The Company
The British based company is a world leader in the specialist field of chemical manufacturing. It has over 25 years of experience in the innovation, production and delivery of materials to a diverse range of industries including aerospace, electronics and energy.
The Need
The company needed to restructure one of their sites in line with their business strategy meaning that a number of roles were at risk of redundancy. As a company with strong people values, the organisation needed support from h2h in the design and implementation of the consultation process, in order to ensure that positive working relationships were upheld during a difficult period of workplace change. Through an initial diagnostic process, we established that we would add most value in the following areas:
- The need to realise a pragmatic and timely organisational effectiveness review
- Support in the delivery and management of the consultation process
- Provision of independent and confidential outplacement support
We could not have done it without the h2h consultant’s support and assistance.
The Response
We assigned one of our Lead Consultants to oversee the whole process from end-to-end and to provide a bespoke and results–focused solution to the business need, combined with empathetic and reassuring support for all employees.
The h2h consultant worked in close liaison with both the site manager and the HR team to assess the current working practices across all the teams and identify areas with the potential for reorganisation. Once these areas had been determined, the h2h consultant was able to direct and support managers through the consultation period by providing a custom-fit process checklist covering all aspects of the review including: timelines for action, allocation of resources, drafting of new job descriptions and compilation of skills-based assessment criteria.
The site manager says:
“The h2h consultant got involved in March 2016 and we worked closely together until June/July of the same year. During that period we completed an organisational effectiveness review and the h2h consultant helped with putting together the design of the review, resources, job descriptions, selection criteria and outplacement support. She helped all the way through the consultation process and with the mapping of people into new or modified roles. We could not have done it without the h2h consultant’s support and assistance.”
Once employees had been identified as being at risk of redundancy, the h2h consultant was instrumental in the analysis of the different conditions of service and redundancy packages available and provided independent and meaningful outplacement support on an individual basis. As part of our Newleaf programme, and in line with the company’s people values, employees were able to take full advantage of our online tool kit, webinar, workshops and face-to-face and telephone coaching sessions. The site manager goes on to add:
“The h2h consultant was on site as many days as we needed, there were never any issues getting hold of her, she has a very good work ethic and was very committed to the cause.“
The Outcome
Upon completion of the project, all of the objectives of the restructure were successfully achieved and the business realised the necessary cost savings. All of the people affected by the restructuring were either redeployed to other roles within the company or went on to find alternative employment or career paths as a result of the Newleaf programme.
The site manager concludes:
“I do not think that we would have achieved the required result without the h2h consultant’s support and assistance.”
The h2h consultant continues to work with the company on other projects.