During the Covid-19 pandemic the department I was working for underwent a planned ‘ramp down’, reducing the number of external contractors in the workforce by around 50%. Due to my varied experience, and because | had already secured a new role outside of the operation, | was tasked with recommending which colleagues should be retained and presenting this to senior management for approval.

To make my decision | first needed to consult with various colleagues to learn what the ‘future operation’ looked like to determine what skillsets would be required in the reduced operation. Using this information I was able to design an ideal/target structure showing how many colleagues were required along with the skills/experience wanted.

Due to the nature of contracting a 10% attrition rate was expected. To avoid recommending retention for a departing colleague I organised a colleague-wide poll to be taken which removed all negative responders from the pool. At this stage, we had c.1000 colleagues for just 500 roles. To determine the final list I then populated the target structure with all of the colleagues based on their current and recent work experience (resulting in around 2 people for every available role).

Using relevant rating criteria (productivity levels, quality scores, performance reviews), and removing personal identifiers, the remaining colleagues were ranked against their roles and a final structure chart was created.

The final structure along with the selection methodology was detailed and presented to senior management. After approval, I assisted with the communication to both successful and unsuccessful colleagues.