Ink Leadership: How to Survive a Corporate Re-Org

Have you survived a corporate re-org? If so, you know the path of a re-org can be three things: the path of least resistance, the path of resistance or it could be like some facebook relationship status’: freaking complicated. According to a McKinsey survey, 82% of executives experienced an organizational re-org and 70% of executives experienced a reorganization within the past two years as well as many expect another within the next two years. The need often arises from changing market conditions, technological changes, and strategic shifts. Let’s dive into five types of re-orgs from the perspective of employees and how they experience them and five ways to survive them.

The Jack in the Box Re-Org is the one that hits you out of nowhere. One day you get called into a meeting and the organization head advises you that you will be reporting to someone else or someone else will be taking over your unit or you will be overseeing a new group. And guess what? The effective date is tomorrow during the department meeting where we are going to let the entire department know. WTF!

The Your The Best So You Need to Take on More Work Re-Org is when you are inundated with work, are a top performer and because you are so awesome, now you can manage a bigger team. This is when your leadership is knocking it out of the park and therefore more is just that more.

The We Think You Need to Go But First Let’s Shrink Your Team Re-Org is when you are no longer leading effectively or don’t match leadership’s expectations so, it’s time to move some or all of your staff elsewhere.

The You Asked And We Agree Re-Org is when you advocate to oversee a group and leadership agrees you should and it makes complete business sense to do so.

The Aligned with Business Strategy Re-Org is when the business has a new direction and justifies a re-org. This could be due to the organization’s expansion, shift in strategy or adjusting to a new corporate environment.

Benefits of a Re-Org Include:

• Clear Roles and Responsibilities
• Cost Effective
• Enhanced Communication
• Enhanced Employee Engagement and Performance
• Employee Development

Downsides of a Re-Org:

• Disruption and Uncertainty
• Loss of Key Talent
• Reduced Morale
• Resistance to Change
• Risk of Failure

Five Ways To Survive a Re-Org

1. Pause Before You Respond. Sometimes re-orgs can come as a surprise but it is so important that you check in your emotional intelligence. There is so much at stake in the way that you respond to a re-org. If you have a negative reaction, this can haunt you for the rest of your corporate career or it can demonstrate that you can manage change well. It is okay to take your time during a meeting to respond or wait to respond until afterwards. Depending on your response, you may want to check your emotions first, deal with them, then come back to the situation.
2. Prepare. No matter how much time you have to prepare, prepare. Prepare for team reactions, team conversations, team assumptions, and be ready to answer your team’s questions. Have presentations ready. Have explanations ready. These are critical to the effectiveness of the rollout of the re-org. This will set the tone and like my wife tells me, the way you start makes all the difference in how you finish. Be transparent and demonstrate trust during this phase. Of course, not everything needs to be aired out but informing your team as clearly as you can will help you and your team navigate the change. The resistance may show up for a few and being there for your team will make all the difference.
3. Go Through the Motions. Check your personal thoughts about the re-org. Do you agree? Do you disagree? Are you going to go through loss? Yes, loss. What are you gaining? Does this affect your personal life? Does this affect your career? What are your beliefs? What story are you going to tell about this re-org to yourself, about yourself? What are you feeling as a result of the re-org? As humans, we are affected by a re-org. We can experience loss – the loss of a boss, a supervisor, a mentor, a sponsor, a friend, a whole team or maybe work or even a work location. I’ve experienced both great gains during a re-org and tremendous loss during another. Both were emotionally charged for me, but both were equally necessary for my growth. In retrospect, and I always look at change in this way – the change was for me, not done to me. I can’t say one was easier than the other. They both had their challenges, but they definitely helped me grow as I navigated the change. I learned from both experiences.
4. Ask Questions. Check your assumptions so that you don’t make an a-well, you know what out of yourself. To the contrary, assume good intent and ask questions to clarify the re-org. Think about the questions you’d like to ask and when and where and to whom you should be asking. Sometimes you may hear things you don’t want to hear and if this happens, go back to #1 in this section. Keep in mind that some things don’t require for you to ask anything. Like J Balvin says in his song, “lo que se vé, no se pregunta” which translates to: don’t state the obvious or don’t ask if it’s as plain as day.
5. Be Resourceful. This is the time to check in with your coach, mentor, confidents, sponsors, friends (outside of work) or family. Remember each one of these has a different role so the conversation will be different, but it may be time to check in with one of them or a few of them depending on the kind of support you may need. With any transition, it is helpful to have support and it is okay to ask for help.