Five mistakes to avoid during a restructure: how to protect trust, morale and resilience

The ongoing funding crisis in the INGO sector has left many organisations fighting for survival. 

We recognise that just surviving will be your top priority. But how you handle this transition will determine whether you emerge stronger or risk long-term damage to trust, engagement and wellbeing.

When you’re fighting to keep the doors open, you might be thinking you  barely have time to breathe, let alone think about long-term wellbeing strategies. But even small actions can make a significant difference.

At Thriving People we have been working with international organisations going through change for over 20 years. In that time we’ve seen leaders and organisations fall into the same pitfalls repeatedly, and we’ve often helped pick up the pieces.

So here are the mistakes to avoid so your organisation can survive this crisis and build toward a sustainable future, saving you valuable time, money and energy along the way.

The five mistakes to avoid:

1. Not having clear leadership

We were once called in to support an INGO that was having to reduce its workforce by 15%. The communication about the restructure had been unclear and there were conflicting messages from the board and different senior leaders.  This caused a lot of anger, anxiety and a loss of trust in the leadership.

We recommend running a leadership alignment workshop before anything is communicated to the wider team. This enables leaders to agree on a narrative framework and talk honestly about individual challenges and concerns.

It can help for these to be externally facilitated to ensure everyone feels heard, and strong emotions can be properly managed.

2. Focusing on operational efficiency at the expense of the work

While cutting costs is sometimes essential, if people perceive you to be focused on this at the expense of your organisational goals, or in a way that contradicts your values, they will start to question your integrity. And trust can fracture. 

Keep people engaged by clearly communicating, where possible, how even the toughest decisions align with your core values, and try to relate everything back to your organisation’s  ability to deliver on its aims. 

3. Failing to involve employees 

Without an empathetic approach, even the smallest of changes will be met with pushback and resentment, slowing down your ability to respond to the crisis. Empathy is not a nice-to-have soft skill, it’s an essential quality to build engagement through change.

When it comes to communication in times of change try to listen without defensiveness to whatever you hear. Offer more regular check-ins than usual, even if it feels like there’s little new to say. People process things at different times. And just because it’s been said once doesn’t mean it’s been processed or understood – stress can make listening more challenging. 

4. Not supporting managers 

The success of any change initiative stands or falls on the ability of your managers to support their teams.  Managers are often under the most pressure.  They are expected to have the most challenging conversations and too often lack the skills needed to engage people through the process. We’ve all heard the industrial tribunal scare stories of what happens when managers don’t get it right. 

We recognise management development can be expensive but there are cost-effective ways of doing it. When time is tight or budgets are small we often work alongside the HR team to develop frameworks and resources so they can  roll out initiatives internally.

Ask your managers what support they need, and explore ways you can help them. It will make life so much easier down the line. 

5. Neglecting employee wellbeing 

Restructuring is an emotionally charged process which can impact people’s physical and emotional wellbeing. Not proactively supporting staff wellbeing at this time makes burnout more likely and hinders your organisation’s ability to bounce back. 

When leaders and managers aren’t looking after their own wellbeing, it’s much harder for them to support their teams. They either avoid it altogether, or they try to provide a sympathetic ear but end up feeling drained and resentful because they’re not in a strong enough place themselves.

So what can help? At the core, just letting people know that you care, that you recognise that it’s a challenging time for them can sometimes be enough. 

Where possible, coaching can help managers build their own resilience and feel more able to support others. Coaching doesn’t have to be expensive. Where skills exist, it can be resourced internally, and group coaching is another more cost-effective alternative. Other routes to supporting people include  offering a mental health hotline, stress management workshops, flexible work options and career guidance support. 

What next?                 

We recognise that every organisation’s journey is unique, and knowing what to prioritise in a crisis can feel overwhelming. That’s why we’re offering a free 30-minute consultancy call to support leaders in defining a strategic approach that will work for them. Book yours here.