Having those “big scary discussions” with your team……How to “move and manage” to avoid losing talent
You know the business needs to make a change, you know that you and your employees are going to be affected one way or another. What ARE those discussions? HOW do you have them? It’s like the BIG WHITE elephant in the room…. Where do you start?
The good news is, if you know HOW to have those discussions, they can lead to incredibly positive outcomes for everyone!
The truth is, the business landscape is ever changing, now more so than ever.
As a business owner you need to consider who you have on your team, what roles need to be fulfilled on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis, and how to ensure that you utilize all of your resources effectively. This includes ensuring you have the right amount of staff to handle the workload.
Redeployment is the term you may have heard!
What is redeployment?
This is basically moving an employee to another role within the business or associated entity.
When should you consider redeployment?
If your business has an employee in a role that is no longer required in the business a redeployment is a great option.
The advantages of a redeployment:
You are able to keep key, loyal, trusted staff within your organisation. This ensures that your team is not made redundant.
The process:
The process is vital and as an employer you need to ensure that you remain compliant and adhere to the obligations under the fair work act.
In essence there are 5 key steps when considering a redeployment.
1) Establish that the role is no longer necessary:
Ask yourself “Does the business, as it stands, really need a person doing this role?”
The role could have been replaced by technology, the business may have changed drastically, or perhaps there are systems and processes that do not justify someone in that role on a full time basis.
2) Establish what other role can be considered for the employee:
Ask yourself “ What OTHER roles within the business could be reasonably done by this employee?” “Do they qualify to DO this role?”
As an example: an administrator could be considered for any admin or office-based role; however, it would be unreasonable to expect them to move into a technical role that requires a qualification of sorts.
3) Within this scope, what would CHANGE for the employee?
Roles that can be considered may be something NEW for the employee, it may be an offering with a lower pay scale, or perhaps even a change of location.
4) What needs to be considered in order for you to remain compliant?
It should be noted that requiring an employee to apply for a role and compete with other applicants to get the new role, is NOT a reasonable redeployment offer.
5) Consultancy
Once the position and scope has been considered it’s time to have a consultancy session with the employee. This can be done with or without a mediator. This all depends on the relationship you have with the employee.
Often it is easier to have “difficult conversations” with an external, non-biased individual (such as Amber Business Support)
The advantages of having this consultancy with employees is they often, as do most people, want to be heard, they want to have a say, understand the options and be included in the process.
There is often “pure magic” that comes out of these discussions!
It is an ideal time for you, as the employer to HEAR what goals and desires your employees have. They may have unbelievable ideas that could be a turning point for your business. Often employees see this as a positive discussion as they may be WANTING a complete career change and in essence you are offering this to them! The advantage OF THAT, is you retain your hard working, loyal, and now, highly inspired employee in your business! THAT Is a WIN for everyone!
6) The outcome of the consultancy?
There are 2 potential outcomes:
a) The employee does not agree to a deployment. If the role is no longer needed the only option here is redundancy.
b) You and your employee come to an agreed deployment.
7) What now?
It’s time to transition the employee from their current role to their new role!
a) Finalise the current roll: Tidy up any loose ends.
b) Plan the roll over into the new role: dates for changes in salary, location etc.
Redeployment allows you to keep key talent in the business and preserve staff morale. On top of this it can protect the businesses brand during trying and uncertain times.
If you are considering your options, I invite you to reach out to Amber Business Support, we are there to guide you through those “Big scary discussions” resulting in a positive outcome.
