by Brad Eisenhuth
When a senior role is made available, the temptation to not fill the role and “restructure” is common. Reshaping the finance organisation and promoting talent could be the best solution, but before defaulting to a restructure ask, yourself four important questions.
Replacing top talent Vs. Restructuring: important considerations
How disruptive is the gap to the stakeholders it serves?
If a gap in a key role is disruptive, measure the level of perceived disruption against the stakeholders, the role it serves and the value the incumbent generates. If the gap is significant, sourcing the solution could be simply a case of promoting talent within the group, leverage current stakeholder exposure, or perhaps going to market for someone to deliver the same value to effectively close the gap. On the flipside, if the disruption is small, it may indicate an opportunity to review the role and restructure.
Will a restructure effect momentum towards achieving greater organisational goals?
In order to achieve organisational goals, identify the roles instrumental in delivering the transformational agenda. Consider if the organisational agenda will suffer if these roles are not filled. Does this lead to the logical need to replace the role in its current form in order to finish the journey started? Will external talent bring more to the table to deliver on the journey, or are established members able to “take the reigns”?
Will new role creation add to the careers of top talent and increase the service to the business?
Consider how your top talent can grow and achieve their goals in the business. Accommodating for this can be tricky depending on the quality and complexity of your current structure. However, significant role openings are a good opportunity to challenge the thinking around what will be effective for the business and your team.
Can you make big-ticket improvements with your current team?
Inevitably there will be a shopping list of opportunities for the finance function to be optimised. Those with the biggest return should be considered when questioning replacement or restructure. How will you ensure key talent are aligned to delivering the value you need, and is it beneficial to bring IP and new talent in to make this happen?
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