Restructuring: Strategies For A Successful Transformation

Prepare personnel thoroughly before starting restructuring 

According to the Agency for Business Registration, Ministry of Planning and Investment, by the end of February 2024, the country will have 41,097 newly established enterprises and returned to operation, an increase of 8.5% over the same period. Many of these businesses elected to restructure and streamline the operation process.  

Restructuring is often a strategic move for corporations seeking foreign investment through mergers and acquisitions activities (M&A). This approach frequently results in several modifications to the business’s operating structure, such as technology, systems, management concepts, and talents. 

“Restructuring is a tricky process as it requires balancing and harmonizing responsibilities, rights, obligations, professionalism and humanity for all stakeholders. For employee’s relationship, businesses will need a meticulous change management strategy, detailed and comprehensive to make reasonable HR-related decisions.”, said Ms. Nguyen Thi Quynh Phuong, Director of HR Consulting Business, Talentnet Corporation, who has nearly 20 years of experience in consulting for hundreds of HR projects for multi-sector companies. 

3 things to do before restructuring 

Transparent information 

Leaders and managers should open direct conversations to be clear about the reasons for structural change, as well as the goals and expected outcomes. In addition, leaders could consider conducting employee engagement surveys to listen to their concerns, desires and expectations. 

“Through the survey, the organization will identify bright spots to develop current workplace, to maintain, promote and identify gaps that need to be filled to improve satisfaction and increase engagement”, Ms. Quynh Phuong emphasized. 

Ms. Quynh Phuong also mentioned how to conduct the survey: “Enterprises tend to build and deploy questionnaires themselves, as they assume that asking questions and exploiting employee feedback is not too complicated. In fact, developing a set of questionnaires needs scientific methodology to ensure that the data is produced exactly and enough to support the survey’s objectives. In addition, the question needs to be objective and detailed enough to collect valuable information, reflecting employee right concerns and expectations, assisting businesses in identifying critical HR issues must be addressed during the restructuring process.” 

Re-evaluate departmental structure and workload 

By reviewing the structure and activities of each department, organizations can shape the capacity of their existing workforce and place the right individuals in the right roles. 

Re-evaluating the organizational structure, requirements, and workload also assists organizations in determining the importance and influence of each position, which enables a more effective talent acquisition and retention strategy, as well as a more competitive rewards strategy. 

“The review and re-evaluation of the organizational structure will help businesses determine whether the operating model is in line with business’s development orientation, helping businesses clearly visualize the functional matrix of each department, team, relationship and coordination among departments in the company, thereby having a fundamental for building reasonable KPIs for each individual in the overall development value system of the whole organization”, Ms. Quynh Phuong shared.  

Enhance and expand the skills of employees 

Enterprises also need to consider investing in training programs to equip and improve professional skills for human resources after restructuring. Soft skills for adapting to new changes should be prioritized in the training program, such as the ability to endure at work, adaptation to change, agility and flexibility, … 

In such decisive changes as restructuring, finding a reputable partner has become a popular choice of businesses. According to Ms. Quynh Phuong, to limit the sentiment in decisions, businesses should seek partners that can provide diverse and accurate market data. This data source will serve as a reference for businesses to make suitable adjustments with company context and compete with the market.