54% of Australian employers are currently restructuring their department or organisation to keep up with changing business needs, up from 52% last year.
That’s according to the 2019/20 Hays Salary Guide, which surveyed over 3,400 organisations in Australia.
According to the findings, 49% of these employers said the key driver of organisational restructures is a change in the required skill sets. This is well ahead of digital transformation (24%), the requirement for a more flexible workforce (also 24%), a merger or acquisition (18%), downsizing (13%), outsourcing (8%), offshoring (5%) or inshoring (2%).
“Restructures driven by a change in the required skill set are often the result of today’s growing trend of adopting cross functional operating models,” says Nick Deligiannis, Managing Director of Hays in Australia & New Zealand. “Traditionally, an organisation consisted of functional departments, but given today’s pace of change, there’s a need to move toward matrix, cross-functional or hybrid structures to better enable collaboration and a customer-focused approach.
“Customer centricity is a key focus and area of differentiation for most businesses, particularly in terms of how an organisation is most effectively and efficiently structured to deliver value to a customer.
“There’s a real focus on securing candidates who understand the customer journey and with competencies in agile methodology and business projects and change.”
According to Hays, other factors include rapid technological developments, such as AI and automation, which create a need for new capabilities, the requirement for additional expertise in response to outside factors, such as cybersecurity or risk & compliance, and the introduction of new and non-traditional executive roles.
“These restructures are a clear indication that the supply of professionals with the skills that employers need is tightening,” says Nick.
“With candidate shortages remaining problematic for organisations, hiring in for specific skills – both technical and soft – will therefore be a priority for change, growth and competitive advantage.”
No wonder then that employers are increasingly turning to external providers to assist with workforce change and secure top talent during a restructure.
Hays is one organisation working with businesses that are undergoing transformational change to align their workforce needs. We offer a full suite of services to help organisations during periods of change or transformation. This includes designing new job profiles and team structures, robust assessment and selection for new hires and outplacement support or career coaching for exiting employees.
The FY 2019/20 Hays Salary Guide is based on a survey of more than 3,400 organisations in Australia, representing over 4.7 million employees, in addition to a survey of 1,600 skilled professionals.
