NOTE : The following is the Q&A for last week's interview on BFM. Hope it gives you guys something to ponder on.
Last week we shared with you the analogy of a platoon leader in war who finds himself with a bunch of soldiers who have survived enemy assault but have lost hope and drive to move forward with you. And that analogy was to illustrate what many managers are going through now after the recent spade of restructuring and downsizing. Today, using a similar analogy, we would like to ask this question ‘ Imagine that somehow you did manage to motivate and push the survivors in your platoon to move forward with you towards new war targets and that the whole platoon (or whatever left of it) is now totally committed to you. Now, imagine that you suddenly realize that you are short handed. You gunner is lost and so is your communication man. Your medic is alive but is in no shape to help others. You look around and quickly appoint those whose eyes you caught into these positions. As good soldiers, they follow your orders but they are now worried sick in the stomach as they are not familiar with these new roles. The new gunner is trained in terrain mapping while the new communication man is an artillery engineer. The new communication man is your former cook! They are ready to serve BUT they need your help to get used to the new roles. Then, you find that you need a new advance scout but not sure who among your men can fill that role. Or, do you have to call HQ for a new guy who is going to have trouble fitting in with your platoon.
Feels familiar? I bet it does because that is what many companies are facing now.
Well, its time for you to take a look at your redeployment options and strategies. After all you now have to move forward with the ‘survivors’.
Q : Why are we talking about redeployment now? Is this important for companies coming out of their downsizing and restructuring?
A : The simple answer is yes, it is important for companies that have restructured recently to pay some attention to redeployment as a strategy. The reason why this is important now is because this is the time for companies to realign and reassess their workforce and talent management strategies. As roles and positions were eliminated or reduced, new roles and work relationships had to be established. Also most companies that downsized in some areas of their business had also, at the same time, hired for other areas of their business. In fact there is a conundrum here : On one side companies need to manage costs and downsize while on the other they have to hold on to their key talents and prepare for the upswing. So, this is where redeployment comes in.
As we discussed last week, the first thing you do as a manager is to get your team back to speed and productivity by taking some simple yet powerful measures. One of the more critical ones is actually to be able to redeploy your people effectively. It is important enough to warrant special attention from all managers.
Q : So, redeployment can be defined as a sort of re-cycling of a companies existing talent?
A : Yes. It is a deliberate and highly structured movement of talents from one part of the company to another part where those talents are needed and can return better value. Not only that, this movement is also important as sometimes this is the only thing standing between your key talents staying or leaving.
Q : Typically, what are some of the circumstances why a company may have to look at a redeployment strategy?
A : Well, in our experience, redeployment strategy will be needed when a company is either doing one or a combination of the following : preparing an internal mobility program, restructuring, transferring a section of the business to an external provider (outsourced) or even when implementing creative work cultures such as flexible working hours. All these may involve some form of role change, role reduction or increase AND the need to acquire new skills.
Q : What are the benefits for a company that redeploys its talent or workforce?
A : Well, as I mentioned earlier, the most obvious one is that its key talents are not lost to competitors. Secondly, these talents will be cheaper to maintain through redeployment than to be rehired when the business picks up which it will (in some cases it already has). Thirdly, what redeployment essentially means is that the company is creating a new or slightly different career path for the individual instead of just laying off the person. With this comes more and continued investment from the company to train and develop the individual. This is an amazingly powerful engagement driver. The company is demonstrating in concrete terms that it values it talents and that career development and job security is not a linear affair. I don't take you in during the good times, extract everything from you and take you out at the first sign of trouble.
Q : Are there many companies out there that employ redeployment as one of their workforce strategy?
A : In a survey conducted by Right Management from April-May 2009 among 268 senior business and HR leaders, it was found that 51% of the companies always or sometimes offer redeployment before layoffs. So, in our experience quite a sizable number of our clients look at redeployment as a workforce management strategy. But in truth, I believe there is a bigger percentage that in one way or another redeploy in other circumstances as I shared earlier. We must understand that redeployment is not necessarily during a downsizing only.
Q : We have established that redeployment is a good strategic move to make but can you share some best practices on how a company can effectively redeploy?
A : First and foremost, I must emphasize that the company’s executive leadership team must recognize the importance of redeployment and they must set the right example before the managers and employees are convinced. For example, in a redeployment scenario, a manager may have to develop new manager-subordinate relationships and this is made more complicated because the new subordinate may not have the required skills yet to hit the ground running (which is what all managers expect!). What’s more, due to the redeployment exercise he may actually have lost some key talents him self as that person may have moved somewhere else in the company! On the employee side, redeployment means they have to leave the known and familiar for the unknown and not so familiar. This requires them to re-tool and re-skill and sometimes even relocate. All so uncomfortable right? Yes. That's why the commitment and buy-in from the top leadership is essential to make this a success.
Secondly, for the employees, the company should have a detailed and accurate communication on its redeployment policy. Issues like compensation, relocation benefits, local legal requirements, etc should be clarified. Employees should also be given the right assistance and tools to evaluate their skills and abilities accurately to gain the best out redeployment. And oh yes….please….give time for this to work. Both the company and the employee need to give each other enough time to settle down and produce results.
Thirdly, appoint internal redeployment champions who will become the point-person for those considering redeployment. A dedicated web portal will also be good for communication purposes and for advertising available positions (internally and
externally).
Finally, I would like to recommend that companies integrate their outplacement offering with the redeployment option. What this means is that, employees will have enough input and expert advise before they make an informed decision. For example, Right Management helped a telco company to provide both outplacement and redeployment. Those employees who went through redeployment activities emerged more prepared not only for redeployment but also for external positions. Many of them, in fact landed external positions long before outplacement services were required!
Q : What are the steps that a company should take if it chooses to employ redeployment as a workforce management strategy?
A : We at Right Management have developed a 6 module – 3 phase solution to assist companies with their redeployment initiative. Phase 1 involves employees going through a Change and Self Awareness module. They will have a detailed analysis of their skills & abilities and the gaps if any. This is where we also provide (with the client’s input) information on where the company is heading, what is happening now and what roles they can play.
In Phase 2, they will go through 3 modules : Internal Resumes & Applications, Internal Self-marketing and Internal Interviews.
Finally in Phase 3, they deal with the actual redeployment it self through 2 modules : Evaluating Internal Opportunities and Success in Your New Role.
So, you can see that these 3 phases covers the 3 most critical needs of the individual : How to ascertain my potential, how to market my self internally and how to realign with my ‘new’ career.
With these systematic program and the relevant modules, the company can be assured that its redeployment is going on a correct trajectory and those who choose to be redeployed are fully equipped and prepared to take on their new roles. With this, their new manager’s responsibility to re-train them becomes much easier and pleasant for both sides.
Q : Can you share an example of a success story in terms of an effective redeployment strategy?
A : I can share with you the example of a global financial services provider who engaged Right Management to add a redeployment component to their large scale off-shoring initiative. This client was well aware and wary of the negative impact on staff morale, customer and public perception and overall productivity as a result of such a large scale off-shoring approach. With our intervention, the redeployment take-up increased from 10% to 70% and the whole off-shoring went on smoothly.
Q : Ok, the million dollar question : can redeployment save money for companies?
A : Yes…and I will give you a million dollar answer. To be precise $2.4 million dollars. One of our clients had an internal job fair as part of their redeployment initiative whereby there were more about 400 interviews with 59 offers extended and 51 offers being accepted. Total savings for client was $2.4 million!
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