When restructuring is on the horizon, HR often finds itself carrying a huge amount of responsibility. You’re expected to support leaders, guide managers, protect the organisation legally – and at the same time, look after people going through what might be one of the most difficult periods of their working lives.
In a recent episode of the Redundancy Matters podcast, I was joined by Gill Wetherill, founder of Full Circle HR and former HR Director, who specialises in HR Information Systems, to discuss the HR role in restructuring– and in particular, how data underpins fair, defensible decision-making.
What stood out wasn’t a conversation about shiny systems or clever tools. It was a very practical, very human discussion about what happens when the data isn’t right and why that really matters when people’s jobs are at stake.
The HR Role in Restructuring Goes Beyond Process
Restructuring is often described as a “process” but anyone who’s lived through it knows that’s only part of the story.
As Gill shared, she’s been involved in “lots of redundancies and restructuring programmes” across a 30-year HR career. She has also experienced redundancy herself, an experience that has shaped how she approaches this work.
“There’s a good way to do it and there’s a poor way to do it,” she said. “And it’s always been really important to me to make sure that I do the best that I can for people and stay human and kind and respectful.”
That’s the heart of the HR role in restructuring. Yes, you need to get the process right. But HR is also the function that holds the detail. And when that detail is wrong, the consequences are very real.
Redundancy and Restructuring Put Data Under the Spotlight
One of the things Gill was very clear on is that redundancy and restructuring have a habit of exposing weaknesses that have been sitting quietly in the background for years.
“When HR realises redundancies are coming, it’s awful,” she said. “But having a good HR system with accurate, up-to-date information can really help the process run more smoothly. It should be your single source of truth.”
In reality, many HR teams discover at this point that:
- job titles aren’t consistent
- reporting lines don’t reflect how work actually gets done
- notice periods are wrong
- employment history is incomplete
As Gill put it, “If the data’s wrong, that’s just not helpful and it can feel quite embarrassing as well.”
More importantly, it can undermine trust at exactly the point where trust is most fragile.
Workforce Planning Starts Long Before Restructuring
A big theme running through the conversation was that good workforce planning doesn’t just start when redundancies are announced.
Gill talked about the importance of HR systems – or spreadsheets – being kept accurate as part of everyday practice, not just when something goes wrong.
“It’s about roles rather than people,” she explained. “So making sure that the job data is very accurate – job titles, reporting lines, notice periods – that’s where this planning starts.”
When workforce planning is done well:
- HR can analyse structures properly
- selection pools make sense
- leaders can model different scenarios
- alternatives to redundancy can be explored more confidently
Without that groundwork, HR ends up scrambling, often under intense time pressure.
HR Data Accuracy Is About Trust and Defensibility
It would be easy to frame this as a conversation about HR systems. But again, Gill kept bringing it back to the same point: the system is only ever as good as the data inside it: “If the information is incorrect, it can lead to incorrect selection pools, unfair scoring or people being placed at risk when maybe they shouldn’t have been.”
That’s where HR data accuracy really matters. Not as a technical exercise but as a foundation for:
- fair decision-making
- legal defensibility
- employee confidence in the process
One practical suggestion Gill shared was involving employees early on: “Asking employees to confirm that the information you hold on them is correct – that can really help build trust.”
It’s a small step but a powerful one in a process where people often feel decisions are being done to them, not with them.
It’s Not About Systems vs Spreadsheets
A particularly helpful part of the discussion was acknowledging the reality for many SMEs: not everyone has a HR system.
Gill was refreshingly pragmatic about this. “Lots of organisations are still running on spreadsheets – and that’s absolutely fine,” she said. “But you need to get to one single source of truth as quickly as you can.”
Her advice was simple and practical:
- lock down one master spreadsheet
- standardise job titles
- use validation and checks
- remove blank fields
- make sure payroll, finance and HR data align
None of this is glamorous but all of it reduces risk when it matters most.
Creating Space to Focus on People
Perhaps the most important takeaway was this: accurate data gives HR the space to be human.
As we discussed, restructuring is an incredibly busy time. HR teams are pulled in multiple directions, often while dealing with their own emotional responses to what’s happening.
“If the data is there and accurate,” Gill said, “it just helps make it easier in the background so the process can really focus on the people.”
That’s where HR adds the most value:
- supporting leaders through difficult conversations
- being present for individuals at risk
- maintaining transparency and consistency
- helping organisations handle redundancy with dignity
Why Getting the Basics Right Makes a Human Difference
The HR role in restructuring is demanding, complex and deeply human. While no amount of data can make redundancy easy, getting the data right removes unnecessary harm and avoidable mistakes.
Whether you’re using a HR system or spreadsheets, HR data accuracy isn’t a “nice to have”. It’s fundamental to doing restructuring fairly, credibly and compassionately.
Because when people look back on how a redundancy was handled, they won’t remember the system you used. They’ll remember whether the process felt organised, fair and human.
Gill Wetherill is the founder of Full Circle HR, an independent HR information systems consultancy supporting SMEs and HR teams to select and implement HR systems that deliver accurate, meaningful people data. A former HR Director with over 30 years’ experience in senior HR roles across education, utilities, financial services and the private sector, Gill brings a strategic, people-centred approach to HR technology – helping organisations make better decisions and successfully navigate periods of change.
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