Supporting a Major Workforce Transition and Six Months of HR Stabilization
Mobilized within days. Workforce transition support across two days. Approximately six months of hands-on HR support afterward.
A Canadian financial services organization had completed its organizational redesign and was preparing to implement significant workforce changes.
Its internal HR team knew where the organization needed to go. What it needed was additional capacity to carry out a demanding transition while continuing to support the business.
A&A Consulting mobilized multiple consultants within a matter of days to help prepare for and support employee exit conversations, complete offboarding activities, and provide practical HR capacity during the months that followed.
Client: Confidential | Canadian financial services organization
This case study is shared anonymously to protect client confidentiality. Additional project details and client references may be provided during the proposal stage, subject to client permission.
At a glance
Project overview | |
Situation | Implementation of a significant organizational restructure |
Immediate need | Additional capacity for preparation, employee exit conversations, and offboarding |
Mobilization | Within a matter of days |
Transition support | Multiple A&A consultants supporting conversations across two days |
Ongoing support | Approximately six months of interim HR capacity |
Work covered | HR business partner support, employee relations, investigation support, workforce planning, and recruitment |
Outcome | Supported the planned transition and bridged HR capacity until overflow support was no longer needed |
The challenge: implementing change while keeping HR running
A major workforce transition creates an immediate concentration of work.
Employee conversations need preparation and coordination. Offboarding continues afterward. At the same time, the employees and managers remaining in the organization still need day-to-day HR support.
In this engagement, the client’s internal HR team had already developed the organizational redesign. However, it did not have sufficient capacity to execute the transition at the required scale on its own.
Leadership also anticipated a temporary productivity dip as the HR team adjusted to its new structure, responsibilities, and ways of working.
The organization needed support for both the immediate transition and the period of adjustment afterward.
The approach: mobilize quickly, then stay through stabilization
Provide coordinated workforce transition support
A&A brought in multiple consultants so employee exit conversations could be supported across the planned two-day period.
Our work included preparation ahead of the conversations, support during notifications, and the offboarding steps that followed.
The client retained ownership of its organizational design and workforce decisions. A&A provided the additional people and execution support needed to put those decisions into practice.
Bridge the HR capacity gap
The need for support continued beyond the notification period.
A&A stayed involved for approximately six months, providing interim capacity while the internal HR team adapted to its new operating structure.
We assessed where help was needed and took on practical work across the HR portfolio.
Most of that support was at the HR business partner level, including:
Day-to-day employee relations matters.
Investigation support.
Workforce planning.
Manager support.
Recruitment support where additional capacity was needed.
The work shifted with the organization’s needs. Rather than filling a single fixed role, our consultants provided capacity across the areas experiencing pressure.
Support the transition back to internal delivery
The purpose of the engagement was to bridge a period of change.
As the internal team became more settled in its responsibilities and ways of working, its need for additional support decreased.
After approximately six months, the organization reached a point where it no longer felt it had an overflow of HR work requiring A&A’s ongoing capacity.
The results
Capacity to support the planned implementation
A&A’s rapid mobilization gave the client additional resources to carry out the workforce transition on its planned timeline.
Multiple consultants supported the concentrated period of employee conversations, with preparation and offboarding support extending beyond those two days.
Continued HR support during adjustment
The organization had access to experienced HR capacity while its internal team worked through the transition.
Employee relations, investigation support, workforce planning, and recruitment needs could continue to be addressed as the team adjusted.
A defined period of stabilization
Approximately six months of interim support bridged the gap between implementing the new structure and the internal team being able to manage its workload without ongoing overflow assistance.
Our contribution was helping the organization execute its plan and maintain HR capacity through the adjustment period.
What other organizations can learn
Approving a new structure is one milestone. Having the capacity to implement it and operate effectively afterward requires its own planning.
This engagement highlights four practical considerations:
Plan implementation capacity. The internal team that develops a change may need additional resources to deliver it.
Look beyond notification day. Preparation, offboarding, and ongoing employee support all require time.
Anticipate an adjustment period. New responsibilities and ways of working can temporarily reduce capacity.
Match interim support to the pressure points. Needs may shift between employee relations, workforce planning, recruitment, and other HR work.
Temporary HR capacity can help an organization move through that period and reach a more stable operating position.
Need additional HR capacity during organizational change?
A&A Consulting provides workforce transition support, interim HR capacity, and practical help with employee relations, workforce planning, and recruitment.
Explore our HR support services, or contact us to discuss your needs.