Restructuring with Responsibility
A Practical Guide to Fair, Compliant and Compassionate Redundancy. Restructuring is one of the hardest things an organisation ever asks of its leaders. Get i…
A Practical Guide to Fair, Compliant and Compassionate Redundancy. Restructuring is one of the hardest things an organisation ever asks of its leaders. Get it right and people leave with dignity, the business keeps its reputation and those who stay keep their trust. Get it wrong and the cost lands in tribunal claims, lost capability and a culture that takes years to repair. This is our most comprehensive guide: 23 chapters covering the whole journey from the business case and pooling, through consultation, selection, appeals and notice, to redeployment, outplacement and rebuilding after change. It is grounded in current UK employment law, written by our coaches and consultants, and built to be used — with checklists, scripts, worked examples and links to the Launchpad templates and tools for each stage.
What responsible restructuring actually asks of employers
A restructure is judged less by the decision itself than by how it is carried out. Consultation timetables, selection criteria, manager conversations and the support offered afterwards all shape whether people leave feeling treated fairly, and whether the organisation that remains keeps trusting its leaders. Redundancy support services for employers exist to hold that whole sequence together, rather than bolting help on at the end.
Where outplacement fits
Employee outplacement is the practical part of that promise: structured career transition support for people leaving the business, delivered by coaches who do this work every day. It usually combines one-to-one coaching, CV and LinkedIn work, interview practice and access to tools that make a job search systematic instead of scattered. Our approach sets out how we run that alongside a live restructure, and how coaching, technology and human contact fit together.
Choosing an outplacement provider
Most employers compare providers on three things: the calibre of the coaches, how quickly support can be mobilised, and how much visibility the HR team gets on take-up and progress. It is worth asking who will actually deliver the coaching, how support is tailored between junior, senior and executive outplacement, and what happens if timelines move. As an outplacement consultancy, ImaginativeHR works through Group, Core, Complete and Executive Transition programmes, with around 100 coaches supporting people in more than 50 countries. More about ImaginativeHR covers the team and the range of programmes.
How outplacement pricing works
There is no single answer to how much outplacement costs. Pricing is normally shaped by the length of support, whether it is delivered one-to-one or in groups, the seniority of the people involved, and the number of leavers. Group outplacement and large scale outplacement programmes are usually costed per head with a lower unit price; executive outplacement is longer, more bespoke and priced accordingly. Ask for a per-person price against a defined support period so proposals can be compared honestly.
Preparing before you announce
The work that makes a restructure feel humane happens before anyone is told. Manager briefings, consultation documents, scripts and follow-up support all need to exist on day one. Our free restructuring templates cover much of that groundwork, and the wider guide library goes deeper on consultation, communication and wellbeing. If you would rather talk it through against your own timetable, speak to our team.
