options and possibilities to optimise your support to the individual, and manage the impact. What can your organisation offer and provide as an employer of choice?

The crucial role of communication in facilitating the change process

• Effective communication strategies, skills and tools to support change initiatives:

o        Exploring different options and requirements at different stages

o        Moving from awareness to commitment

• Sustained communication and its impact on employee relations: keeping staff informed and involved at every stage of the restructure
• The role of leaders and managers to promote the vision, model reaction, to cascade and to manage close communication, understanding and exchange

Case study: Managing Change at IBM

Maximising team dynamics pre and post restructure

• Understanding teams and the process of team development:

o        What happens to a team during fragmentation and change

o        New teams from old

o        Processes and approaches to move quickly to a new team dynamic

o        What you can do to facilitate success

Equipping your leaders, managers, HR and other change agents to lead and facilitate an effective change process

• HR as business partner: HR’s value added role to lead and support change
• Assessing your leaders: what you can do to support and facilitate them as leaders of change
• Developing awareness and the skills sets to manage people through change and their reactions to change.
• Identifying and working with key players and creating change champions

Mergers and acquisitions: additional considerations

• Why mergers and acquisitions fail
• Merging culture and values: what is culture and can you define your organisation’s values:

o        Identifying the culture and values of the transferring organisation.

o        What culture will prevail

o        How will the transition be managed?

• The top team, and senior management: power and politics, strategy and alignment

Planning for change: project definition and management to ensure successful implementation

• Project definition: your organisation’s reasons for change - clarifying the purpose and goals and defining the scope and reach of the change initiative
• Establishing the change team, roles and champions
• Exploring the scope of impact of the change on other strategies and processes including business planning, training and development needs, performance management
• Monitoring and measuring success

End of day two