The spin-off of key business areas into two newly founded, non-profit companies was the last major step in the reorganization of the rapidly growing group of companies. At the same time, one of these divisions was in a difficult economic situation. The management of this division was vacant and the workforce, including managers, was unsettled. Two different collective agreements with very different pay levels applied. The HR interim manager was tasked with:
- Negotiating a company spin-off, implementing all associated personnel measures and restructuring a business unit
Phase 1: Company spin-off project
In the first phase of the assignment, the HR interim manager led the company spin-off project. Together with the managing director, he developed a concept for negotiating the spin-off with the works council and for communicating with the employees. The employees were informed in detail about the intended measures in several partial staff meetings. These meetings and the early involvement of the works council proved to be very important stabilizing factors in the entire process. They enabled the targeted and swift negotiation of a works agreement on the spin-off and its smooth implementation.
Phase 2: Restructuring and management of a business unit
In the second phase of the interim mandate, the HR interim manager took on responsibility for the restructuring and management of a personnel-intensive business unit. The aim was to narrow down the economic and organizational problem areas - and to introduce targeted structural changes. In intensive discussions with the management and department heads, the responsibilities and decision-making scope of the managers were redefined. This made it possible to restore certainty of action for everyone involved. Urgent personnel policy issues such as dealing with workload fluctuations and risks as well as the replacement of individual key positions were successfully dealt with. These included:
- the introduction of flexible working hours and staff deployment regulations
- the extrapolation and simulation of personnel cost trends over several years
- the development of appropriate staff requirement plans
- a company agreement on occupational integration management
- the conversion of the food supply
- the clarification of long-standing unresolved space issues.
At the end of the 15-month interim period, everyone involved was able to look back on a smooth spin-off, an economically stable and realigned division with a good working atmosphere and new management, as well as important personnel policy decisions.
