How to Do an Organizational Restructuring Effectively

15 March 2023

Organizational restructuring may be necessary to keep the business competitive. Even more so when a business has a plan to maintain a competitive advantage in the face of industrial developments.

Understanding the basics of restructuring can help you implement restructuring effectively to achieve your goals. In this article, we explain what organizational restructuring is, explain why, and provide tips on how to restructure your organization.

Definition of Organizational Restructuring

Organizational restructuring is a change in a company's business model, structure or processes. Restructuring can involve changing the workforce, reorganizing company hierarchies, and new processes in work. The scale of the restructuring campaign depends on product factors and market needs.

Organizational restructuring can occur when management decides a part of the business needs to be changed. If properly implemented, these changes can improve business in a particular area or areas.

Responsible Person in Organizational Restructuring

In many organizations, restructuring often involves the following groups:

1. Management

The executive board needs to work to keep the organization alive and operational. They also need to evaluate activities in the restructuring process and provide support to ensure its success.

2. Employees

Employees need to be involved in this restructuring process. However, the company may not directly involve employees in the initial restructuring.

3. Human Resources Department

HR personnel often create long-term plans to guide reorganizations and communicate changes to employees.

4. Stakeholders

Stakeholder engagement can depend on factors such as company size and scale of restructuring. Large companies with strong investors often include stakeholders when making decisions that can significantly affect operations.

Reasons for organizational restructuring

Restructuring often results from analyzing the current state of the company and identifying the changes that are needed. Following are some of the reasons companies decide to restructure:

1. Dynamism in the business environment

In the ever-changing business world, companies are forced to change certain aspects of their business in order to remain competitive. Some changes rarely require intensive restructuring. However, there are also those that can lead to major reorganizations in the company.

The dynamic business environment is one of the common external factors driving efforts to restructure. Internal factors can be more controlled and not easily changed.

2. Changes in work structure and operations

Work and production patterns are dynamic as companies discover new processes that may offer better results over time. Implementing new processes and structures in the organization may require a complete restructuring.

A good example is the emergence of industry-wide remote work programs with corporate reorganization and restructuring. This was done to accommodate more work from home (WFH) arrangements

3. Take advantage of market opportunities

A company may restructure to take advantage of opportunities for better business growth. Examples include launching a product in a new market, increasing market share, or creating higher brand awareness.

Restructuring the right way can put a company in a better position to take advantage of opportunities in the market. For example, setting up a new international office as part of an organizational restructuring can make it easier to capture new markets.

4. Satisfaction of customer needs

Businesses can rearrange to meet the changing needs of their customer base. When a company must manufacture new products or offer new services, restructuring may be necessary to manage changes to operations.

Companies can create new departments, hire new staff, and add new management positions. It aims to adapt to different customer demands.

5. Mergers leading to rebranding

Restructuring will be required if a company merges with another company or another company acquires it. The new owner or management will want to rebrand or change certain parts of the business, causing a complete organizational restructuring.

Internal organizational problems

There are various issues within an organization that can demand changes to its internal structure or processes, such as:

  • Inefficiency
  • Bad appearance
  • Increase overhead costs
  • Decreased income
  • Improper budget allocation and use
  • Communication problem
  • Inadequate leader
  • How to Successful Organizational Restructuring

If done correctly, organizational restructuring can help streamline processes and make it easier to achieve business goals. Here are some tips for implementing a successful restructuring process:

1. Evaluation of the existing structure

Before starting the restructuring, you can evaluate the current organizational structure. This can help identify problems and make it easier to solve them. This activity can make it easier to find areas of the organizational structure that are performing well and areas that could benefit from restructuring.

2. Develop a restructuring plan

Chances of successful restructuring can grow if there is a plan to guide its implementation. Your restructuring plan may take into account factors such as legal and economic constraints and staff strength. When planning, here are some activities that can stand out:

  • Define goals
  • Identify project management tools
  • Estimate costs and create a budget
  • Form a project team
  • Appoint a project manager

3. Make communication a priority

A successful restructuring can depend on the support obtained from key stakeholders in the organization. Communication is important to support high risk activities such as restructuring. Communication about organizational restructuring should be regular and transparent so you can ensure employees are aware of the plan to avoid uncertainty and reduce conflict. You can also designate a spokesperson to discuss the benefits of restructuring with employees.

4. Do the test on a smaller scale

A good strategy is to apply restructuring in smaller parts of the business before applying it to the rest of the organization. This allows you to measure and evaluate plans and avoid costly mistakes.

You can use the results of this dummy or sample implementation to improve the real plan and prevent problems. You can try to collect feedback from employees during the pilot. Their responses will prove invaluable in gauging the reaction potential of the general workforce.

5. Implementing a new organizational structure

The final phase of restructuring involves implementing the new corporate structure. It's important to make sure your team understands the upcoming changes and you can prepare them for reorganization. It is recommended to create a flexible deployment plan to maximize effectiveness.

There are a number of steps that need to be taken in organizational restructuring. If indeed the business is not running properly, it is better to take restructuring steps to get back on track. If done well, the business will be able to compete again with its competitors.

Organizational restructuring may be necessary to keep the business competitive. Even more so when a business has a plan to maintain a competitive advantage in the face of industrial developments.

