Team Restructuring
An HR Director preparing his team for a major system transition that will eliminate most of their current manual work.
Background
James* is a Human Resources Director based in an Asian country, overseeing a regional HR department. His company has 4,500 employees in the region. His HR team has 25 members across four departments: Talent Acquisition, Systems HR, Total Rewards, and HR Operations.
The Challenge
The company is transitioning to a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that will allow employees to handle most HR tasks via self-service. Currently, the HR team performs 98% of approximately 450,000 annual HR tasks manually. The new system will introduce AI and chatbots, significantly reducing the number of manual tasks and directly affecting the team's required headcount.
There are 15 months to go-live at the time of the coaching. James is the executive sponsor of the project. He wants a sounding board to check whether there is anything he has missed.
What We Explored
The session moved from the broadest level down to the most specific: company context, then department structure, then key individuals, then James himself.
At the company level: the organisation is looking to redeploy affected staff rather than make people redundant. Some retirements are expected in Total Rewards, and replacements will need to be hired. Some issues outside the direct scope of this session also surfaced, such as legal policies that need to be redrafted for the new system. These were noted but set aside to keep the session focused.
At the team level: morale is currently positive. The team has worked through some significant challenges to reach this point, and that shared experience has built cohesion. People movements will be needed, but the current atmosphere is not one of anxiety.
At the individual level: four key people were examined. The HR Operations Manager is most directly exposed to the reduction in manual tasks and has flagged the need to hire one or two more people now. James acknowledged he needs to check in with her more directly on how she is feeling. The Total Rewards Manager can be exacting and needs to be kept closely in the loop; this has been addressed by including him in regular project communications. The Talent Acquisition head may have personal circumstances that lead him to leave the company, and he is also James's identified successor. If he leaves, his role would need to be split into two. The HR Systems team is not a concern at this stage.
On James's leadership style: he is calm and steady under pressure, comfortable with complexity, and clear in his direction. In the session, he recognised one blind spot: he tends to assume that because he is handling the uncertainty well, others are too. He acknowledged he needs to ask his team how they are feeling more often rather than assuming.
Why This Approach
A major system transition that eliminates 98% of manual tasks requires a holistic view before it requires specific action. Without that overview, it is easy to get pulled into particular issues and lose sight of the full picture. The session worked from macro to micro: company, department, key individuals, leader. This sequence covers all the variables relevant to planning a restructure.
In many Asian organisational cultures, uncertainty tends to create anxiety that is not openly expressed. James's calm leadership is a genuine asset here, but it is not a substitute for actively checking in on people. That was worth naming.
What Shifted
- James will clarify career pathways for the HR function within the organisation, so team members can see where they are going.
- He will have a direct conversation with the HR Operations Manager about how she is feeling.
- He will ask team members how they are feeling more regularly, rather than assuming everyone is coping as well as he is.
- He will look into reskilling the team for the new ERP system.
- He will develop contingency plans for the Talent Acquisition Manager's potential departure.
- He will involve the HR team in shaping the new organisation structure, moving to a more collaborative approach rather than a top-down one.
"The best leaders think they are doing fine because they are doing fine. The coaching question is: what about the people around you?"
*Name has been changed for privacy and confidentiality.