Organisation Structure Reviews

Structures grow by addition. A new department is created for a project, a special post is made for a capable manager, a function is moved to fix last year's problem, and after a few years nobody is sure who decides what. Managers spend their time on approvals, and staff report to two people or to nobody in particular.

A structure review steps back and designs the organisation around the work it has to do now.

What We Look at

• Reporting lines and spans of control
• Overlaps and gaps between departments
• Decision rights and delegations of authority
• Support functions such as HR, finance, procurement and administration
• The number of management layers between the chief executive and frontline staff
• The cost and staffing of each option

How a Review Runs

We interview senior managers, map the current structure as it works in practice, and test it against your strategy. We then propose two or three options with their costs, risks and effect on staff, help you choose, and plan the change.

Making the Change

Most of the risk in a restructure sits in how it is carried out. We plan the sequence of changes, the new job descriptions, and how and when staff are told. Where roles change or disappear, we set out a process that follows the Employment Act and treats people fairly, and we can support managers through the conversations.

Structure reviews are often combined with a manpower audit, which gives the evidence on headcount and workload that a new structure should rest on.