Understanding the basics of restructuring can help you implement restructuring effectively to achieve your goals. In this article, we explain what organizational restructuring is, explain why, and provide tips on how to restructure your organization.

Definition of Organizational Restructuring

Organizational restructuring is a change in a company's business model, structure or processes. Restructuring can involve changing the workforce, reorganizing company hierarchies, and new processes in work. The scale of the restructuring campaign depends on product factors and market needs.

Organizational restructuring can occur when management decides a part of the business needs to be changed. If properly implemented, these changes can improve business in a particular area or areas.

Responsible Person in Organizational Restructuring

In many organizations, restructuring often involves the following groups:

1. Management

The executive board needs to work to keep the organization alive and operational. They also need to evaluate activities in the restructuring process and provide support to ensure its success.

2. Employees

Employees need to be involved in this restructuring process. However, the company may not directly involve employees in the initial restructuring.

3. Human Resources Department

HR personnel often create long-term plans to guide reorganizations and communicate changes to employees.

4. Stakeholders

Stakeholder engagement can depend on factors such as company size and scale of restructuring. Large companies with strong investors often include stakeholders when making decisions that can significantly affect operations.

Reasons for organizational restructuring

Restructuring often results from analyzing the current state of the company and identifying the changes that are needed. Following are some of the reasons companies decide to restructure:

1. Dynamism in the business environment

In the ever-changing business world, companies are forced to change certain aspects of their business in order to remain competitive. Some changes rarely require intensive restructuring. However, there are also those that can lead to major reorganizations in the company.

The dynamic business environment is one of the common external factors driving efforts to restructure. Internal factors can be more controlled and not easily changed.

2. Changes in work structure and operations

Work and production patterns are dynamic as companies discover new processes that may offer better results over time. Implementing new processes and structures in the organization may require a complete restructuring.

A good example is the emergence of industry-wide remote work programs with corporate reorganization and restructuring. This was done to accommodate more work from home (WFH) arrangements

3. Take advantage of market opportunities

A company may restructure to take advantage of opportunities for better business growth. Examples include launching a product in a new market, increasing market share, or creating higher brand awareness.

Restructuring the right way can put a company in a better position to take advantage of opportunities in the market. For example, setting up a new international office as part of an organizational restructuring can make it easier to capture new markets.

4. Satisfaction of customer needs

Businesses can rearrange to meet the changing needs of their customer base. When a company must manufacture new products or offer new services, restructuring may be necessary to manage changes to operations.

Companies can create new departments, hire new staff, and add new management positions. It aims to adapt to different customer demands.

5. Mergers leading to rebranding

Restructuring will be required if a company merges with another company or another company acquires it. The new owner or management will want to rebrand or change certain parts of the business, causing a complete organizational restructuring.

Internal organizational problems

There are various issues within an organization that can demand changes to its internal structure or processes, such as:

  • Inefficiency
  • Bad appearance
  • Increase overhead costs
  • Decreased income
  • Improper budget allocation and use
  • Communication problem
  • Inadequate leader
  • How to Successful Organizational Restructuring

If done correctly, organizational restructuring can help streamline processes and make it easier to achieve business goals. Here are some tips for implementing a successful restructuring process:

1. Evaluation of the existing structure

Before starting the restructuring, you can evaluate the current organizational structure. This can help identify problems and make it easier to solve them. This activity can make it easier to find areas of the organizational structure that are performing well and areas that could benefit from restructuring.

2. Develop a restructuring plan

Chances of successful restructuring can grow if there is a plan to guide its implementation. Your restructuring plan may take into account factors such as legal and economic constraints and staff strength. When planning, here are some activities that can stand out:

  • Define goals
  • Identify project management tools
  • Estimate costs and create a budget
  • Form a project team
  • Appoint a project manager

3. Make communication a priority

A successful restructuring can depend on the support obtained from key stakeholders in the organization. Communication is important to support high risk activities such as restructuring. Communication about organizational restructuring should be regular and transparent so you can ensure employees are aware of the plan to avoid uncertainty and reduce conflict. You can also designate a spokesperson to discuss the benefits of restructuring with employees.

4. Do the test on a smaller scale

A good strategy is to apply restructuring in smaller parts of the business before applying it to the rest of the organization. This allows you to measure and evaluate plans and avoid costly mistakes.

You can use the results of this dummy or sample implementation to improve the real plan and prevent problems. You can try to collect feedback from employees during the pilot. Their responses will prove invaluable in gauging the reaction potential of the general workforce.

5. Implementing a new organizational structure

The final phase of restructuring involves implementing the new corporate structure. It's important to make sure your team understands the upcoming changes and you can prepare them for reorganization. It is recommended to create a flexible deployment plan to maximize effectiveness.

There are a number of steps that need to be taken in organizational restructuring. If indeed the business is not running properly, it is better to take restructuring steps to get back on track. If done well, the business will be able to compete again with its competitors.

Prasetiya Mulya Executive Learning Institute
Prasetiya Mulya Cilandak Campus, Building 2, #2203
Jl. R.A Kartini (TB. Simatupang), Cilandak Barat, Jakarta 12430
Indonesia
Prasetiya Mulya Executive Learning Institute
Prasetiya Mulya Cilandak Campus, Building 2, #2203
Jl. R.A Kartini (TB. Simatupang), Cilandak Barat,
Jakarta 12430
Indonesia