Company Reorganisation: Process, Timeline and Cost
A reorganisation is not a new org chart. It is a decision about where the work sits, who decides what, and which layers stop existing. Done properly it takes ninety days and one person willing to carry the political cost.
What actually triggers one
- Growth that outran the structure, usually between 50 and 500 people
- A merger or acquisition that left two of everything
- Margin pressure where the cost sits in layers rather than in people
- A strategy change the current structure cannot execute
- A leadership departure that exposed how much sat in one head
The ninety day sequence
The part most companies skip
Decision rights. A structure diagram tells you who reports to whom, which is the least interesting question. The useful document lists the twenty decisions the company makes repeatedly, and names one owner for each. Without that, the new chart produces the old behaviour with new titles.
What it costs and what it returns
Direct cost is dominated by severance and by the advisory or interim leadership running it. As a rule of thumb, budget one to three percent of the affected annual payroll for a mid sized Italian company, plus the leadership cost. The return shows up as faster decisions and a lower structural cost base, and it is visible in the second quarter after implementation, not the first.
Why an outsider usually runs it
A reorganisation asks someone to remove roles held by colleagues they will still see in the canteen. Internal leaders can do it, but they pay for it in relationships for years. An interim executive with a defined mandate takes the decisions, absorbs the cost, and hands over a structure the permanent team can run without carrying the history.
https://niklaslindahl.com/guides/company-reorganisation