Choosing Your Tools: When HR Business Partners Should Use Reorganization

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Reorgs, or reorganizations, are a fantastic enabler for a changing business strategy. But they can be disruptive and stress-inducing, and they usually come with productivity costs as people find out how to get on their feet in their new roles. For this reason, HR Business Partners should take a hard look at the reasons for using this tool before jumping in.

 Here are some GOOD reasons to reorg:

*The organization structure is undermining or sub-optimizing strategic goals. For example, if your company goes to market by customer segment, but you're organized by geography, you could probably benefit from a structure defined by customer types.

*It's difficult to respond to business drivers with the current organization. Perhaps you need a brand new workgroup that can pull together reporting required by new legislation.

*You've developed a new business strategy, key process or technology, and you're not fully realizing the benefits. Sometimes the new ways of working required by new processes and technology creates the need for combined roles and workgroups to smooth handoffs and make new workflows come alive.

And on the other hand, here are some reasons NOT to reorg, and try a different approach:

*You need to address individual performance. While a reorg seems to be a perfect way to get rid of poor performers without really having to confront the real issues, a reorganization that isn't anchored in business strategy disrupts morale, hampers productivity, and suboptimizes organizational goals.

*A new leader did it this way before. An organization structure that worked at another company does not guarantee success at yours. Business strategies differ across companies, and blindly adopting another's structure could - again - work against your business imperatives.

HR Business Partners, I know you have some good lists of reasons you've heard for reorganizing. What are your faves?

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