5 Ways to Reassess the Org Chart and Prevent Mass Layoffs

Now, these companies say they will focus on profitability over revenue growth—i.e., more hiring freezes and layoffs. But what if there was a different way?

CMOs shouldn’t wait for an economic downturn to reassess their rosters. A periodic retooling of the org chart is an integral part of their remit and a vital lever to drive growth.

Marketing leaders need to ask probing questions: How do I create optimal teams? Are people working together in the most productive ways? How do I right-size the organization? If this work is done now and remains an ongoing practice, companies will be better insulated against future layoffs, if and when economic conditions worsen.

In the meantime, CMOs who take steps to recession-proof their organizations can find new efficiencies, improve employee morale and streamline work to lay the groundwork for future growth. Here are five steps every CMO can take to rethink the design of the organization now and hopefully prevent mass layoffs in the future.

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Rewire for tomorrow, don’t simply restructure for today

Resist the urge to be wedded to titles and job descriptions. Bring in fresh sets of eyes as you reimagine how teams are created and empowered to succeed.

Being able to make small but deliberate changes in how decisions are made can have a huge impact on efficiency and set the stage for long-term growth. For example, by empowering teams to make decisions themselves within a clear framework, marketing departments can curb escalations to leadership.

Ruthlessly prioritize and constantly adjust the workload

A real but unintended consequence of layoffs is the absorption of responsibilities into existing roles. One employee doing the job of three people is not healthy or sustainable. Challenge assumptions that all those responsibilities are needed permanently.

Which ones can flex over time? How can freelance talent support full-time team members? How can you ensure teams have roles that interest them while giving them opportunities to expand?

If you overload someone’s responsibilities by simply combining roles into one, you’re hindering both that person’s individual growth and your team’s growth.

Create teams versus vertical silos

Eliminate redundancies by bringing teams together around a project charter and a clear set of priorities. Instead of spending most of their time managing others or seeking approvals, teams can focus on doing work that gets done faster and brings real value to the customer and the bottom line. This teaming structure has led to as much as a 70% reduction in time spent on non-value-added work.

Find your savings between silos

Cost savings are still the elephant in the room. Look to drive efficiencies with money sitting between silos with a lean marketing model, which can drive up to 20% cost savings without having to limit the growth potential of your teams. That is found money sitting under your “marketing mattress.”

Be mission-critical about hiring

In tough times, business leaders often use lower growth forecasts as a rationale for layoffs. DocuSign, one of the many recent earnings casualties in the tech sector, told Wall Street analysts it won’t be reducing head count but is lowering new hires to “balance growth and profitability.”

As former CEO Dan Springer explained to CNBC, “We’re going to look at our hiring to make sure we’re not hiring above the growth opportunity that we have.” This is the typical restructuring thinking—decisions about staffing levels follow from growth opportunities.

Here’s the bottom line: Rewiring recognizes talent as a growth driver. Companies that maximize talent output, especially in a challenging economy, are able to put more focus on their customers, increase speed to market and more consistently deliver product innovation.

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