9 Signs Your Business Might Need a Restructure
As businesses grow and change, their structure doesn’t always keep up. You might still be hitting targets, but behind the scenes, things feel harder than they should, and your staff may be feeling unmotivated or lacking direction. A restructure is about making sure your people are properly set up to support where the business is now and where it’s heading.
What does a business restructure mean?
A business restructure is the process of reviewing how your company is set up to make your business stronger. This can include redefining roles or reallocating responsibilities to improve performance and accountability. This helps to create a solid foundation that supports your people and long-term growth.
The 9 signs your business might need a restructure
1. Roles and responsibilities are unclear
One of the key signs your business needs a restructure is when certain roles become unclear, start to overlap or become confused within certain teams. Employees may be unsure who owns which tasks, leading to duplicated work or missed responsibilities. This often happens in growing businesses where staff have taken on extra duties without proper planning.
Without a clear organisational structure, communication can break down and employees may be unsure of their job roles and who to report to (which can be especially confusing for new hires). A restructure helps to clarify responsibilities, reduce burnout and ensure everyone understands what’s expected of them.
2. Decision-making is slow or bottlenecked
Delays in decision-making can really slow down internal processes and stunt company growth. Too many levels of approval or an over-reliance on management teams can lead to long sign-off times and missed deadlines. If you’re facing any of the below issues, it could be time for a restructure:
- Too many approval layers
- Founder or director overload
- Teams waiting for sign-off
- Customers waiting on answers
You can solve these issues by having a rethink over decision-making authority to ensure faster responses and smoother workloads.
3. You’ve grown (or shrunk) but the structure hasn’t changed
Business growth, downsizing or even small team changes can quickly make structures feel outdated. For example, what worked for a team of 10 may not work for a team twice the size.
If your structure doesn’t align with these team changes, workloads can become uneven and reporting lines can become confused. A large or small business restructure helps to make sure your organisation reflects the current ways of working, not how the business might have looked one or two years ago.
4. Costs are rising without clear productivity gains
If you’re seeing a rise in costs without the productivity to go alongside it, it could be time to rethink how your business is working. Your teams may be busy, but it may be unclear if value is actually being delivered. Signs you may be experiencing higher costs without productivity gains can include:
- Payroll is increasing faster than output
- Poor return on new hires
- Busy but not effective teams
- Low retention of staff
Undergoing a company restructure process will help to redefine roles and responsibilities or address gaps that lead to targets not being met. You should find that output is improved without necessarily having to increase headcount.
5. Managers are managing too many (or too few) people
Are you seeing increased employee absence or turnover? Or perhaps your high-performing staff are losing engagement? Rethinking your company organisation chart can help to make it clearer who each employee needs to report to and clarify these blurred lines.
For example, if senior managers are overstretched, it could be time to implement middle management to make sure all employees are properly supported day to day. Similarly, managers with small teams may not be adding value at the right level.
6. Morale, engagement, or retention is declining
Low morale and engagement are often caused by deeper structural issues. Overloaded teams and unclear expectations can all contribute to employee burnout and a reduced level of wellbeing.
A restructure allows you to redistribute workloads and delegate tasks properly, which helps teams become clear about exactly what’s expected of them. Better structures and communication will help teams feel valued and motivated, and they’ll be clearer on who they need to report to.
Danton HR & Training offers various HR services, including managing absences and team performance, as well as team and leadership development to help to improve employee engagement across the board.
7. Strategy has changed but roles haven’t
When business strategy shifts, roles need to move with it. For example, a business may be moving into new markets, introducing new services or adding more products to their e-commerce store.
If roles and responsibilities don’t change alongside the change of strategy, work can be duplicated or misaligned with business goals. A restructure makes sure each person’s responsibilities reflect the current strategy and where the business may be heading in the future. Here at Danton, we offer advice on restructures as well as Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) to help you implement organisational change in the right way.
8. You’re relying heavily on temporary fixes
A key sign your business needs a restructure is when temporary fixes become permanent. Look out for:
- Contractors or temp staff covering structural gaps
- Repeated “quick fixes”
- Workarounds becoming permanent
If your business is experiencing any of these issues, a restructure can help to address the root of the problem by building a structure that supports long-term goals. This will help reduce reliance on temporary solutions and give teams better clarity over the systems they should be using.
9. You’re talking about redundancy but haven’t looked at the business structure yet
Your business may need to restructure if management teams start discussing redundancies before taking a look at the current business structure. While redundancies can be appropriate at times, when they’re not needed, it can be risky to make staff redundant if the structure hasn’t been looked at first.
Removing the wrong roles without proper planning can leave dangerous knowledge gaps. At Danton, we’ll provide you with clear guidance on restructuring and redundancy, ensuring the decisions made always support the long term goals of your business.
Does your business need restructuring? Contact our experts today
Restructuring doesn’t have to be disruptive, but it does need to be done properly. At Danton HR & Training, we offer a range of outsourced HR services and advice on how to restructure a business to best support teams.
If you’re unsure whether a restructure is needed or you want expert guidance on next steps, don’t hesitate to contact our team today.