Strong HR leaders are key to success during change

There has been a recent abundance of household names, such as Tesco, Aviva, BP, CityLink and Morrison’s announcing redundancies.  No industry is immune from change.  When change happens it falls to the HR team to manage often very difficult messages, while ensuring those who remain are sufficiently engaged and reassured to carry on and often, do more.

Lynne Hardman, CEO of Working Transitions, outlines what the HR professional must consider in order to transition their business and become the catalyst to commercial sustainability.

1. There is no substitute for a good plan.

You need to be in control.  Plan as far ahead as possible for any implementation process.  Consult with key stakeholders and prepare a thorough communications strategy with timelines and milestones.  It is also important to decide what support you will offer and ensure that business leaders, HR teams and line managers have been thoroughly briefed.  Messages must be consistent if reputational risk and adverse impact on day-to-day operations is to be minimised.